It is a little after five.
And your eyes are already open.
Nothing woke you.
No sound.
No dream you can name.
Just the body,
Suddenly awake as if something needed doing.
This is cortisol.
Near dawn,
Your body releases it to lift you toward morning.
On a tired nervous system,
That rise can land like an alarm instead of light.
So you are not broken and nothing has gone wrong.
The body simply spoke a little too loud.
Let the back of your head stay heavy against the pillow.
Let your jaw come apart.
The way it does when no one is watching.
Let your shoulders slide down,
Away from your ears.
Notice your hands.
Let the fingers uncurl,
One small release at a time.
Feel your throat soften and the breath move through it without effort.
There is a tightness in the chest that has been waiting since you woke.
You do not have to push it away.
Let it be met by a slower breath.
The morning is not asking for you yet.
The hour is still dark,
Still yours,
Still unspent.
Nothing here needs your alertness.
The day can wait at the door.
Let the surge in your blood finish its rise and begin to fall.
The body remember that awake and unsafe are not the same thing.
If sleep returns,
Let it.
If it does not,
Rest is still happening here,
Quietly.
Without any effort from you.
You woke early and you met it without fighting.
That is enough for this hour.
Namaste.
This was Meditai.
Come back whenever you need to.
