I can tell when I’m falling asleep. My brain hyper-focuses on the sound of my clock.
I remember when I first purchased it and put a battery into it. I thought, “Oh, my God, I’ll never sleep with how loud this thing is.” Ironically, it served as a lullaby, something to distract my brain, drown out the noises of things left undone, things still yet to be started.
My breathing begins to pace itself with the tick and tock, four breaths in-between each and my body slips away toward Sleeptown. There’s a physical feeling of melting into the mattress, the comforting silky texture of sheets around my body, the coolness of the body pillow that I cuddle up to. My breath is light and soft, slowing down until all I hear is the tick and then the tock.
My brain remembers something on my to-do list. My mind envisions me doing a task. That moment is frozen in time and systematically fades away until it vanishes from my mind’s eye. All that’s left is the tick and then the tock.
One side of my face nuzzles itself further into the pillow. My arms loosen around the body pillow. Feeling is drifting away as my mind readily shuts itself down to allow my body to rest, heal, and refresh.
Faintly the sounds of birds chirping reach my deadened ears. Afterall it’s 0600, the sun is rising, the world is awakening. All while my nocturnal brain is finding its way to the darkness. The darkness of sweet sleep.
The tick and then the tock are no longer heard. All things have been completely stripped away as I soar into, and relish, the depths of quiet solitude.
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Can you feel when you’re falling asleep? Or does it happen suddenly for you? I look forward to reading about your experiences.
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