For the Nights When Your Mind Won’t Slow Down
You’re not alone
Do your thoughts get louder at night—especially lately?
Maybe it’s stating the obvious, but things are heavy right now—the constant barrage of bad news, the chaos, the uncertainty, the hum of discontent.
You lie there exhausted but wired, unable to turn off your mind. You want to rest, but your body doesn’t feel safe enough to let go.
There is nothing “wrong” with you. You’re caught in an understandable nervous system loop—still on guard, still trying to stay in control—which is, in essence, a survival mechanism.
Here are two simple ways to begin shifting gears—not by forcing sleep,
but by practicing somatic trust instead.
Practice 1: The Back Body Reset
Lie on your back and bring your attention to where your body touches the bed—
the back of your head, shoulder blades, pelvis, and heels.Breathe into those contact points. Imagine the bed holding you.
Say to yourself:
“I’m safe enough to rest.”
“I don’t have to fix everything tonight.”
See if you can stay with the sensation of those points of contact instead of the thought loop running in your head. Let the body be the focus. If you get overwhelmed, you can reset by briefly shifting your attention to something external in the room. When you feel ready, return your attention to your back body's points of contact.
This practice communicates to your nervous system: You can be okay without being hypervigilant.
Practice 2: The Awareness Behind the Noise
If your thoughts are spinning and you can’t stop them—don’t. Trying to force quit the rumination can sometimes make it worse or create further sleep-less exhaustion.
Instead, try this gentle inquiry (eyes closed or open) as you notice your thoughts:
“To whom are these thoughts arising?”
You don’t need an answer.
Just notice that there’s something stable—you—aware of it all. You are not the thoughts, sensations, or emotions. Underneath all that noise is an enduring awareness encumbered.
This is a nervous system practice, too.
It teaches your system that awareness is bigger than the storm.
You don’t need to control your thoughts to be free of them.
At night, the invitation isn’t to shut down the mind.
It’s to come home to the part of you that doesn’t need fixing.
The “you” that’s already holding it all and untarnished by an external circumstance.
That’s somatic trust:
Letting the body and awareness itself remind you that rest is safe.
You don’t have to figure everything out tonight.
Peace isn’t the absence of thought—it’s the presence of something deeper.
Be easy on yourself. As always, please reach out with any questions or feedback!
Oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ.✌️