Awake At 3am - A 5min Resting Practice

A short somatic practice for the middle of the night, for those times you surface at two, three or four in the morning and find yourself wide awake. Rather than working at falling asleep, which tends to keep the nervous system alert, this one settles the body through weight, warmth and the breath, and leaves sleep to arrive in its own time if it's going to. It draws on Somatic Experiencing and nervous system work, and asks nothing of you beyond noticing what's already there. It's a good place to start if a longer practice feels like too much at this hour. There's no bell at the end and the track fades into quiet, so it won't wake you if you fall asleep again. You're welcome to come back to it any night you need it. Helpful for night waking, early morning waking, sleep maintenance insomnia and night-time anxiety.

Transcript

My name is Sarah. If you're listening to this, You've probably woken somewhere in the middle of the night. There's nothing here you need to get right. And you don't need to fall asleep for this to have been worth doing. Sleep gets lighter as the night goes on. So buy this hour. You're much closer to the surface than you were at midnight. Waking now. Is something that can happen. And trying to fall asleep again. Tends to keep us awake. Because effort is a kind of alertness. So sleep is not what we're doing here. We are resting. And you are already doing that. Now let's begin by focusing on weight. Notice where your body is pressing down into the bed. Only the heaviest place. Wherever the mattress is supporting you most. And see if you can hand a bit more of yourself over to it. Take that heaviness in for a moment. Take deep breaths in and out. And see if you can fall just a little bit more. Into that mattress. Let yourself get a little bit heavier every breath you take. Now look for the warmest place under the covers. Somewhere your body has been resting a while. And take that warmth in. Just focus on this warmth. Warm area. On your body. And again, Deep breath in and out. And I'm sure there's an area that's somewhat cooler. Try to find that part of your body right now. Maybe your face or a hand or a foot. We don't need to change anything. I'd just like you to know where they are. Now see if you can pendulate between the heaviness. And the warmth. Back and forth. Heaviness and warmth. Just observe. Observe your breathing. And how it automatically is doing that. The way it has been doing that all night while you were asleep. You are just here observing that breath. You're observing your own body resting. You're watching it happen. Now if images start arriving on their own. Go with them. That might be sleep beginning. And if you're still here with me, That's fine. Lying here, Warm. And accepting. Is already rest. And I'll leave you here now.