Okay,
Lie down,
Wherever you are right now,
Finally,
Flat on your back,
Heavy in your bed,
Maybe sinking into the sheets after a long,
Long day.
Settle your weight,
And for the next little while,
Drop the armour,
Every piece of it.
Tonight we're talking about the one thing every one of us treats like a failure,
When it's actually the highest form of self-preservation,
Sleep.
Look,
I know you're busy,
I know you felt like you had to be the hero all day,
I get it,
I've all worn that badge of honour,
I'm burning the candle at both ends,
But let me tell you something,
Exhaustion is not a strategy,
It's a deficit.
Sleep isn't a reward you earn,
It's the essential,
Non-negotiable leader you are finally following.
The best leaders know when to delegate the work,
And right now,
That leader is calling you in,
Demanding you hand over the reins.
It's time to listen,
So take a deep breath,
A real one,
In through the nose,
Drawing the air deep into your tired chest,
And let it go.
Blow it out like you're letting go of the last argument,
The last deadline,
The last flickering doubt of the day.
Again,
Inhale,
You are here,
You are safe,
Exhale,
Let the mattress claim your weight.
Feel the contact points of your body against the bed,
Your heels,
Your calves,
The back of your hands,
These are your anchors,
These are the points where you surrender to the simple honest force of gravity.
Let that force take over,
Let the tension in your jaw,
That unconscious clench from holding everything in,
Let it completely soften,
The jaw is the first thing that surrenders,
Let it go slack,
Let the shoulders melt away from your neck,
You're not holding them up,
The bed is holding them.
Let them feel heavy,
Like sandbags,
Move your focus to your back and your hips,
Feel the density there,
You've been upright,
Taking the load,
Pushing through,
Now allow your entire torso to sink deeper and deeper into the surface supporting you,
No questions asked.
Your only job right now is to be the weight,
We're not going soft here,
This is about long term power,
The true gritty strength,
The kind that lasts,
Comes from the ability to trust the process of repair,
Your leader,
Sleep,
Has a savage mandate,
I need 8 hours to rebuild the bridge you burned down today,
And what does that delegation look like?
It's handing over the control panel to the subconscious,
Stop trying to troubleshoot that problem at work,
Stop replaying the dialogue in your head,
Your brain knows the truth,
It can't fix a thing while you're still awake,
Running those same old fearful loops,
The real,
Crucial work,
The emotional processing,
The memory cleansing,
The chemical reset,
All happens in the dark,
That voice telling you to worry,
To plan,
To stay alert,
That voice is scared,
It thinks if it stops,
It will miss something,
Look at that scared voice with a deep,
Quiet compassion,
Thank it for trying,
And then tell it the honest,
Raw truth,
You are off the clock,
You are a biological powerhouse,
And every powerhouse needs a complete shutdown to avoid burning out the grid,
Here's a vulnerability check,
It takes guts,
Real primal guts to trust that the world and your mind won't fall apart if you simply let go,
Give yourself that permission,
It's not just productive,
It's an act of necessary self-respect,
The final surrender,
Bring your attention to your breathing,
Letting it become shallow and slow,
The pace of the breath is now the pace of rest,
Every exhale is a release,
Every inhale is just enough,
I want you to imagine or just sense your body becoming twice as heavy,
Double the weight,
Feel the sheets beneath you,
The perfect support,
Sinking,
Let's count down slowly,
Counting is simple,
It's safe,
It gives the mind something minimal to focus on before it dissolves,
I'll say the number,
You feel the sinking,
10,
Sink,
Let your thoughts drift away,
9,
Heavy,
Your limbs are stone,
Solid and safe,
A wave of deep,
Quiet,
Calm washes over you,
7,
Darkness,
Comforting peaceful darkness behind your eyelids,
6,
Release,
Release the little remaining grip on the day,
5,
Peace,
The only thing left is a deep abiding peace,
4,
Lower,
Sinking deeper into the mattress,
Into the support,
3,
Trust,
Trusting your body to do the work it needs to do,
2,
Soft,
The edges of your consciousness are blurring,
Softening,
1,
Sleep,
Let your mind float now,
There is no destination but rest,
No purpose but repair,
You have been tough enough,
Now be gentle enough,
You are safe,
You've done the work,
Now trust the leader,
Sleep is here,
You are here,
Goodnight.
