wide open space, whether a wide open prairie or an empty parking lot. Maybe having a museum entirely to ourselves

or a public garden we have arrived at early enough in the day where a few people have arrived to tour it.

The space is full of possibility to go at our own pace, to follow wherever our curiosity takes us, to learn how to drive in parallel

park if this is our first time driving. Having this parking lot to ourselves becomes a safe

place to learn without fear, without feeling rushed. Our mind, when we stopped demanding of it

to perform certain tasks, come up with this solution,

fall asleep now because I had to wake up in six hours, or make this fear of the unknown go away.

Finally, it is able to do what we need to find peace.

When we let our mind relax by letting go of constant, re-hashing, overthinking, worrying, and

wondering, we give it the space it needs to gain the clarity.

We mistakenly thought we could discover by being its taskmaster.

Try this the next time you cannot fall asleep.

And all you seem to be thinking about is how you are not falling asleep.

Start counting. Similar to counting your breath when you are meditating.

Take a deep breath in.

Count all the way to six.

Then gradually exhale, also counting to six. Keep doing this. Focusing only on the counting and breathing

deeply. You are creating space for your mind and thus your being to fall asleep. You have stopped

asking or should I say demanding of it to do something. And when we

demand it to do something, we are actually counteracting the exact outcome we seek. We are not letting

our mind rest, so it cannot fall asleep. Keep counting. And soon you will be waking up in the morning

discovering that letting go was all you needed to do. Find a comfortable place to rest.

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