Sleep story: a bus at night, when you have woken up too early — for a racing mind

Outside, someone is walking a dog that does not want to be out. A streetlight passes across the ceiling every few seconds. You do not have to get off for another twenty minutes.

You are on the top deck of the last bus, in the front seat, with the whole window to yourself. The bus stops and starts with a slow, heavy movement. There is a long stretch of road ahead with nothing on it.

Feel your wrists loosen. Feel the top of your head relax into the pillow.

Let the space between your eyebrows smooth out. Let your palms open if they were closed.

There are four other people downstairs and nobody up here. The heating comes through the floor and makes your feet warm.

Let your thumbs rest where they landed. Feel the back of your knees soften into the bed.

If you've lost track of where we were, you haven't lost anything important. Notice the moment you realise you've drifted. That moment is the whole skill.

Let your ribs stop working so hard. Let your shoulder blades spread out and drop.

Almost nothing to do now. Leave it there.

Stay with the weight of your body. You do not have to count them. Sleep.

Waking too early is a specific kind of frustrating. This helps with the frustration.

Let everything get quiet, including this.