4 Foundational Practices to Transform Your Sleep and Your Life

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Your nightly routine can be a gateway to abundance and fulfillment, where practical wisdom meets spiritual insight for tangible, life-changing results

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The following is an excerpt from Oliver Niño’s upcoming book, Do This Before Bed: Simple 5-Minute Practices That Will Change Your Life [reproduced with permission from the publisher, Hay House].

One of the things that makes life so challenging for many people is that they are walking around with an inherited set of beliefs that don’t make them any healthier, happier, or more connected to themselves and others. The foundational practices will help you become more attuned to the real you— the eternal you who existed way before your mind and heart were taken over by limiting beliefs and ideas about who you are and how reality operates. As you get into a rhythm with them, you’ll gain a greater sense of clarity that helps you connect to your highest needs, and the beliefs that actually support you to tap into your full potential.

For example, these days I don’t necessarily end my evening with all the practices if I’m in my house in Colorado, in a town of 800 people—because the beautiful natural environment and peaceful setting ends up clearing any residual negative or chaotic energy that might be lingering in the air. However, if I’m traveling to a city like Los Angeles or New York, then I’m around lots of people or situations that might be energy-draining or triggering, as well as being exposed to external stimuli that may affect my well-being. On those occasions, I might double up on the foundational practices by doing them in the morning and the evening.

I recommend going all in with the foundational practices at first, maybe even doing them repeatedly throughout the day so you can build a higher level of mastery. This will help you develop a more intuitive sense of what you need over time. As I said, if these four practices are all you take from this book, that’s great. You’ll definitely notice a huge shift in your energy levels, mood, connection to yourself and others, and your ability to optimize your time and energy throughout the day.

Have fun, and sweet dreams!

#1: Clear and Open Your Third Eye, Ears, and Heart

If you’re reading this book, I’m willing to bet you’re probably sensitive to other people’s energies, meaning you can feel it when someone else is anxious or overwhelmed, but also when they’re happy and relaxed. It’s likely that the energy centers in your body (also known as the chakras) are open, which is great! But the downside may be that these energy centers are overactive. If so, you could be bringing all that heightened energy into your sleep. That might be okay if you’re mostly hanging out with a lot of enlightened, happy, peaceful, relaxed people! But the truth is, highly sensitive people are usually picking up on both obvious and not-so-obvious vibes. And, given the fact that we don’t exactly live in a generally relaxed society, if you’re highly sensitive, you may be carrying excess negativity and anxiety into your sleep — which you most certainly don’t want to do!

During sleep, you’re supposed to recharge and refuel. But if you’re carrying other people’s energy, you’re more likely to have nightmares, astral travel to dark and heavy places, and wake up feeling drained, overwhelmed, and as if you didn’t get a lick of sleep. So, for starters, right before you go to bed I encourage you to never fixate on people who triggered or hurt you.

This first tool focuses on setting an intention to release any negative energy you might have absorbed throughout the day. By doing so, you’ll be taking back the sacred period of time that constitutes your sleep — a time for healing, recharging, rejuvenating, getting information, and connecting with your higher self. The three steps of this practice will help you to release any negative energy so you can experience the kind of peaceful calm essential to generate miracles.

Step 1: Release the Debris of the Day from Your Third Eye

Your third eye is a powerful energy center that activates your intuition. You don’t want negative, lower-level energies polluting it, so you want to first clear out the influences of the day by releasing toxic energies from it. Say to yourself, “I’m ready to release whatever is draining my third eye of energy and vitality, and to bring in my intuitive power and highest vision.” Imagine white light (some people may reso- nate more with a violet or gold light) coming down from the skies, sending all the gunk in your third eye outside of you with a giant whoosh. Now, feel the light filling your third eye, rejuvenating and recharging it, and replacing it with positive, love-based energy.

Step 2: Clear Out Your Ears

A lot of people don’t realize that we also have energy centers in our ears, which, like the third eye, are constantly picking up words, thoughts, beliefs, and vibrations from others. You don’t want this energy to invade your sacred slumber!

After you’ve cleared out your third eye, say to yourself, “I’m ready to release whatever is draining my ears of energy and vitality, and to bring in only the most loving words, thoughts, beliefs, and vibrations.” Visualize that the same light as before is coming through your ears in the form of a little tornado, clearing out any harsh or unkind sentiments that infiltrated your ear chakras throughout the day. Now, imagine this light is brightening your ears, filling them with words and sounds of kindness and positivity.

