Putting Down the Day
As your day ends and you get ready for bed, set aside a few minutes with a notebook or journal in hand to put down the day.
Sometimes when our mind is full from the day or from something that is coming up, our sleep can be disrupted. Good quality sleep is really at the heart of our overall wellbeing. This practice can be useful at teh end of the day to try to quiet some of that mental chatter.
Reflect on any or all of the following questions and perhaps note your answers in your notebook or journal:
What is something that happened today that you feel good about how you handled it? What was most useful about your action?
What is something that happened today that you wish you had handled differently? Why? What would have been more useful?
What is something that is now resolved? What are your thoughts and feelings about it now at the end of the day?
What is something that remains unresolved? What are your thoughts and feelings about it now at the end of the day?
When you’re done noting your reflections, set your journal or notebook to the side. Find a comfortable seated position. Ground down through your hips and lengthen up through the crown of your head. Your eyes can be open or closed. Your hands can rest anywhere in your lap or on your body that’s comfortable. Take several breaths, without having to fix or change anything. Simply observing your breathing and encouraging it to find more ease and spaciousness. Relax around your eyes. Relax your jaw and your shoulders.
Notice how your body and your breath and your mind feel in this moment after reflecting on the day.
Perhaps take a moment now to reflect on what part(s) of your day that you can put down? Whether it is something that is resolved or unresolved. Even if you have to pick it up again in the morning to continue addressing it. What is something that you can consciously set down for the night?
Perhaps saying to yourself, “I’m going to put________ down now. There is nothing else I can do about it right now. I’m setting it down and I will pick it up when I need to. But for now, for tonight, it can wait. Everything will wait. It is now time for me to rest.”
Pause once more in your comfortable seated position. Perhaps place one hand on your hand, and the other one on top. Taking a few breaths here. Noticing how your body, your breath, and your mind feel now.