Evening Birds

They were the last sounds I heard before I came inside from an outdoor yoga session: a familiar whippoorwill, and a bird I couldn't identify, giving a brief twitter, plus the buzzing of cicadas and katydids.

What these creatures say to me is that it is not too late in the day to sing. The day that is winding down... the dimming of the day, is still rich with meaning. It's a time of gentle reflection before doing something really weird, if you think about it --- going to lie down and slip into a kind of unconsciousness for several hours --- a kind of voluntary physical paralysis we call sleep, a distancing from stimuli and responsiveness, the cycles and behaviors of our daily life when we are awake. It's extended meditation, a suspension of physical activity, self-hypnosis, even. But even in our suspended state, the brain never stops, and our hearts keep beating time.

What do we need at this hour of the day? What do you need? Many of us turn to loved ones and comforts. Some of us listen to music:

"all the bonny birds have wheeled away, I need you at the dimming of the day."

"I see you on the street, in company... why don't you come and ease your mind with me. I'm living for the night we steal away, oh I need you at the dimming of the day."

Some of are grieving at this hour. The beloved is absent. Some of us turn to a glass of wine or a sleeping pill. Some of us read. Some pray or chant or dream. But no matter how we do it, we either consciously or subconsciously bring the day to an end and turn it over to history.

I'd like to suggest a few ways that we make this transition into not just a bedtime "routine" but a ceremony, a spiritual ritual:

1. Remember and claim fully what went right today. Where and when and how did you contribute to a better world? If you've had a terrible day, go back to the beginning. Did you wake up in a comfortable bed? There must be some small reason for gratitude.

2. Remember the ones you love and who love you, and why and how you know it.

3. Visualize how you want to greet the morning, how you want to feel when you wake up.

4. Surrender to the dimming of the day and the promise of nighttime restoration.

5. Make a little time for art at the end of the day. Draw, paint, color, collage, write. Let it help you unwind.

6. Add some gentle music to your end of day activities.

image borrowed from

When you've settled your soul, and said goodnight to this day and its worries and obligations, rest easy, friends. Greet the night gently -- it is waiting to restore you and me.