A caravan by the sea, if you have done this a hundred times — for an overtired night

There is a torch by the door in case you need to walk to the toilets in the night. The window over the sink has a small crack in the corner that has been there for years. The bed folds out of the seating area and takes up most of the floor.

A clock on the wall ticks with a slight rattle on every second. The whole caravan smells of salt, gas and clean bedding. Everything you need is within two metres of where you are lying.

Your jaw can drop slightly. Let your teeth part. Let the pillow take the whole weight of your head.

Let your forearms get heavy and warm. Let everything you were holding today stay on the floor beside the bed.

The sea is about fifty metres away, over a bank of shingle. The curtains are thin, and the moon makes a pale rectangle on the floor.

Notice your hips, wide and settled. Let your lower back sink down into the mattress.

Your ankles can go loose now. Feel your heels sink a little into the mattress.

You can hear the shingle moving as the waves pull back. The wind pushes against the side of the caravan in long, slow gusts.

Let your toes stop holding on to anything. Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed.

The caravan rocks very slightly in the wind, which is more comforting than it sounds. There is a gas ring, a kettle, and two cups, one of which is a different pattern.

Let your forehead go cool and smooth. Feel the weight of the blanket on your legs.

Notice the exact moment your attention left. You probably won't catch it. That's normal. If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.

Let your thighs be as heavy as they want to be. Feel the weight of your head on the pillow.

Let the quiet be boring. Let the thoughts come and go without you getting up to answer.

You do not have to count them. Follow the breath out, and let the next one arrive by itself. Let the sound of this go soft at the edges.

Let them. The words can start to blur now. Just the breath.

If you have done this a hundred times, change one small thing tonight.

There is nothing more to follow. Let the rest happen on its own.