You're tired, you know you're tired, and yet, here you are, wide awake. Maybe your thoughts are moving a little too quickly, maybe there's a low hum of something, not quite anxiety, not quite alertness, your body feels heavy, but your mind won't slow down, you're exhausted in a way that should guarantee sleep, and yet sleep won't come. This is one of the most frustrating experiences a person can have, it's not a mystery why it happens, there's a very specific and very understandable reason why this happens, and tonight, I want to explain it to you, because I think understanding what's happening inside your body when you can't sleep is the first step to working with it and not fighting it.So here's the short version, your body has two systems that govern sleep, the first is called sleep pressure, it's a genuine physical chemical drive towards sleep that has been building inside you since the moment you woke up this morning. Every hour you were awake today, your brain was producing a chemical called adenosine, think of it as your sleep hormone, it accumulates right in the very areas of your brain that have been keeping you awake and alert all day. By now, there is a lot of it, your body genuinely wants sleep, and that heaviness you feel, that's your sleep pressure, but there's a second system, and tonight it's putting up a fight, cortisol is your alerting hormone, it's highest in the morning and designed to get you up and moving, it's supposed to taper off as evening comes, but sometimes after a demanding day or a stressful week, cortisol lingers, it keeps the lights on, it keeps you braced and alert and ready for something that isn't even coming.And there is one more thing that's worth knowing, and this is for tomorrow rather than tonight, caffeine blocks the adenosine receptors in your brain, and it has a surprisingly long half-life, that cup of coffee you had at 2 p.m., half of it is still in your system at bedtime, caffeine also hides in tea, chocolate, some soft drinks, and some medications, it's worth keeping in mind the next time sleep won't come. What we have tonight are two systems working against each other your sleep pressure on one side and your arousal system on the other, still running, still alert and we're going to do something about that, we're going to help your body understand that the day is over, that nothing is coming, that it is safe completely safe to let the sleep pressure win, but first I need to make sure that you are somewhere safe to sleep. This episode uses relaxation and hypnotherapy techniques designed to guide you into sleep.There is a full disclosure in the show notes, and before we get started a quick thank you to everyone who follows this podcast, you keep the show going, you really do, I love creating these episodes, but it is a lot of work sometimes, and knowing that you're out there, that's what keeps me on schedule, new episode every Sunday and Wednesday at midnight, even when I'm being a terrible procrastinator, and I'm finishing up at exactly 11 59, so if you haven't followed yet please do, you would be joining a very special community, now let's get you settled and we'll begin with your breathing, I want you to notice how you're breathing right now, specifically is your breath shallow, when your breathing is shallow it lives entirely in the upper chest, the belly, the ribs, they don't move at all, it can feel almost like you're sipping air rather than drinking it, shallow breathing tells your body to be alert, so let's change that, take a slow breath in and let your belly rise first and then your chest and then breathe out, let that exhale carry something with it, the last of the day's worries the tension you've been holding, just let them go, let's do that again, breathe in slowly fill your lungs up completely and then breathe out all the way to the end until there's nothing left to release, keep breathing this way, just let each exhale be a I'd like you to notice something underneath the tiredness, underneath the tension you've been carrying, there is something that's been there all day, building quietly, your sleep pressure, all day long your brain has been producing adenosine, your sleep hormone, every hour you were awake it accumulated, see if you can feel it a heaviness, a warmth, something softly pressing at the edges of your awareness, asking you to sleep let's help it, bring your attention to your forehead, the muscles across your brow, the space between your eyes, feel them soften now and as they soften, imagine that golden warmth beginning there, deep inside, not on the surface, a gentle heat, the color of late afternoon light coming through the window, warming everything it touches, your adenosine finally being felt, let it spread slowly across your forehead into your temples, dissolving the last traces of alertness as it goes down into your eyes now, those hard-working muscles all the tiny fibers that have been focusing all day, feel the warmth moving through them, feel them, grow heavy, your eyelids are asking to stay closed and there is absolutely no reason to argue with them, the warmth moves into your jaw, your mouth all the small precise muscles that have been expressing and holding whatever face the day needed let them all release now, feel the golden warmth pooling there, softening everything it touches down into your neck, your shoulders, feel the warmth arriving there like something you've been waiting for, those muscles that have been pulling upward all day, feel them respond to the warmth feel them drop, feel the weight of your shoulders surrendering to