Welcome to Nurtured Voices,
I'm Sarah Bruno,
Licensed speech therapist,
Creative empath,
And nature enthusiast.
In this track,
I am bringing you some gentle insomnia support for those late nights when
you just can't sleep,
You just can't rest,
And it's so difficult to let go.
In this track,
You'll explore deepening your connection to nature,
Your intuition,
And
your voice.
So let's start with a big,
Deep breath in through our nose and out through our mouth.
Exhaling,
All that energy flowing out of our body.
Another inhale in through our nose,
And exhale through our mouth,
Releasing all that energy,
Our to-do lists,
Juggling conversations and tasks throughout the day,
Releasing it into
the air.
And we're going to use a tool called nature-inspired feelings to tap into how we're feeling about
our insomnia,
Those nights that we're just awake,
We're just awake,
When the whole house
is sleeping,
We are wide awake.
And so,
Feel into something in nature to describe that awake feeling when everything
else is sleeping,
It could be a plant,
An animal,
Fungi,
Cosmic energy,
Something elemental,
An expansive scene like pine trees overlooking a rippling pond as the sun rises,
Or a tiny
detail like the soft peach fuzz.
So what is your nature-inspired feeling for your own insomnia,
Your late nights,
Your
wide awake nights,
Inability to sleep while the rest of the world is dreaming?
So my nature-inspired feeling for my insomnia is a night owl,
An owl that is awake and
alert,
Strong,
Focused,
While everything is sleeping and the night is dark and the sky
is filled with twinkling stars and the moon is glowing and the owl is awake.
I have tried for years upon years upon years to relax into my sleepless nights,
To do
anything I can to fall back asleep into the bliss of dreamland,
But the more I try,
The
harder it gets.
When I am here with you,
I am here awake with you,
Because I am also not sleeping tonight.
I am the night owl,
Alert,
Ready,
Ready to target my prey and catch something beautiful
and juicy and wonderful.
So we are going to embrace our insomnia.
If you are listening to this during the day,
You can just jot down some things on paper
or in a special journal to open up when you have a sleepless night.
And if you are wide awake right with me now,
You can do this right in your home.
So I want you to find a space in your home to celebrate your insomnia,
Somewhere to get
excited,
Like awakening your inner child,
Like it's the most special day the next day,
Christmas Eve,
Or some magical miracle is going to be happening tomorrow,
Or you're
meeting an exciting friend,
Or a special trip you're taking the next day.
Bring that energy forth with you as you're wide awake in the middle of the night,
Because
that's all it is,
Is energy.
And let's celebrate that energy.
Let's do something with it.
So I want you to find a cozy spot in your home,
Or even if you're in your bed on your
own or next to a loved one,
You can stay there too.
And I just want to remind you of your pulse,
The beating of your heart,
The swelling of
your lungs in and out,
And you can put your hand on your heart,
On your chest,
And feel
that beat.
As your lungs rise and lower,
And rise and lower.
And as you lay here or sit here in your special cozy spot in your home,
Your insomnia spot,
Your sacred spot for when you're wide awake while the world is sleeping,
Or just laying
in your bed,
I want you to remember,
You are alive.
No matter how long you've been up for,
Trying this or that,
One thing to hold on to.
You are alive.
And now I want you to take your journal,
And I want you to write some fun things to do,
A little insomnia toolkit.
What do you want to do when you have these bouts of one,
Two,
Three hours in the middle
of the night?
Mine likes to come at three,
Four,
Or five in the morning.
So let's write down together some special things to do,
Or special things to get to
memorialize our sleepless nights.
And it might be getting up and making your favorite cup of tea,
Or grabbing a special
blanket and getting all cozy,
Or lighting a special candle,
Or even writing some projects
that are just for insomnia time.
A crocheted item,
Maybe drawing or painting,
Or even making a track like this one in the
wee hours of the night.
And you can come back to this list whenever you have a night that you're wide awake.
And now we're going to make some sounds to release our energy and the tension that
comes around the topic of insomnia.
Because you may have already been sitting here or laying here hours upon hours.
You may be like me and be on your sixth night of no sleep for no reason at all,
Other than
the buzz of the energy,
The buzz within your body,
Whatever nature is calling you.
Now my night owl is awake,
My eyes are wide,
My head is turned and I'm looking this way
and that in all directions and all perspectives.
So I invite you to take your nature-inspired feeling,
What were you feeling related to
nature that described your insomnia,
That described your sleepless nights,
That described
your alertness,
Your awakeness while the rest of the world is dreaming.
And we're going to give it a sound.
We're going to give it a sound to celebrate I am awake and I am alive.
I am alive and my body will rest.
At some point my body will rest and I let go of the timeline of when that will happen.
It may be in a few moments,
It may be in a few hours,
It may be tomorrow night or in
a few nights from now.
Breathe into that nature-inspired feeling and I leave you with my vocal play,
My unique
sound from my insomnia,
Embracing it rather than judging it or criticizing it or resisting
it,
Embracing it and getting excited about what I will do the next time I have this time
next time I have this time just for me when everyone else is sleeping.
This is my sound.
It could be an ooh or a oh,
A hum,
An animal sound,
A howl,
A nature sound,
A little tune,
A made-up song,
A ditty,
A song that's coming in from a distant memory or a song or a lullaby
that someone may have sang to you long ago.
I leave you with my song and if you're feeling creative,
Create your own vocal play to announce
to the world I am awake and I am alive.
