Sleep is no big deal.
If you don't sleep,
Then you'll experience certain sensations,
Which you will interpret as,
I didn't get enough sleep.
This is a good thing.
Tiredness and sleep are survival mechanisms.
Given that they're survival mechanisms,
You can trust them.
And so if you don't sleep right now,
That's okay.
Maybe you'll sleep in the next moment.
Maybe you'll sleep now.
And if not now,
Maybe now.
If we don't drink enough water,
We experience certain sensations,
Which act like cues that can be interpreted to mean I should get a glass of water.
But if you don't get a glass of water,
You'll deal with those sensations until you do.
Just like if you don't sleep,
You'll deal with those sensations until you do.
If you skip a meal,
There will likely be certain sensations again.
They're really not that bad.
And neither are those of thirst,
And neither are those of sleep deprivation.
Now yes,
In extreme cases,
These sensations can become overwhelming.
But all we need to do,
In each case,
Is the best next step.
So if I'm thirsty,
I get my glass of water.
If I'm hungry,
I acquire a meal.
Sleep is somewhat different in that we cannot go and get it.
We must be sure to never grasp directly at sleep.
Instead,
We just relax.
And this is where the quality of sleep being no big deal is vital.
For as long as we think that sleep is a big deal,
As long as we try to grasp it directly,
As long as we desire it,
As long as we stress about its absence,
We hinder our chances of its occurring.
To truly relax,
To be in the ideal condition for sleep to occur,
We hold no concept of sleep in mind.
Indeed when we're truly present,
We hold no concept in mind.
And so to strike at the root,
So to speak.
I recommend the simple practice of mindfulness of breathing.
To enjoy the pleasant sensations of the breath.
To celebrate when you catch the mind wandering.
And simply repeat this process.
This sets up a positive reinforcement for coming back to the present moment.
And that the breath is always occurring in the present.
When we skillfully and playfully train our attention to it,
We develop a valuable skill of forgetting the past,
Forgetting the future,
Forgetting concepts,
Including any about sleep.
And finding real relaxation here in the present moment.
Even if only for an instant we do this,
We are successful.
Where we all enjoy the present moment,
Free of the past,
Free of the future,
Free of conceptual elaboration and rest.
