#relaxation techniqúe

[thedaveandkimmershow]

Turns out the story I've been telling this whole time is really Part 1... because Part 2 actually happened last night.

By the way, time elapsed between Part 1 and Part 2?

Forty-one and a half years.

Ish.

PART 1

After high school graduation, a bunch of us spent a weekend during the summer at Ocean Shores. One afternoon while we were there inside the lodge, one of my friends walked us through a relaxation exercise where we all lay down on the floor on our backs. After that, we're instructed to contract each muscle in our bodies one at a time, and then release.

Every muscle. One at a time.

Contract.

The. Release.

Followed by...

Close your eyes.

So we close our eyes and our friend walks us through the visualization. From this distance in time, I don't remember anything about the narrative. Linzy, though, would recognize it as a rudimentary dream patrol because each of us had parts of the visualization to fill in. For example, at one point we're walking along a path when we come upon something. What color is that something?

Orange, was my answer. Orange, because earlier that day, walking on the beach, I think I found an actual orange. Or maybe it was an orange ball. Something like that.

Orange.

By the way, that was the last thing I remember because right after that, laying on the floor with my eyes shut, I fall straight into a deep sleep.

In the middle of the afternoon.

Heckuva thing, that.

PART 2

Okay so forty-one and a half (ish) years later, I'm at the bedside of a little boy who's doing everything in his power to not go to bed. He's very clever about it, this little one. He also happens to be my honorary grandson.

So I'm sitting at the end of his bed while he's thinking about what his next move's gonna be 'cause I'm not playing by his rules just now. Because what I just said is

You don't have to go to sleep at all tonight.

Huh?

No really. I told him that.

You don't have to go to sleep.

At all.

Tonight.

Now, next to his bed's a little radio looking gizmo that's playing a bedtime story.

It's on a little loud, though. So I turn it down to one or two, maybe three.

"I can't hear it," complains my little bedtime combatant.

"You can," I say. "In fact, the most powerful hearing we do is for soft sounds when our ears work harder. Here. Let's both be quiet for a sec and just listen."

So we do.

And then I say

"See what I mean?"

No idea if he does, by the way. He's just rollin' with it. So I continue.

"Now, there are a couple things that make this work better. The first is to close your eyes. Don't do that yet, though. Just know that when our eyes are closed our ears work extra hard to hear what we can't see."

"But I can't see the screen," he objects.

Turns out the little radio has a screen built into it as well. A bit of over-engineering, in my opinion.

"Well," I say, "that's what your ears are gonna do for you. Because you're going to imagine in your head everything you hear from your radio. "

He nods.

"Here's the most important thing, though. You need to put your arms to either side of you. And you have to relax all your muscles."

I shake my shoulders and arms in such a way as to give him a sense of jello.

"Okay. So remember. The most important thing is to relax all your muscles. They all have to be loose."

Hmmmmm.

So far, so good.

"Now. What's gonna happen next is I'm gonna turn the volume down another click. You're gonna relax all your muscles like jello with your arms at your sides. You're gonna close your eyes. Then you're gonna imagine inside your head what you hear from the radio.

Ready?"

He nods his head.

So I turn the volume down a click. Then I turn out the light.

In a moment, all I can see is by a colored string of lights hanging by the bed.

"You doing okay?"

He doesn't say anything.

I look at him a little more intently in the dark and see that he's flashing me a thumbs up.

And so, with my work done, I exit stage left with a "I love you, buddy" and close the door behind me.

It worked, by the way.

He didn't turn his lights back on, didn't get up and leave his room again. Because at some point...

He fell straight into sleep.

Man... I love it when a plan comes together.

😉

#bedtime #bedtime story #going to bed #visualization #relaxation techniqúe #sleep #falling asleep #ocean shores #high school