Quiet Mental Chatter

So more often than not, we can't really control the thoughts come into our mind, but often we'll grab hold of a thought. We like, or don't like. And we'll begin to have an internal discussion, an internal dialogue, maybe even an argument. And whether that argument prevents us from going to sleep, whether it wakes us up in the middle of the night can be really disturbing. And it's almost as though it's just happening as though we're not that involved, but of course there's a degree of involvement to make it happen. So learning how to step out of that, inner dialogue (indistinct) chatter, the argumentative state of mind, is really important especially if we wanna create a quality of rest in which we can go back to sleep again. So we're just gonna do a short exercise that allows us to let go of some of that tension that might've built up and allows us to let go of that need to discuss with ourselves, to argue with ourselves, or perhaps in an imaginary way, argue with somebody else. So if you've got out of bed for any reason if you'd like to get back into bed lie down flat on your back. And before doing anything else just take a big, deep breath, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. And as you breathe out through the mouth just close your eyes for a moment and just allow the body, allow the full weight of the body to just sink in to the surface beneath you. Nothing to do. Nowhere to go, just feeling the weight of the body. And if the inner chatter is still there, that's fine. Just allow that to continue. We'll come to that. For now though. Just take a moment. Just notice how the body is breathing as you lie there. And nighttime it's often best just to gently place your hand on your stomach. If you like, you can even keep your eyes open and just watch the hand as it moves up and down. Or if it's more relaxing you keep the eyes closed and just focus on the sensation of the hand, rising up and down. So normally when we're caught up with a lot of internal chatter, it starts to impact our breathing which impacts our body, the way we feel. And sometimes that can even be the cause for why we wake up. So we're not gonna breathe in any special way but we are gonna focus on a particular part of the breath but just stay with that feeling, with that sensation, just for a little bit longer before we change the focus. Okay. Know that if there's been a lot of inner chatter, the argument is strong, is quite likely, quite normal for those thoughts to continue a mind is invested it wants to keep going. Just that allow the mind to do its own thing. Just staying with the breath,...