Evening gratitude meditation

“Write three ‘grateful for…’ sentences as your pre-sleep routine.” 

“Lie down. Close your eyes. Breathe deep. Think about the day’s best moments.” 

“Thinking about three things from the day makes you visualise them. Most of our day-dreaming is replaying current concerns (Klinger, 1981). Visualising unresolved problems before sleep keeps your brain in ‘fight or flight’ mode.”

“Visualise the day’s highlights. Just lay and think about today’s good stuff.” 

Could be a good lullaby. Cause normally have to listen to hard core true crime to override worry. Once woke up shocked by a dream in which I was dismembering a body. But hard true crime effectively puts stop to doom-scrolling through my mental existential disaster feed. 

Looked into Eric Klinger. The dude came up with the term ‘day-dreaming’ and ‘current concerns’. They overlap. So, by default, we worry. You lay, you wait for sleep, you’re concerned, you invite worry, worry digs in, worry is stuck in the loop, and that’s the stuff you carry into sleep. At night the brain doesn’t power off. Heard even two pages of prose read pre-sleep change the frame of mind, you wake up rejuvenated, instead of wasted. 

So, yea, gratitude beats worry. Makes sense. Gotta start a pre-sleep gratitude ritual. Keep true crime down a little. Scroll through the good parts of your day instead.  Skip pre-sleep worry. Brain will get the message: off-duty now for current concerns. Set the tone for worry-free sleep.

“Think about moments. What was the best part of your day?”

Went to bed. Closed eyes and replayed the reel of the day looking for best moments. 

Before sleep:

– At supper, opened a new dry tempranillo with a long fruity finish.

– Got a window seat on the bus. Watched people in the city. Perfect ambient playlist, and no noise-pollution. 

 – Grateful for plans that involve good company. The anticipation of a good concert. Taking in some live music. 

Epiphany: the pleasure in anticipation. Vorfreude.