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Are you tossing and turning because it's too hot to sleep? Kicking off the covers, turning the pillow to the cool side, and still finding your mind won't switch off? If you are lying awake on a hot, balmy summer night wondering how on earth you're going to drift away, you are in exactly the right place.
Welcome to Calming Anxiety with Martin Hewlett. As a certified clinical hypnotherapist and former frontline UK emergency services paramedic, I understand how physical discomfort and daytime anxiety trigger a restless mind at night. This deep sleep meditation is specifically crafted to help you handle nighttime overheating. Together, we will use structured breathing techniques, deep body relaxation, and soothing sensory visualizations to cool down your nervous system, quiet the racing thoughts, and guide your body gently down into deep, breathable sleep.
The script
Transcribed from the audio, so the odd word may be off. Tap any line while it plays to keep the words in step with Martin's voice.
It's too hot to sleep. You've kicked off the covers, turn the pillow to the cool side, and still your mind won't switch off. If you're lying there on a hot, barmy night, wondering how on earth you're going to fall asleep in this heat? You are in exactly the right place. This is a sleep meditation for when it's too hot to sleep. Together, we'll cool this restless mind and guide your body gently, down, into deep, easy sleep. Hi there, I'm Martin. This is calming anxiety, ten minutes of daily calm, from a certified clinical hypnotist therapist and former frontline paramedic. Before we begin, the new app, Anchored, is now in open testing and it's built for nights exactly like this one. Simply open the app and search sleep and you'll find your perfect drifting off session from a library of over three thousand. There's a link waiting for you in the show notes. And if it's daytime anxiety that keeps you up at night, the anxiety circuit break-it-course is there for you at calminganxiety.fm. But for now, this is your time to rest.
So let yourself settle now. However, your line, let your body grow heavy against the bed, heavy and warm and held. We'll start with the breath because the breath is the one part of this warm restless night you can gently take charge of. Breathe in slowly through your nose, a cool quiet breath in for four, then hold the two, then let go long and slow through soft lips for six.
Ready with me. Breathe in to three, four, hold two, release two, three, four, five, six.
That long slow release is the signal to the whole body that the day is done. Again with me, breathe in two, three, four, hold two, relax two, three, four, five, six.
Let the counting fade now. No need to keep track. Just a slow breath in and an even slower breath out.
Each exhale carrying a little more of the day away and a little more of the heat with it. Now let your mind drift somewhere cool. Picture yourself lying at the edge of a still moonlit lake.
The fierce heat of the day has long gone. The water is dark and calm and cool and its surface catches the soft pale light of the moon. And as you lie here at the water's edge, a gentle cool breeze drifts up of the lake and you feel it move across your warm skin. It cools your forehead, your cheeks, the back of your neck, your shoulders, lifting the heat away from you, carrying it out over the dark water and into the night. With every slow breath, that cool air settles a little deeper down through your chest into your arms and your hands all the way down to your feet. The warmth simply drifts away across the lake and a soft, easy coolness takes its place. There is nowhere to be, nothing to do, just you and the cold water and the pale moon and the breeze that keeps you comfortable and calm.
Within this moment of stillness, let these five affirmations settle over you like the cool night air.
There is nothing to do but hear them. The heat has no hold on me tonight.
Cool and calm, my body is ready to rest. Heavy and calm, I let myself go.
Sleep will find me the way it always does.
I settle into the dark and let the whole day go.
Relax. Every out breath allowing you to sink even deeper into the surface beneath you.
To feel the muscles loosen lengthen and unwind. To sense the tensions, the thoughts of the day evaporate from the surface of your skin.
Relax deeply, calmly, further and further down with every exhalation.
With every word I say and then once more, the heat has no hold on me tonight.
Cool and calm, my body is ready to rest.
Heavy and calm, I let myself go. Sleep will find me the way it always does.
I settle into the dark and let the whole day go.
To help you with sleep, for all the nights ahead, hear your three daily caring tips.
One, cool the body, not just the room. If you want to fall asleep faster on a hot night, cool your body before bed. A quick lukewarm shower, not cold, helps the core temperature drop. And that gentle drop is the very signal that tells your brain it's time to sleep.
Two, let your feet breathe. One of the simplest ways to sleep cool in the heat is to let one foot or both slip out from under the covers. The soles of your feet release warmth beautifully. A natural cotton bedding will always sleep cooler than synthetic sheets. And three, keep your sleep routine even in summer.
Long, light summer evenings can quietly push your bed time later and later. To protect your sleep, dim the light an hour before bed and keep your sleep routine steady. Your body clock loves a rhythm, whatever the season. That's all you need to do now. No more thinking, no more trying.
Just let the cool night carry you down into deep, breathable sleep. Deeper and deeper with every out breath, with every beat of your heart.
To allow your subconscious to watch over you further and further down now.
Safe and secure. Relax and unwind and in your dreams be kind.
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