The 3am Cortisol Wake-Up | Guided Meditation to Get Back to Sleep

[00:00:00]Hey, I'm Chipso Carrick and this meditation is for exactly this moment.

[00:00:09]Tired, wired, and switched on.

[00:00:16]Together, we'll let that jolt pass through and guide you gently back into sleep.

[00:00:30]We're not going to chase sleep tonight.

[00:00:35]We're going to make the conditions right and let sleep come back on its own because rest is still restorative.

[00:00:50]Even lying here awake, breathing slowly, your body is recovering.

[00:01:01]So nothing is being wasted.

[00:01:07]And here's the part worth knowing.

[00:01:11]That jolt that woke you wasn't danger.

[00:01:18]It was cortisol.

[00:01:21]the hormone that wakes you up in the morning.

[00:01:26]Tonight, cortisol came in about 4 hours early and caught you awake for it.

[00:01:37]That's all this is.

[00:01:41]And cortisol rises and falls in waves.

[00:01:47]So, this wave is already on its way back down.

[00:01:58]So, if it feels good, allowing the body to find its spot again.

[00:02:07]Maybe turning the pillow to the cool side.

[00:02:12]Maybe straightening the covers or switching sides.

[00:02:25]And now noticing the bed beneath us, the mattress still holding us.

[00:02:43]The pillow still exactly where we left it.

[00:02:53]The night may have woke you, but the support never went anywhere.

[00:03:11]And now noticing the breath.

[00:03:19]We're not going to do anything with the breath tonight.

[00:03:25]No counting, no technique, nothing to get right.

[00:03:36]At this hour, even a breathing exercise can feel like one more task.

[00:03:50]So instead, we're simply watching, noticing the breath coming in and the breath going out.

[00:04:23]And here's what's lovely about this.

[00:04:28]Now that the first cortisol jolt has passed, the breath is probably already slowing all by itself.

[00:04:46]The body is already calming itself down.

[00:04:55]Our only job is to notice the body doing that without our help.

[00:05:18]Each outreath a little softer than the last.

[00:05:30]Each outreath turning the volume down slightly.

[00:05:48]And if the heart still feels a bit loud, that's okay.

[00:05:56]The heart can take its time.

[00:06:01]Hearts always do.

[00:06:19]We can allow the heart to beat while everything around the heart softens.

[00:06:41]And now with the eyes closed, taking a slow sense of the room.

[00:06:57]The room is dark.

[00:07:01]The room is quiet.

[00:07:06]The door is where it always is.

[00:07:14]Nothing here needs you.

[00:07:20]Nothing here is waiting for an answer.

[00:07:39]When we wake up suddenly in the middle of the night, part of the brain starts scanning, checking for whatever set off the alarm.

[00:07:55]So, we're allowing the scan to finish.

[00:08:01]We're allowing the scan to come back with its answer that it's all clear.

[00:08:12]You're safe here.

[00:08:20]And if right now you're not somewhere safe or if the word safe doesn't feel relaxing tonight, then we can change that wording.

[00:08:38]You're allowed to rest here just for now, just for these few hours.

[00:08:51]Nothing more is being asked of you.

[00:09:14]And now we'll visit those few places where that 3:00 a.m. surge tends to sit.

[00:09:27]Not a full tour tonight, just the places that matter.

[00:09:37]And then we'll allow the rest of the body to follow.

[00:09:50]Bringing our awareness first of all to the chest.

[00:09:58]This is where the wake up usually lands.

[00:10:04]The fizz behind the breast bone or the heart a little louder than we'd like.

[00:10:22]There's nothing here to switch off.

[00:10:28]We're simply softening the space around the heart, giving the heart more room.

[00:10:50]The muscles across the chest loosening the shoulders dropping away from the ears.

[00:11:17]And the heart can keep doing what the heart is doing inside a chest that's no longer braced.

[00:11:48]moving our awareness down into the belly. Now, cortisol loves the belly.

[00:12:06]That slightly hollow, unsettled feeling like something's about to happen.

[00:12:24]Nothing is about to happen.

[00:12:33]The feeling is just chemistry passing through.

[00:12:54]So if it feels okay, allowing the belly to be soft, letting the belly rise and ball without holding anything in.

[00:13:31]And if the belly wants to stay a little guarded tonight, that's fine, too.

[00:13:44]We're inviting, never insisting And now moving our awareness to the hands.

[00:14:18]Noticing whether the fingers are curled or gripping the covers.

[00:14:36]Waking with a start often ends up in the hands.

[00:14:45]So unccurling the fingers if they're gripping.

[00:14:56]allowing the palms to rest open or loose, however they land.

[00:15:22]Hands with nothing to hold.

[00:15:26]And nothing to do.

[00:15:48]And now moving to the jaw.

[00:15:55]allowing the teeth to separate just slightly, allowing the tongue to rest heavy in the mouth.

[00:16:23]The jaw is often the last part of us to believe the allclear signal.

[00:16:32]So, we're giving the jaw a little extra time.

[00:16:48]Softening and softening again.

[00:17:12]And now the rest of the body in one slow wave.

