Tired, Bad Mood, Curmudgeonly - It’s All Practice

Woke up really early the other morning - needed to get 3-4 more hours of sleep. Returned to bed, tried being aware of breathing, relaxing the body, etc. Got more relaxation, but was unable to get to sleep. Gave up and started the day.

Ended up stretching out on the couch. Tried to do some work, but was pretty out of it. So just sat there and was aware of my breathing and thoughts and feelings in my body. With the lack of drive, it became a very natural process!

“Negative” thoughts came and went: “Man, why couldn’t I get back to sleep?” “I sure feel crummy now!” “Wanted to get a lot done today, but it looks like that’s not going to happen”, etc. But with this process of being aware of the breath, being aware of the thoughts, and letting them go to become aware of the next moment (maybe tired body sensations), I began to see that the curmudgeonly thoughts and the tiredness / lack of energy / unpleasant body sensations didn’t have to be a block to having a good day! In fact, they were fertile fuel for mindfulness practice!

So this experience showed me a way to continue to practice, and live in, mindfulness, even when not feeling well!