This week I have watched my dog sleep. Ok, for clarification purposes, he’s 14 years old and sleeps a lot. A hell of a lot. But while he lays there in slumber he looks so peaceful. Never mind his advancing years, and the fact that when he’s awake, his age has a telling way of making him slower, and his efforts to jump up onto the couch often take a second or third attempt. Every now and then he gets a burst of energy and will run around like a puppy, but burns out quickly, before returning to his new favourite pastime - sleep.
It’s the calmness that gets me. The ability to switch off and let the day disappear around him.
How many of us find it difficult to get to sleep at night? You know those nights when you lay there, but no matter what way you lay or how you shift your pillow you just cannot find the slumber you so desperately want. I am very fortunate in that I am able to find sleep so easily when I go to bed (and occasionally on the sofa watching a movie), but it’s from years of forcing myself to ‘switch off’. I can have really full on and stressful days, but the ability to ‘switch off’ makes it possible. It’s a form of meditation where I focus on nothing. Easier said than done at times, but to clear your mind will enable that nothingness brings with it the reward of sleep.
I urge you to try it. When you go to bed tonight, just close your eyes and picture only darkness. Think of the darkest night,with no light, and the only sound is your breathing. Lose yourself in the darkness, allow yourself to swim deeper into the night and you’ll find yourself finding that tranquility easier and easier to find each and every night. You may even find images appear in the darkness. Nothing in particular, and mostly completely random, but let yourself find these. Let the distraction of the emptiness bring about a whole new level of relaxation.
So now that you’re equipped to fully relax, ready to sleep and fully recharge.
Hush little baby, don’t say a word…
Happy Damn Friday! x
I'd love to hear from you - you can reach me on:
@happydamnfriday on Twitter
happydamnfriday@outlook.com
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