[00:17:30]The face smoothing out the neck. letting go.

[00:17:52]The back widening into the mattress.

[00:18:05]The hips growing heavy.

[00:18:17]The legs growing heavy.

[00:18:29]The feet resting.

[00:18:48]The whole body standing down piece by piece.

[00:19:01]Here's the strange thing about middle of the night thinking.

[00:19:27]The mind never picks a problem we can actually solve. Right now, the 3:00 a.m. mind runs on low light and old fear.

[00:19:51]The 3:00 a.m. mind gets the facts wrong and the feelings too big.

[00:20:06]Right now, we don't need to process any of it.

[00:20:16]We just need to stop carrying it through the night.

[00:20:40]So if you like picture tomorrow you you after a few more Hours of rest, clearer, steadier, better at all of this.

[00:21:22]And imagine handing tomorrow. You the audit.

[00:21:40]You can even say quietly in the mind, not now.

[00:21:51]The morning can have it.

[00:22:17]And if a thought comes back, we can hand the thought over again as many times as we need.

[00:23:00]And from here the words can begin to thin out.

[00:23:18]Less to follow.

[00:23:24]Less to do.

[00:23:40]The body heavy on the mattress.

[00:23:55]The breath slow and unhurried.

[00:24:15]The surge that woke you passing now like weather and sleep drifting back towards you.

[00:24:46]in its own time.

[00:25:08]You don't have to reach for sleep.

[00:25:17]Sleep knows where you are.

[00:25:36]And if you're still awake, that's okay.

[00:25:53]Resting here like this.

[00:25:58]It's already doing its work.

[00:26:19]Drifting and drifting.

[00:26:45]And now a few gentle phrases can drift softly in the background.

[00:26:55]found.

[00:27:08]You don't have to repeat them.

[00:27:14]You don't have to remember them.

[00:27:21]They can simply be there.

[00:27:26]quietly while you sleep.

[00:27:46]I'm allowed to be awake for a moment and still have a good night.

[00:28:07]Waking in the night doesn't mean anything's gone wrong.

[00:28:26]My body knows the way back to sleep.

[00:28:45]I don't need to check the time.

[00:29:03]Nothing needs an answer from me tonight.

[00:29:21]The morning can hold whatever the night brings up.

[00:29:40]Rest is still restoring me even now.

[00:30:01]Each outreath is settling me a little more.

[00:30:20]My heart can slow in its own time.

[00:30:39]My body is turning the lights back down.

[00:30:58]It's safe to let the night be quiet.

[00:31:17]If I wake again, I can simply begin again.

[00:31:38]sleep can come back in its own time.

[00:31:58]I'm held.

[00:32:00]I'm safe.

[00:32:03]And I can drift.

[00:32:21]I'm allowed to be awake for a moment and still have a good night.

[00:32:42]Waking in the night doesn't mean anything's gone wrong.

[00:33:02]My body knows the way back to sleep.

[00:33:20]I don't need to check the time.

[00:33:38]Nothing needs an answer from me tonight.

[00:33:56]The morning can hold whatever the night brings up.

[00:34:15]Rest is still restoring me.

[00:34:19]Even now.

[00:34:36]Each outreath is settling me a little more.

[00:34:55]My heart can slow in its own time.

[00:35:14]My body is turning the lights back down.

[00:35:33]It's safe to let the night be quiet.

[00:35:52]If I wake again, I can simply begin again.

[00:36:13]Sleep can come back in its own time.

[00:36:33]I'm held.

[00:36:35]I'm safe.

[00:36:38]And I can drift.

[00:36:56]from here.

[00:36:59]My voice will begin to fade and gentle sounds will stay with you through the rest of the night.

[00:37:33]Returning now to the breath, the soft rhythm of breathing In and breathing out.

[00:38:09]Each breath a little slower.

[00:38:21]Each breath a little softer.

[00:38:45]Nothing to manage anymore.

[00:39:08]The body growing heavier, resting into the mattress.

[00:39:24]Letting the bed take the weight.

[00:39:53]The surge that woke you is long gone now.

[00:40:06]Carried off like weather in the night.

[00:40:30]The lights inside turned low again down to that last warm glow.

[00:41:11]thoughts loosening.

[00:41:20]Drifting apart, dissolving before they finish.

[00:41:57]The gentle sounds around you, steady and soft.

[00:42:14]Holding the room like a slow tide.

[00:42:47]Nothing more to do.

[00:42:55]Nowhere else to be.

[00:43:04]Nothing left to solve tonight.

[00:43:33]The morning will keep and the morning will come.

[00:43:50]All by itself.

[00:44:21]shoulders softening.

[00:44:32]Hands resting.

[00:44:44]jaw.

[00:44:45]letting go.

[00:45:16]The breath moving on its own now.

[00:45:50]And if you wake again later, the sounds will still be here.

[00:46:05]ready to carry you back down.

[00:46:38]settling, softening, releasing the last of the night's weight.

[00:47:19]drifting now further into softness.

[00:47:34]Further into Why?

[00:48:11]and sleep.

[00:48:16]Arriving gently, carrying you through till morning.

[00:48:29]and sleep.