If you want to maintain your energetic health, clear the residue of the day, EVERY day. Each morning, we rise and meet life and self where they’re at. We often head off into the day with high hopes, full schedules, and minds set of making the daylight hours our b*tch…Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out the way we planned. Instead of being discouraged, we have to self-check; “Hey girl, no matter what happened, evolved or fell apart, every day is progress, yeah?” It’s not always easy to let go of our ego hopes for the day, but we can definitely sleep a little sounder when we make it a priority to clear the residue of the day.
Don’t Take it to Bed
In the moments before bed, go ahead and spout off those discouragements, unmet expectations, irritations, and frustrations into your journal. Spew them out and release them. Expel the pent up energy and emotion from you; circle them, scribble over them, underline, exclaim, and bolden to your heart’s content. When you’re done, let them become fodder for your next round of scheduling, striving, and goal setting. Understand that they serve a purpose in a specific time and mental space, but here, before bed, isn’t it. To clear the residue of the day is to ensure a full night of restorative Zzzz’s.
Cycle Through The Release
After you’ve spewed and expressed your residue in writing, it’s time to prepare the body for rest. Get super comfy, close your eyes, relax your body head to toe, and consolidate focus to only your breathing.
First, in your mind’s eyes, visualize images of what’s hijacking your mental and emotional rent space. See them clearly. Acknowledge them. Then, let them drift away, dissolving into the dark, eternal abyss.
Next, conjure forward images of your idealized situations; that project when it’s finished, that bill when its paid, that certain scenario once it’s in full harmony with your desires.
Now, let those images go too.
Breathe steadily, in and out, as you observe your ability to witness likes and dislikes, realities, and dreams.
Sink into comfort, allowing a feeling of peace to wrap around you.
There is a time for everything, and everything happens in its perfect time.
Lastly, remind yourself that this, here now, is not a time for anything but sleep.
Meditate A Minute
Usher in the clear, contented, peaceful act of rest.
Allow it to restore your mind and body through nourishing synthesis.
Drift now, calm and content, willing to rest, free of the residue of the day.
Why it Works
There is more to sleep hygiene when internal chatter in unrelenting. The ego requires the conscious mind to arrest it when it’s running wild. When we begrudgingly hit the sack with thoughts and emotions run riot, we alert the brain and activate our fight or flight responses. Subconsciously, if we choose to fight, our emotions and nervous system become arrested in a defensive stance that can’t actually fight against the external stimuli that provoked it. So instead, it fights internally as an inner war unto itself, defying sleep and releasing more and more stress hormone that prevents the body from receiving what it needs most in its restful state. Letting go of the residue of the day allows your mind-body to accept and integrate what you wanted into the reality of what actually transpired. If we choose flight, we become stuck in the same autonomic response with a different cognitive glaze. We run mentally and emotionally from that which is not actually tangible at the moment. We war with ourselves, trying to flee a boogeyman that we’ve created and perpetuated to no avail. Even when certain life events leave us feeling robbed and threatened, we must remind ourselves that the only thing robbing us in the comfort of our own beds is the threat that we fear we are incapable of coping and overcoming. However, in order to remember our own divine power, WE must take subtle, loving actions of recompense.
Keep in Mind
Residual goals from a day that has already passed, no longer serve you as they once did. Perhaps they just need reassignment to a different time and space. By taking the time that it takes to speak consciously to ourselves, we can quiet the beasts within that wish to fight and war with a fleeting reality. When you release the residue of the day, you accept what you CAN change, remind yourself that you are capable of all things, even if they must take on different forms that you hadn’t initially expected. that you are capable. Each night, acknowledge that whatever transpired across the day was enough, exactly as it should be; unearthing lessons, and inviting you closer towards your destiny. To ruminate is to accept self-torment; learn to express yourself without excess, and take the time to clear the space required to rest and digest.
When we empower ourselves to witness our lives as they actually are, we no longer depend on the reactions of an audience to validate our experience of being (our own ego included). In acceptance, we become capable of receiving what we need, without torment, drama, or ceaseless depravity. This is the accountability of self-care and self-love. Be gentle with yourself and pave the way to sleep most soundly. After all, you will certainly rise to meet the day once again. Rest, Restore, greet the morning, and clear the residue of the day on repeat. Remember, while we may never be able to corral all aspects of our life in order, but we can create a peaceful state of suspension to accept a restful night’s sleep. Above all, recall that you are most worthy of letting it all go long enough to get exactly what you need.
Try it out. LMK how it goes.
Namaste.