This Post Is Not About Mario Kart
But it does include a GIF of an orangutan driving a golf cart
Let’s examine one issue preventing a nap.
Issue 1: Swirling thoughts in the head
Problem: They are swirling so hard and fast, it’s like a go kart race that goes round and round — but you don’t even realize you are in the race. This is the hardest cycle to break, when you don’t even know its happening.
Step one: Any moment of realization, any, you need to grab and cling to like an emergency rope hung down from a helicopter. That gives you a momentary chance to find the remedy.
Step two: I like to bring my focus and attention down from my forehead, where the thoughts are swirling, to any point lower. Now the helicopter rope has taken me from the most immediate frenzy. Focus, eyes closed, on the tip of my nose. Maybe this is a remnant from prior dabbling in meditation (hey, some redeeming value!), or maybe I thought of it myself. If the tip of the nose doesn’t work, anything lower than the eyebrows.
Step three: Three enormous deep breaths, and congratulate myself for clearing the mind. Remind myself I made it out of the ferocious merry go round, and now have a fighting chance at a nap. But an equal parts reminder that even if I don’t lose consh — I now have time remaining to relax the mind, and that will be a win unto itself.
Step four: I imagine myself drifting away and letting the calmness do whatever it will do at that point.