{"id":388,"date":"2006-05-24T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-05-24T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/chatteringmind\/2006\/05\/pillow-talk.html"},"modified":"2006-05-24T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2006-05-24T12:00:00","slug":"pillow-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/chatteringmind\/2006\/05\/pillow-talk.html","title":{"rendered":"Pillow Talk"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>“Sweetheart,” I said last night while sitting in the dark on the edge of my son’s bed. “When I come in here to wake you in the morning, I notice that you’re all scrunched up in a little ball, like you are very tense.”<\/p>\n

“That’s because the covers fall off,” he said. “And I do that to stay warm.”<\/p>\n

“Well, look at your body now, you’re all crooked on the mattress. You look so uncomfortable. Will you try something for me?”<\/p>\n

“No.”<\/p>\n

“Come on, get straight on your back in the center of the mattress and feel the bed supporting you.”<\/p>\n

“Mom–” he protests.<\/p>\n

“Come on, please. This will be cool. Just get straight. Now allow your body to sink into the bed, and just let your arms and legs be floppy.”<\/p>\n

“Mom, you are treating me like a mutant.” <\/p>\n

“Close your eyes, and let them sink into their sockets. Now take a deep breath from your belly. Push your belly up towards the ceiling. And when you exhale say “Haaaaaaaa.” <\/p>\n

“Haaaaaaa.”<\/p>\n

“Big HA. Do it again. Haaaaaaaaaaaaa. Let it all go, all the tension of the day–“<\/p>\n

“HAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaa.” <\/p>\n

“One more time.”<\/p>\n

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”<\/p>\n

“Isn’t that better?” <\/p>\n

“I guess.”<\/p>\n

“Goodnight. I love you, honey.”<\/p>\n

“Night, Mommy.”<\/p>\n

Whatever happened to the good old-fashioned bedtime prayer? Well, we say those on other nights. But I was an uptight twenty-six-year-old when I learned the difference between a relaxed muscle and a tense one. So last night, I tried to give my son the gift of greater peace and relaxation. I don’t want him to sleep bent out of shape. I want him happily centered within the whole darned bed.<\/p>\n

Photo by Avinash Raj<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Sweetheart,” I said last night while sitting in the dark on the edge of my son’s bed. “When I come in here to wake you in the morning, I notice that you’re all scrunched up in a little ball, like you are very tense.” “That’s because the covers fall off,” he said. “And I do…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":374,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-of-chattering-mind"],"yoast_head":"\nPillow Talk - Chattering Mind<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/chatteringmind\/2006\/05\/pillow-talk.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pillow Talk - 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