The gratitude practice, adapted for falling asleep. The closing gong has been removed so nothing wakes you at the end.
Listen to the Meditation
About This Practice
The brain leans toward the negative, and it had good reason to. Our ancestors needed to spot danger reliably, and the machinery that survived is tuned to register what is wrong.
At night that tuning is at its least useful. Lying in the dark, the day gets reviewed for what went badly, and the things that went well are nowhere in the summary.
This practice deliberately turns that around. There is always something you were unhappy with today. There is always something you would miss if it were gone. Both are true, and which one you attend to before sleep makes a real difference to how the night goes.
It works because attention shapes the brain. What we return to repeatedly becomes easier to find, so this gets less effortful the longer you keep it up. Ending the day this way, night after night, gradually changes what the mind reaches for first.
Micro Practice: Three Breaths
Whenever you enter a new space, a room, a building, anywhere, take three breaths.
- Breathe and settle on the breath itself.
- Breathe and find one thing here you are grateful for.
- Breathe and stay present in your body.