What Keeps You Up at Night?

And a meditation to help you restore.

Hello there!

Do you watch Seinfeld? Have you seen the episode where Kramer can’t sleep due to light shining into his apartment from the Kenny Rogers chicken restaurant that opened across the street? Things devolve quickly. It’s hilarious!

Photo by Hans Eiskonen

But also, not hilarious. The street light in front of my home is broken in such a way that it shines directly into my bedroom window. Despite calling everyone I can think of, it’s been over a week and it’s still not fixed. Suffice it to say that I can relate to the sleepless among you.

Not being able to sleep well affects us deeply. We don’t think as clearly and we’re tired the next day. We may find it hard to summon the energy to exercise or do things that we need to get done. String a few nights together with impaired sleep, and we operate at a deficit. It can take a while to recover.

I hope you don’t have a literal light that keeps you up at night like Kramer and me. But maybe there is something else that makes it hard to fall asleep. You could have something on your mind that causes you to ruminate. You could have physical pain and not be able to find a comfortable position. Maybe you share the bed with someone who snores? A pet or child who wakes you up? Nightmares? Noisy neighbors? Sleep is fragile and important.

I have recorded many sleep meditations and many of you have told me they help. Keep using them!

But if you can’t sleep, a restorative meditation might help. For those times when you want to rest, due to lack of sleep or for any other reason, I am sending you one of my favorite grounding meditations. Resting isn’t the same as sleep, of course, but it can be refreshing all the same. I hope it helps.

This is a busy time of year. Sleep and rest are both important. I hope both come easily to you. Enjoy the long weekend. See you back here next week.

Oh, and this is a reminder that gift subscriptions are available if you have a loved one who wants to know more about meditation.