‘Research shows that writing down 5 things you’re grateful for before bedtime has powerful benefits to your overall emotional, physical, mental and spiritual well-being. The last thoughts of the day effect the quality of your sleep and the quality of your sleep effects the quality of your day. Sometimes finding things to be grateful for can be difficult, especially if you’re in a place of pain, sadness, anger or grief. I’ve definitely been there. Here’s a small 3-5 minute bedtime exercise that can really help if you’re feeling down right before you fall asleep. First, connected to your breath. Connecting to your breath is a simple way to calm the mind. Just go inside and watch how it moves in and out of your body. This helps to uncouple your attention from any upsetting thoughts you may be experiencing. Try it…take the time to slow down from within and connect with your breath, really feel it and notice everything it does for you as if it were a comforting friend. Do this for a few short minutes. Now, bring your attention to your heart space. Your physical heart, your emotional heart and your spiritual heart. The spiritual heart holds both the physical and emotional heart. As your attention is resting in your heart space, begin to silently say thank you over and over again until you drift off to sleep. You may start to think of things you’re grateful for as you say thank you over and over again. Maybe it’s your bed, or your blanket, or your lamp or your pet. It could be anything. If nothing arises, no worries, that’s okay too. Just repeat thank you over and over again as you drift off to sleep. I’d love to know if this bedtime exercise was helpful to you. Reach out any time and let me know.
