Sleep story · cozy, rain
An attic room (a sleep story), when you are not sure this will work — for a night when you do not want to think
Sloping ceiling, rain on the roof a foot above your head.
Lights off. Press begin and let the story read itself to you, at the pace of sleep.
Screen on or off — we suggest dimming it, or simply closing your eyes after the first paragraph.
The story, in full
There is a dormer window with a deep sill, and a mug left on it from last night. The bed is pushed into the low corner, which makes it feel like a den. A carrier bag of shopping is still on the chair, unpacked.
The room is in the roof, and the ceiling slopes so steeply that you have to duck near the window. The air up here is warmer than downstairs and smells of old wood. The rain on the roof tiles is much closer and louder up here than anywhere else in the house.
Feel your heels sink a little into the mattress. Feel your belly rise and fall without any help from you.
Let everything you were holding today stay on the floor beside the bed. Notice the places where your body touches the bed, and let them be heavy.
The floorboards are bare and slightly uneven, and one of them always creaks. The radiator is small and makes a ticking sound as it cools.
Let the space between your eyebrows smooth out. Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed.
If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure. Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
Feel the weight of the blanket on your legs. Feel your heartbeat somewhere far away.
Almost nothing to do now. Let your attention settle somewhere low, like your feet.
Nothing here needs following closely. Just the breath. Sleep.
Not being sure it will work is a perfectly good reason to try it once.
That is the end of the story. Sleep is the next part, and it does not need instructions.
12 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for cozy, rain.
If this story does not settle you, try Sleep story: a bus at night, when you have woken up too early — for an overtired night, A caravan by the sea (a sleep story), when you have just finished work — for jet lag or Sleep story: a kitchen late at night, if you are doing this instead of scrolling — for a night when you do not want to think.