gravity, the warmth moves down through your arms now, your upper arms growing heavy, your elbows loose, your forearms still, your hands feel the warmth moving into your palms, into each finger, your hands are open and soft and warm, into your chest now, feel the warmth spreading across your sternum that place in the center of your chest where tension likes to sit, feel it soften, feel your chest open, the warmth moves into your stomach, that's the place worry likes to live in your body not in thoughts but physically, feel the warmth moving through it now, quieting everything it touches feel the light moving through your legs as they become heavy and still, your thighs your knees, your calves, your feet become heavier, so heavy, so relaxed, take a moment now to notice your whole body, the golden warmth is everywhere now, moving through you this is your adenosine, your sleep hormone, finally being allowed to do what it's been trying to do for hours, your cortisol is quieting now, the alertness that has been holding on keeping the lights on long after they were needed, it is fading, losing ground, the sleep pressure is winning, the way it always does, when we finally stop standing in its way, your breathing is slow your body is heavy and warm, your mind is growing quiet, the golden warmth of your sleep hormone has moved through you completely and your cortisol, that persistent well-meaning system that kept you running all day, has finally, quietly begun to stand down, now i want you to imagine something, imagine your mind as a building, a large and busy building that has been fully lit and occupied all day long, every floor humming with activity every room doing its job, the planning department running through tomorrow's schedule the worry department cataloging everything that needs your attention, memory department filing and sorting and retrieving, every light is on, every system is running you know this building well, you've been in it all day, but it's late now and one by one, the workers are leaving, the first lights to go out are on the upper floors the planning and reasoning floors, the ones that have been working the hardest running the longest, refusing to stop, even when you lay down tonight watch those lights, go out now, one by one, room by room, the floor grows dark and quiet and still the work is done, everyone has gone home, the next floor now, the worry department those busy well-intentioned rooms that have been turning things over all day examining them from every angle, trying to solve, prepare and protect, watch those lights go out too slowly, without drama, just a quiet darkness settling over rooms that were so recently bright and busy, the worries are still there, they'll be on your desk in the morning if you want them but the department is closed now, the lights are out, floor by floor, the building grows dark the sensory floors now, the ones that have been monitoring the outside world all day, tracking sounds and light and movement, staying alert to everything around you, those lights are dimming now too, the outside world is growing distant, less relevant, building is turning inward growing quiet, letting go of its vigil, as the lights go out, you feel something go with them some last remnant of alertness some final thread of wakefulness, replaced with something warm and dark, the building is mostly dark now only a few lights remain, deep in the lower floors, quiet and steady, these are the lights that never go out, the ones tending to your breathing, your heartbeat, your temperature the overnight staff, who will watch over you all night long, while the rest of the building sleeps you don't need to worry about them, they know what they're doing, let your awareness rest on those last quiet lights for a moment, feel how safe that is, your body being tended to even in sleep,  even now, the golden warmth is everywhere, in your heavy limbs, in your slow breathing, in the quiet darkness behind your eyes, your adenosine has done its patient faithful work, the sleep pressure has won, inevitably, exactly as it was always going to, your body knows how to sleep, it has always known it was doing it long before you ever started worrying about it, sleep is not a skill you have lost, it is a biological certainty built into you, the deepest level, if there are nights when sleep is slow to come, don't panic, anxiety about sleep is the one thing that reliably makes sleep harder, the best thing you can do on a difficult night is simply rest, let your body be still and warm, trust that your adenosine is doing its quiet, patient work, trust that sleep is coming, even if it takes a little longer than you'd like, and tonight it is coming, that golden warmth, that heaviness, that beautiful dimming of everything that was so bright and busy just hours ago, your building is dark and quiet, your overnight staff is on duty, there's nothing left to tend to, nothing left to manage, nothing left to do but drift, morning will come with its fresh light, and its new beginning, and everything will look more possible than it does now, right now, there is only this, this warmth, this quiet, this peace, your breathing has found its sleep rhythm, your heartbeat has quieted to its resting pace, every muscle in your body has released its hold, and there's a heaviness in your limbs, that wonderful sensation that tells you sleep is very close, there is nothing left to do, nothing left to think, nothing left to be tonight except deeply and completely asleep, I'm Suzanne, and this is your ticket to Snoozeville. Sleep, now. Sleep deeply. Sleep well.