Step 3: Unblock Your Heart of Toxic Attachments

Finally, it’s time to unblock your heart of any toxic attachments that are making you feel disconnected from yourself and others. Your heart center is primarily where you store all the negative energy you’ve absorbed throughout the day. Your heart also has the largest and most powerful electromagnetic field in your body — so you want to make sure it’s clear of any negative influences. After you’ve cleared out your ear chakras, say to yourself, “I’m ready to release whatever is draining my heart of energy and vitality, and to bring in love, joy, and rejuvenation.” At this point, feel that same light you imag- ined whirling around your heart center, pulling out any toxic influences and making your heart shine bright and strong.

#2: Raise Your Vibration with Three Questions

It’s so important to raise your vibration — which will make you feel like you can move mountains—and it’s even more important to raise your vibration before you go to bed. I’ve found that this practice can be especially effective when it comes to turning your thoughts into reality. In fact, I’ve seen students and clients manifest what they want within 24 to 48 hours of doing this practice!

When you’re in a high vibration, you attract other high-vibration people, situations, and experiences. All you have to do is ask yourself three simple questions:

1. What am I grateful for?
2. What did I do right today?
3. What experiences do I wish to create, and what emotions do I want to accompany those experiences?

For the first two questions, focus on simple joys, even if you had a really bad day: “I’m grateful I have a roof over my head. I’m grateful for the air I’m breathing. There wasn’t any traffic on my morning commute. My boss complimented my work. My daughter told me the advice I gave her meant a lot.” As you reflect on these questions, you’ll feel both a sense of peace and excitement for all the beautiful things that are coming your way. Next thing you know, this high-vibrational energy will accumulate and flow into the next day, and you’ll start experiencing more of what you want.

#3: Find the Higher Meaning

Sometimes, at the end of the day, we might feel discouraged about something that happened as if a door slammed shut on our fingers instead of opened with grace and welcome. We all experience disappointment, but this practice will help you transmute disappointment into possibility: What’s the higher meaning of this?

When “bad” things happen, it’s easy to feel punished. But it’s crucial to reframe these events. Consider how what you perceive as a disappointment might actually be leading you to the life you desire. Maybe the person who broke up with you, who seemed like such a good fit, is moving out of the way so your heart can make room for your true soulmate. Maybe your car stalling and making you late for an import- ant meeting is a reminder to slow down and smell the roses instead of constantly overworking yourself.

Be open to the idea that what’s happening in your life is exactly what you asked for, even if it doesn’t seem like it. It’s making space for the new you who’s emerging . . . who’ll be here faster than you think. If you’re in pain, it’s not permanent. For example, if you’re suffering the loss of a relationship, what you often can’t see in the moment is that this opens the door to a truer love. In a lot of cases, our pain breaks open our hearts to deeper compassion, understanding, and wisdom, as well—as long as we have faith that there’s a purpose to it all. So, have faith that there is a higher meaning, and that what you want is right around the corner.

#4: Connect with the You Who Has It All

The final foundational practice is perhaps the most pow- erful, so I encourage you to spend the most time with it. In fact, if you do this three nights in a row, your life will never be the same!

There’s a version of you right now who has it all. This version of you exists in the quantum field of possibility and is already living your best life with all the abundance, joy, peace, love, and wellness you could imagine. So, after working through the first three practices, I want you to set a simple intention. Say to yourself, “I choose to connect to the highest version of me, the one who has it all.”

Next, imagine white light pouring down from the sky, going through your head and filling your entire body. Follow the light as far as you can go, beyond the edges of Earth and the solar system. Go to the very end of this cosmic light, and then beyond. Sense that your higher self is here, living the life of your dreams.

Don’t feel the need to force anything. You don’t even have to visualize all the things you want, although you are free to do so. Just let yourself be bathed in the energy of this glorious version of you. At first, your experience might feel subtle or even a little awkward. Just stick with it, and I promise you’ll come to understand why this exercise is so awesome. Most people don’t receive images in this place. It’s likely that the energy of the highest version of you will come through sensations, feelings, or just a sense that you’re connecting with something bigger than you.

As you make these foundational practices an intrinsic part of your life, everything will change. You may find yourself seeing, hearing, and sensing the loving presence of your highest self. Bathe in that vibration, allowing it to change you — because it will. I personally love falling asleep in this state, because I usually wake up with a greater sense of connection to that version of me. This only ends up magnetizing even more of what I want — and sometimes, miracles I didn’t even think to ask for!

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You may also enjoy reading Sleep Better… A Few Stretches for Bedtime, by Carter Miles.