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Series: Sleep Hypnosis

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In the middle of the night, to drift back to sleep without checking the clock.
Technique
Self-hypnosis: gentle confusion: Softly tangled phrases, so the mind stops trying to keep up.
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Why do I wake up at 3am?

Who is this session for?

This session is designed for those frustrating moments when you wake up in the middle of the night and your mind starts racing. It is especially helpful if you feel the urge to constantly check the time. You can listen to it right in your bed to softly guide your active thoughts back to rest.

How does it unfold?

  1. at the startPreparationThe voice reassures you that you are in full control and invites you to sink into your mattress.
  2. around 1 minInductionYou let your eyelids grow heavy, turning any urge to check the clock into a signal to relax.
  3. around 3 minDeepeningYou visualize walking down a comfortable staircase, using a gentle mental rocking motion to double your relaxation.
  4. around 5 minThe CoreYou count backward by threes while picturing a sinking silver fish, gently exhausting your racing thoughts.
  5. around 9 minAnchoringThe voice sets a physical cue with your breath to help you easily find this calm on future nights.
  6. around 10 minDriftingThe words slowly fade away, stretching time so you can peacefully slide into a deep slumber.

Why does it help you sleep?

This approach helps you fall back asleep by giving your analytical mind just enough to do so it stops spinning. By asking you to count and visualize at the same time, it gently occupies your attention, which naturally encourages your brain to let go. Every time you lose track, your attention softens, which can facilitate a smooth transition into deep rest.

How to listen

Listen at a very low volume, lying in your most comfortable sleeping position as soon as you wake up in the dark. It is perfectly fine and encouraged to drift off long before the audio finishes.

Session published on · a site run by Stéphane H., founder of Alcyonia · description written on

Music: Valley of Eternity, Alan Frijns.

Listen somewhere calm, never while driving. This relaxation session does not replace the advice of a doctor or health professional.

Read the session script

Self-hypnosis is a very natural state… much like when you are so absorbed in a good book that the world around you simply fades away… You remain completely in control the entire time… there is absolutely nothing you need to achieve right now… whatever happens is perfectly fine… and if you happen to drift off before the end of my words, that is exactly what you are supposed to do… Just let yourself sink a little further into the comfort of your mattress…

You are resting in your bed… you feel the soft mattress beneath you… you hear the sound of my voice in the quiet room… you feel the gentle rhythm of your breath… and you can allow yourself to simply drift away…

Your eyelids might already feel heavy… so delightfully heavy and relaxed that they just don't want to open… it feels so good to keep them gently closed… embracing the comforting darkness of the night… If a thought wanders into your mind… or if you feel any lingering curiosity about the time… let it just dissolve into the dark… let it become a signal to close your eyes even more securely… A soft wave of soothing relaxation can flow from the very top of your head all the way down to your toes… washing over you in one gentle sweep…

And as you exhale slowly, releasing all the air from your lungs into the comforting quiet of the night, you can go a little deeper…

Imagine yourself standing at the top of a comfortable, carpeted staircase in a dimly lit, safe place… We will count down from ten to one… and each number takes you twice as deep…

Ten… taking that first step down… feeling the calmness spreading…

Nine… stepping down again… deeply relaxed…

Let us pause and step back up one step to ten… feeling a slight lightness… and now stepping down to nine… and down to eight… feeling that gentle rocking motion…

Seven… going twice as deep into this comforting space…

Six… the numbers are starting to become a little blurry… a little further away…

Five… drifting further down…

Four… it is so easy to let the numbers just fade away…

Three… letting them go completely on their own…

Two… almost at the bottom now… deeply serene…

One… resting perfectly at the bottom… in a profound hypnotic rest…

And now… to help your mind completely let go of the night… I invite you to do two simple things at the exact same time… First… you can begin to count backward in your mind… starting from three hundred… and counting backward by three… Three hundred… two hundred and ninety-seven… two hundred and ninety-four… and so on…

And while part of your mind is busy with those numbers… another part can imagine a smooth, silver fish… or perhaps a perfectly polished stone… gently sinking into calm, warm, crystal-clear water…

You can let go of the numbers now… or in just a few moments… it really does not matter… because every time you lose track of the count… every time a number slips away or you make a tiny mistake… it is simply an invitation for that silver fish to glide further down… going deeper and deeper into sleep… down into the quiet warmth of the water…

Three hundred… sinking down… two hundred ninety-seven… drifting deeper… It is so very easy to lose your place… and the more you lose your place, the more you can just sleep deeply… Your mind is safely occupied… letting the analytical thoughts tire out and soften… while the smooth stone sinks gracefully into the absolute stillness at the bottom of the water…

You are doing beautifully… your body knows exactly how to rest… it remembers how to sleep deeply and effortlessly… And for all the nights to come… every time your head touches the pillow in the middle of the night and you exhale slowly three times while resting your hand gently on your belly, this exact feeling of profound calmness will return… instantly… taking you even faster and deeper into sleep…

Time can stretch and soften now… every minute of this deep rest can feel like an hour of pure, restorative calm… If you need to wake up for any reason, you will naturally regain full alertness… but for now… there is nowhere else to be… nothing else to do… just this beautiful, quiet drift…

The silver fish is resting at the bottom…

The numbers have completely melted away…

Just the gentle rise and fall of your breath…

Sinking deeper…

And deeper…

Sleeping perfectly now…

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