Wide Awake at Night

What to expect

It’s late, and something still needs you: a page, a shift, a thing to finish. With your eyes open, attention starts at one small place, where a hand is resting, and widens: the whole body, the room, the height of the ceiling, as far as hearing goes, the night outside the walls. A short rest at the widest, then back to the room, clear and steady. Wide awake. Not wound tight.

How to listen:

• Sitting or lying down, eyes open the whole way through.
• Headphones bring out the tones; it works without them.
• Later, when the night gets long, let your gaze widen.
• Not while driving or doing safety-critical work, and no substitute for sleep.

About

Safety and aftercare. You can stop at any point. Nothing here asks you to hold your breath or push. Later in the night, when it gets long, let your gaze widen.

Credits. That a mind left to itself swings between disturbance and lethargy, and that a clear, unpressured mind has a logic of its own, is Michael Singer’s teaching. Meeting drowsiness by turning toward light, space and sound, with clarity rather than effort, is an old remedy for dullness found in early Buddhist meditation, as Anālayo gives it.

Written by Lucas + Twins. Voice: Lee.

Transcript

Opening

It’s late, and something still needs you.

A page. A shift. A thing to finish.

The night has gone quiet around it.

Wide awake.

Not wound tight.

Let your back meet what holds it.

Shift a little, quietly, until it fits.

Keep your eyes open.

Let the gaze rest level, and soft.

Notice the breath, as it is.

Part One: Start small

Notice where one hand is resting.

Just that small place.

Its pressure, its edges.

Part Two: Widen

Notice how wide the whole body is.

The space just around it.

Let the gaze take in more.

Corner to corner of the room.

Sense the height of the ceiling.

Listen as far as hearing goes.

The night outside the walls.

Further than that.

Part Three: Rest in the widest

Only space, in every direction.

Let the gaze widen, as far as it goes.

And the quiet in it.

Part Four: Return

Feel the hand’s pressure again.

Let the gaze find something near.

A small stretch, if you like.

Notice the room, lit and here.

The night goes on around you.

There’s nothing to prove to the night.

Later, when the night gets long, let the gaze widen.

Carry on, eyes open, at ease.