Trouble sleeping?

A solution to eco-related angst when it matters most - night time.

One of the things I’ve started doing in the last few years is meditating. It’s one of the few things in our world that’s undeniable, and without detractors. And lately I’ve started adding in a new meditation before I go to bed that really helps me sleep, and I think it might just be a key to saving our climate.

The thing is, I’m a guy who really cares. I give a lot of fu*ks. I give a fu*k about the planet and all the birds, bears, beavers, bats, bald eagles, and basking sharks that live on it, as well as all the Bobs, Bills, Breannas, and Beverlys. I care deeply - even though I’ve had a vasectomy and have never wanted my own biological children, I care deeply about the planet we’re leaving behind for the next generations.

And sometimes that causes me to not sleep so well, but this meditation has really changed the game for me. Feel free to adopt it, if you feel it might serve you.

The first thing I do is get comfy and close my eyes. Then I take 3 deep breaths, trying to follow the breath all the way in, through my sinuses, throat, down deep into my lungs, and all the way back out the same path in reverse. Then I think about the faces of climate champions - some famous ones, but mostly friends and colleagues I’ve met over the years. I send them love. I send them gratitude.

Then I say a little blessing for all those who care, as I do, and are doing something about it, who live in time zones different than mine. These are the people who will be fixing the world while I sleep. And here’s the cool thing - there are millions and millions of them, if not billions. Many of them don’t think about the fact that while they sleep, I’m fixing the world. It’s pretty fu*king awesome, if you think about it, just how many awesome people there are out there working around the clock to install solar, sell EVs, design better buildings, insulate old ones, electrify their fleets, do permaculture…

Yo - we’re a fu*king machine!!! Every positive action makes the world a little bit better, and it’s an undeniable, unstoppable machine.

Before you know it, I’m waking up to my alarm the next morning, having slept a solid night’s sleep while beautiful people the world ‘round have made things better while I slept, trusting that, when I get up, I’ll pick up the oars and start rowing so they can go sleep down below deck.

I’ve been telling people about this little meditation I do for a few months, and without fail, every single person I tell says something akin to, “that’s fu*king great”. (My community curses a lot, as I’m sure you’re picking up.) But this simple, somewhat obvious-in-retrospect observation about our 24 hour climate saving machine is not so obvious if you haven’t just sat and thought about the world this way.

It’s 10 PM my time - I’m signing off for the night. Gonna go meditate a bit. Many of you are sleeping soundly right now, and I hope you feel the love and gratitude I’m going to send you soon. That flow of energy is a two way street, and doesn’t come intuitively to many of us. Like yoga, meditation is a practice - the more you do, the easier it comes. Now that you know what I do every night, maybe you’ll start to feel it more. And if you are into it, go ahead and give it a shot. There’s a lot of great people working away while you sleep that I’m sure would love some love and gratitude for the beautiful and righteous work we’re doing.