What it is
Not meditation. Not a nap. Something in between.
You lie down, press play, and a voice moves your attention slowly around your body: right hand, right arm, right shoulder, and so on. There is nothing to concentrate on, nothing to achieve, and no way to do it badly. Your mind will wander. That is not a problem, it is part of the design.
Because the body is completely still and the mind has a gentle, undemanding thread to follow, the system drifts down towards the edge of sleep while a thin layer of awareness stays. That state is where the rest happens.
Why it is in your plan
Most people have no daytime setting between "on" and "asleep".
A nervous system that only ever gets its recovery overnight is relying on the one thing that stress interferes with first.
- It gives the body a second window. Deep rest during waking hours takes some of the load off the night, which matters most for the people whose sleep is already broken.
- Nothing is required of you. Unlike a breathing practice, there is no counting, no technique and no effort. On the days when effort is not available, this one still is.
- It is a clean end-of-day signal. Done before bed, it marks the transition out of the day in a way that scrolling on the couch never does.
- Research is promising, not settled. Studies point to improvements in sleep quality, stress and anxiety measures. The evidence base is still small. Try it and judge it by how your own weeks go.
How to use it
The whole method.
This is the least complicated thing in your plan. If you can lie down and press play, you can do it correctly.
Lie down and get warm
On your back, on a bed or the floor. A blanket, because your body temperature drops as you settle. Headphones if the house is noisy.
Follow the voice
Let attention go where it is directed. When you notice you have drifted off into thought, come back. Noticing is the practice, not a failure of it.
Let sleep happen
Falling asleep is fine, especially at first and especially if you are tired. As the weeks go on you will more often stay on the edge of it.
Next short read
If you have a Calm Plan
Nothing here is required reading.
Your plan works on its own. These pages are for the days when you want to know why it works, not what to do next. If something in yours is not landing, or your numbers have stopped moving, that is worth a conversation rather than more reading.
Book a session with RichOr reply to the email your plan arrived in. It comes straight to me.