For those of you who struggle with going to sleep due to racing mind, this practice helps me: I sometimes have brief moments of hyper-awareness as I approach s

For those of you who struggle with going to sleep due to racing mind, this practice helps me: I sometimes have brief moments of hyper-awareness as I approach sleep, where sounds are rich and images vividly detailed, but as soon as I attend to the experience it fades, like the wood-elf party in The Hobbit[0]. After reading about how USAF pilots used to be coached in the 1940s to fall asleep quickly (by flexing and relaxing body parts)[sorry, no reference yet], I started trying/not-trying to sneak up on the elves. One way I set the stage is to imagine my consciousness at the edge of the solar system, then galaxy, then universe, and further and further, then holding it there longer and longer. Another way is to look at the colors inside of my eyelids and allow those to be seeds for abstract art and eventually concrete, recognizable images materialize. This took about two years of practice and now I have no anxiety about falling asleep, can do it quickly and without nagging my partner to turn the light off. It is such a delight to finally see and hear the previously-elusive autogenous art. I don’t know how long the experience lasts, and unless I’m interrupted by a loud noise or touch it almost always leads directly to sleep. Other factors: I’ve been off alcohol for more than a year, and reduced coffee to hot water added to the dregs of my spouse’s French press. I don’t run as much as I used to, and I feel running and lifting more would help me sleep better. Good luck! [0] https://www.worldcat.org/title/hobbit/ https://www.worldcat.org/title/hobbit/