We're going to start the same way that we always did.
This time.
Or in lying down.
Because now we're about to shut off the mine.
Just take a slow,
Deep breath in.
And release.
Gently close down your eyes.
Now go into the physiological side.
And through the nose.
Sip through the mouth.
Then release three times.
Let's take a slow,
Deep breath in through the nose.
Sip.
Release.
As we release the past.
Take another slow,
Deep breath in.
Sip.
Release.
As we release the future.
Take one more slow,
Deep breath in.
Sip release as we come in to the present.
Now that's your nervous system getting the message.
That the day is done.
Wherever you are right now.
Or your body get heavy.
Don't need to hold yourself up anymore.
Whatever you're lying on.
Let it take your weight completely.
You've been carrying yourself all day.
You can put it down now.
Let your legs go.
Don't relax.
Like they've given up on trying to be anyway.
Let your hips sink in.
Your lower back.
The space between your shoulder blades.
All of it settling down.
And I heard you.
Most men are still holding their jaw right now.
So let it drop.
Let your tongue fall away from the roof of your mouth.
There's nothing left to say tonight.
And now the mind.
It's probably still going.
And that's not a problem.
That's not something you need to fix before this works.
The mind doing what it does at night,
Running through what happens.
What's coming tomorrow.
None of that is in your way.
It just hasn't been told that it's off the clock yet.
Now,
By force you inquire.
Just by letting it run without following it.
Like a TV in the next room.
You can hear it.
You just don't have to watch it.
Every thought that comes up.
You don't have to solve it tonight.
It will be there tomorrow.
Whatever it is,
The conversation,
The decision.
Thing you should have said.
Will still exist in the morning.
And you'll be sharper for it after sleep than you are right now.
Your brain is not helping you by staying on.
Burning fuel that you don't have.
So let it run.
Don't follow.
And bring your attention to your breath.
But to change it.
Just to notice it.
The inhale.
Where do you feel it?
Chest.
Or somewhere in between.
Just notice.
The exhale.
The moment it ends before the next one starts.
That tiny gap.
Just stay there for a second.
You don't have to breathe in any particular way.
Your body knows how to breathe.
It's been doing it your whole life.
So just watch it do the thing that it already knows.
Inhale.
Now a slow scan starting at your feet.
Feel the soles of your feet.
Temperature.
If there's any tension still there.
Just notice it's there and breathe into it.
Your cows.
Your shins.
Any holding,
Any gripping.
That it suffered.
Up through your knees.
Records.
Your hamstrings.
Let them go completely.
Your hips.
A lot of men carry the day in their hips without knowing it.
Select the mode.
Let them draw.
Your stomach.
If it's tied.
That's the nervous system.
You're safe right now.
There's nothing here that needs defending against it.
Just let it go soft.
Your chest.
Your shoulders.
If they're still pulled upward towards your wrist.
Let them fall.
You don't need to be ready for anything right now.
Your hands.
Unclenched.
Your face.
Your forehead.
That there's space between your eyes wide.
Let all of it go.
This is your body without the day on top of it.
There's a version of you that knows how to rest.
Or the version that needs to perform recovery.
Of the version tracking whether he slept well enough.
The One underneath all of that.
The one that existed before you had anything to prove.
A version of you is still there.
And sleep isn't something you make happen.
It's something that you stop getting in the way of.
You don't need to do anything from here.
You just need to stop doing it.
That every exhale takes something with it.
Or dramatically.
Not as a technique.
Just let the out breath carry a little more than the one before it.
And pay attention.
A bit of the noise.
Better the grip.
Inhale.
Just Dance.
Exhale.
A little lighter.
Inhale.
Exhale.
You don't need to be anywhere else right now.
This moment.
Is breath.
It's weight in the bed.
This is the only real thing.
Everything else is memory or plan.
Neither of those need you.
Let the breath slow down on its own.
Don't force it.
Just stop speeding it up.
You've done the work today.
You've carried what you needed to carry.
Everything else can wait until the morning.
Rest now.
