Just a word to clue you in on what I’ve added to my pursuit of sleep routine. I talk a lot about diverting your mind from dwelling on troublesome narratives and focusing on images during the execution of your Transition Trek, but I have also found another activity to have a positive impact on making my pursuit of sleep go quicker. And that is trying to find that sleepy feeling.

I have found that when the time approaches for me to crawl into bed and go to sleep, I start feeling sleepy. Tired and sleepy. But when I get into bed and close my eyes, I don’t feel sleepy. That’s weird! But it happens to me frequently. That seems to be one of the impediments to me going to sleep. Where did it go? Seems that my mind slipped into a creative mode some times and at others it has lapsed into worry mode. Sleepiness has somehow been set aside.

Here’s my suggestion. Notice that sleepy feeling before you get into bed and try to hang onto it. Think about it while getting undressed and all the other little activities involved in sleep preparation. Try not to lose it when thinking your last thoughts before starting the Transition Trek. Also, incorporate that sleepy feeling into the Trek. Feel the tiredness. Close your psychic eyes while traveling the Trek and notice the sleepiness. Weigh it in your mind, feeling it heaviness. In my Transition Trek, after I leave the beach and enter the forest, I hear birds in the forest bedding down for sleep. I stop there, close my eyes, and focus on that sleepy feeling. I take that same approach at several scenes along the Trek. And then there’s the last scene where I crawl into bed inside the cave. This is an excellent place to let that sleepy feeling overcome you. Provided of course that you are still awake. Hopefully you will have fallen asleep long before then.