I went through a period of severe insomnia after I left Arkansas. The inability to sleep became a waking nightmare. I tried everything the experts recommend: dark, cool room; warm bath; a screenless bedroom—an endless list of conditions.

I have a theory about insomnia—I believe it’s the ego’s way of keeping us from finding our way to God, but that’s another book.

In desperation, I resorted to Ambien, which took a devastating toll on my mental alertness and memory, and left me feeling hungover for hours, bleeding into days.

I finally came upon the fix I desperately needed: a ritualized bedtime.

My life has become ritualized in an effort to stay in the moment and to build energy around certain aspects of the day that I know will strengthen and purify the energy in and around me.

Starting out the morning with spiritual practices that invoke Divinity sets me up for a positive, prosperous day, but the rituals performed before sleep are of great importance too; perhaps more so. The state of our minds before sleep sets the stage for so many different outcomes. Going to bed stressed or worried results in tossing and turning and a mind that becomes like a rat in a cage.

There are a few moving parts here, so take what you need and leave the rest, or do the entire ritual; either way you will find falling into sleep will be a most pleasant and relaxing experience.

• I try to go to bed at the same time every night. Our bodies love habit and our circadian rhythms depend on it. Many of us have lost or destroyed our circadian rhythms with our work, travel, and nighttime habits.
• I do a few yoga positions for sleep right before I head to the bedroom. You can find a whole mess of these with a simple internet search. Any light, gentle stretching will do.
• Once in bed, I apply a series of essential oils and hydrosols. These are open to your preference, but I apply lavender to my temples, ylang ylang behind my ears and on my wrists, and cedar on my legs. I finish off with a spray of roman chamomile hydrosol to my face.
• If I need to look at a screen, I have special, yellow-tinted glasses to block out the blue light.
• With the covers pulled up and the lights out, I start a long, slow Fourfold Breath.
• On the rare occasions I’m still not relaxed, I visualize a location—a beach or a city—and I imagine walking, taking in the smallest details, making it real. This allows my mind to disengage, and I fall asleep.

My sleep had been a battleground for many years. I can now say I look forward to the time of going to bed. It’s the most peaceful time of the day, and my waking hours are being fed by the magick I do at night. Sometimes it’s the seemingly small rituals that create the biggest shifts in consciousness.