Can't Switch Off: A Wind-Down For A Racing Mind Sleep

A wind-down for the mind that won't stop. If you've been lying there for an hour with your thoughts going in circles - replaying the day, rehearsing tomorrow, solving problems that don't need solving at midnight - this is for you. Rather than trying to empty your mind, we'll give it one small, dull job to do, and let the rest go quiet on its own.

Best used lying down, lights off, phone face-down. This recording is not a substitute for professional support with sleep or anxiety.

Transcript

So, Your mind won't stop. You've been lying here for a while now. Maybe an hour. Maybe you've lost track. Which is its own particular kind of unpleasant. And his thing. It isn't even that dramatic, Is it? It's not some enormous worry keeping you up. It's a conversation from four days ago. Is an email you need to send. It's a thing said in a meeting that you've now examined from 11 different angles. Small stuff, Spiraling. Here's what I want to say before we get started. I'm not going to ask you to clear your mind. I don't think it's that easy and I don't think anyone can. I think being told to clear your mind is. One of the most frustrating things about meditations. Your mind is not misbehaving. It's doing exactly what it was built to do. Scan, Check, Solve, Prepare. It's just doing it at a time when there's nothing to solve and nowhere to go with it. So, We're not gonna switch it off. Going to give it something so profoundly boring to do. That it simply loses interest. In the rest. Let's start with the body. Because. . . That's easier. Wherever you're laying, Let the mattress Take you. All of you. There's a version of lying down where you're slightly holding yourself up. And most people do it without knowing. So just check. Shoulders. Let them go. Jaw. Almost everyone is holding their jaw. Allow the teeth to come apart just slightly so they're not touching or clenching. Tongue Allow it to rest on the floor of your mouth. And the space between your eyebrows. That little knot of concentration that lives there. Soften it. Now breathe in through your nose, Normally nothing special. Let it out slowly through your mouth. Longer than you took it in. Let it be audible. Let it be. Ungraceful if necessary. Again, In through the nose. And a long, Slow release. One more. And out. Good. That's the last instruction I'll give you about breathing. From here it goes back to doing what it does on its own. Now here's the job I mentioned. We're going to count backwards. From 300. And that's it. That's all you're going to do. Keep counting backwards. It's dull. It's supposed to be dull. Occupies exactly enough of your mind that there's no room left to rehearse tomorrow. And not one bit more than that. You will lose your place. That's not any failure. That's the mechanism. Losing your place is what falling asleep feels like from the inside. And you notice you've drifted. You don't have to start again from 300. Pick a number where you think you were. And carry on down. Nobody's checking. We can begin. I'll count the first few with you. And leave you to it. 300. 299. 298 297 296 295 Keep going on your own now. Slowly. One number per breath, Roughly. If your mind has wandered off already, That's okay. That's the point. Let's find the number to carry on down. You don't have to say them clearly. They can get mushy. They can blend into each other. The she is good. If any thoughts come back. Anything preventing you from sleeping. Allow it to come. You don't have to push it away. Let it sit there in the background while you keep counting down. It'll get bored before you do. Nothing is required of you. Nothing needs deciding. Nothing needs solving. Everything that felt urgent an hour ago will still be there in the morning. You're gonna be. Refresh. And ready to take it on. You should be able to keep counting down now. You don't need me anymore. Should feel heavy in the bed. Going down. Good night.