SLEEP

My words may guide you onto the path of sleep. Just let them sink in. I expect only a few people to fall asleep within the short period of this track, but I hope that it will help many to get into a frame of mind which will allow sleep to come, naturally.

I wonder if you have read the story of Alice through the Looking Glass? Every time she was determined to walk through the garden towards the house she somehow found herself walking away from it. Going to sleep is a bit like that. The more you try to get to sleep the more you are likely to find yourself awake. Conscious effort never brings sleep. Sleep is like a timid wild creature that will come to you only when it is ready, not at your urgent call.

So you will not try to sleep. But you can and will give your body and mind most of what they need from sleep. Your muscles need a rest after the many actions of the day. Your mind needs a rest after the countless conscious thoughts of the day. And it needs to dream. Bed is a place for the muscles to rest and for the mind to withdraw from the everyday world. You wear one set of clothes in the world. Another in bed. As you listen to this track feel yourself widening the gap between your mental clothes at day and at night.

Bed is another world. There is no work in bed. There are no phones. No cars. No letters. No money. I wonder if you can find ways that could work for you to help you increase the difference between your mind in bed and in the world? There is no ONE way. We are all different and our lives are different. All I aim for in this track is to encourage you to focus not on the need for sleep but on the need to separate your night-thoughts from your day-thoughts, your might-mind from your day-mind.

Day thoughts are about things to do, plans to make, things to say, people to consider. The place for these is outside the bedroom. These thoughts should be tackled fully dressed and with erect head and open eyes. Night thoughts are dream thoughts. Alice in Wonderland thoughts. The Prime Minister dropping by to cut your lawn. A forgotten door from your kitchen into a paradise garden of fruit trees and humming birds that talk. A skiing down a country road in your slippers. These thoughts come with head on pillow and in nightwear. Remember any such pleasant, strange dreams that you have had. That is night thinking.

If I knew you, I would be asking if there are any little rituals that could help you to change from day thoughts to night thoughts. Do you empty your pockets at night? Then I would wonder if you could empty your mind by perhaps writing down any current thoughts into a notebook, labelled "For Tomorrow". Do you relish a luxurious shower before bed? Then I would wonder if you could feel that you are washing not just the dirt of the day but also all the everyday thoughts out of your mind. But perhaps you can now daydream a little about ways that you can make the change from day to night a crisp and clear one.

Now imagine you are in bed and not asleep. Suppose first that you have drifted back into day thoughts. And that you can't stop them. And they, as they so often do, have led to muscular tensions, and you can't relax them. Then it makes sense NOT to stay in bed. I suggest you get up and do something for a while. Do something about anything you are worrying about. Do some tidying. Do some writing. Do some conscious planning. Do some exercise. Tire your body some more with daily tasks. Tire your mind some more with daily thoughts. Then, when both are that much more tired of daily things, return to bed to the relief of night thoughts and night relaxations.

But if, on the other hand, you are in bed awake but only thinking night thoughts there is no problem. Perhaps you are having idle dream-like ideas like the image of an imaginary cottage fireside that you will find on another track. Or you might just be feeling in touch with all the inner sensations of your body, as described on yet another track. Or you might be gently relaxing your body, in one of many ways. If only those things are happening then you are fine. Your body and mind are getting most of what they need from sleep. You are finding refreshment. If it takes time for full deep sleep to come it does not matter, you are already recovering well from the day. You can relish and enjoy being conscious enough to enjoy a dream-like state of mind and a deeply relaxed body. And sleep will come, in its own good time, as it did when you were a child.