You would like to sleep but your mind runs full of thoughts.
You want to fall asleep but you find yourself awake like a cricket.
The more time passes the more the thoughts surround you.
So you fear that tomorrow you will be very tired and it will be a problem and then you do everything to get to sleep,
To drive away those thoughts,
To get rid of them and all the worries.
Or on the contrary you immerse yourself in those thoughts to find a solution with the idea that once you find it then you'll be able to sleep.
But all this effort activates you,
Wakes you up more.
So you are doing the opposite of what you should do which is slowing your mind gently and effortlessly.
So now open your awareness and your attention to notice with curiosity everything that shows up now and seems to prevent you to sleep,
Such as feelings,
Emotions,
Thoughts,
Noises and so on.
Now try not to focus on any of these elements in particular but take an overview with an attitude of welcome and acceptance rather than of struggle and resistance.
Can you do that inhaling and exhaling,
Slowly feeling the belly with no rush.
The most important thing is not be in a hurry to fall asleep.
The haste is the greatest enemy of falling asleep.
If you like you can gently place one hand on your belly or on your heart and let the sweetness and warmth of your delicate and soft touch spread throughout the body,
Relaxing tensions,
Letting go and continue to breathe consciously,
Slowly and deeply.
Feel the movement of your body,
Perceive the temperature of the air entering your nostrils and coming out.
Inhale and exhale,
Feeling the air in all your body,
Every part of your body,
Every cell.
Nothing is important now but your breath.
If you want to sleep,
You do not seek it.
Consider that you do not fall asleep with effort.
Sleep comes with tiredness and the progressive shutdown of your mind and your body.
So do not resist to insomnia but welcome it and accept it.
Try to be kind,
Gentle.
Try to be patient and open what it is.
Sleep will come when you stop activating yourself,
Even mentally,
When you take your attention away from thoughts,
Assessments,
Memories,
Predictions,
Organization,
Judgments,
Concerns.
But you do not even have to try to drive away these thoughts,
Otherwise you will continue to activate yourself.
So try to let it be.
Notice what your mind is like right now,
Agitated,
Crowded,
Activated,
Full of thoughts.
The trick is not to give too much attention to the thoughts,
Not to fight them,
Not to struggle,
Not to resist or try to control them.
Just let your thoughts come and go by themselves,
Like leaves that flow on a stream.
Let your thoughts come and go like clouds in a blue sky.
Let the voices of your mind go into the background,
As if they were a radio in the background far away.
One way to let go of thoughts in the background and at the same time relax physically is to mentally observe your body.
Can you spot your position?
Can you feel it right now?
Also notice the movements in your body,
The tiny little movements.
And feel the temperature of the various parts of the body,
Covered or not,
By the pajamas or blankets.
Notice the weight of your body on the mattress,
Of every part of the body,
From the feet to the head.
And if you feel any pain or discomfort in the body,
You can try not to resist,
But observe it without judging that feeling.
Maybe you can notice the edges of this feeling,
Where it starts and where it ends.
Is this feeling moving or is it still?
Try to soften around that feeling and breathe into it.
There is nothing to solve,
Nothing you have to do.
Just be as you are.
You,
With your stable and constant part that remains present despite the thoughts,
Problems and emotions.
The part you will find the same tomorrow morning when you wake up.
This meditation is ended,
But you can continue to practice in this way,
Letting go,
With no rush and no effort.
Let it be.
