Give your mind something to do, and it may let you sleep.

A Bedtime Contemplation Practice

I often begin this exercise while brushing my teeth preparing for bed, especially if I've encountered lots of people during the day. Sometimes I start the exercise when my head is already on the pillow and the lights are out. You decide what place and pace is right for you.

The method is simple. Close your eyes and recall the very last person you encountered. If you can picture their face, that's great. But don't stress out if you have difficulty seeing images with your eyes closed.

Simply remembering them is good enough. You can do this part out loud or silently in your mind. 

Say the person's name followed by something like "[Name], I bless you, I release you, I set you free from all expectations.".

That sentence has helped me a lot. I can't recall who first gave it to me, or where I read it, but I've been using it to find peace just before sleep for years.

Once I have said the sentence several times, I move on to the person I encountered just before the last one, and so on, moving backward in time through the people that I have encountered in my day.

It's rare I can make it beyond a handful of people before I'm fast asleep, smiling like someone who knows a secret.

Even if I have an unpleasant experience with someone, saying the sentence simply and authentically allows me to disconnect from the stresses of the day and access a feeling of freedom that helps me sleep.

Finding inner peace and having a spiritual practice doesn't have to be something elaborate or otherworldly. People like you and me can use a simple practice like the one I shared above to start experiencing life in a whole new way.

Peace is not something you create; it's something you and I discover lies within us.

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