Thank you, I was wondering what the little red cuboid in panel 3 was :)

So grateful.

The lower pixels trend is just awful. Never understood it. Probably cuz I’m old.

This was a god-send on this one. So hard to read

At least it’s not an arrow to the knee. … Wait … Or is it worse?

Meditation totally saved me personally, I used to be crippled with depression, insomnia, anxiety and bipolar disorder. Now I’m happy and healthy with no medication. The thing is, it takes YEARS and you really have to keep up the practice while you are getting little results for a long time. But then boom you look back and it’s like “woah I’m way better now”. Maybe you just need to try a different style that suits you better… after a while (depending on how often/how long you are meditating) it should be pleasant enough you want to keep trying it

If you like music, try music meditation: listen to a track and every time you notice that you’re doing anything other than paying attention to the music, pull it back to the song.

Disclaimer: I made up this style after doing meditation for a year or so, it seemed to follow the principles but fit in better with my lifestyle

For guided meditation it takes practice to learn to let go and figure out what your mind needs to enter such a state. It’s a trance state, which some people are better or worse at.

For observer style I like to do mild exercise (walking or casually biking for me) and letting my mind roam free. The trick is you let your thoughts happen as they will, without trying to encourage or discourage any of them. You just let then play themselves out. It’s very much a “the only way out is through” thing

There’s also energy style and I recommend starting with guided energy meditations and once you find them helpful and understand the basic gist you can free-form decently.

yeah, in my experience regular gym usage resulted in much better sleep, both in quality and schedule.

There are of course the basics—limit blue light exposure, have a wind-down time, only use your bed for sleep, caffeine cutoff after #pm (some people say 5, some people say 3, I think this is entirely body-dependent). Melatonin supplements can also help. Soothing sounds, of course.

Beyond that, everyone is different.

I found that reading is useful (get an e-ink reader or a paper book to avoid screen distractions and blue light throwing your rhythms off).

I also found that not trying to sleep when I can’t is useful; when I’m laying in bed and can’t fall asleep, I go and do the dishes or read on the couch for a half hour, and then try again.

For me, turning the temperature down also helps. I let the house get down below 64° at night; saves me money (thermal battery effect in summer, less furnace usage in winter), and helps tell my body I should be in sleeping mode.

A few years ago, I also had a sleep study and discovered that I have sleep apnea. Now, the process of putting on the mask at night also helps get my body ready to sleep. That’s in addition to the better sleep quality and more infrequent wakeups.

Also, you might just be trying to sleep too early for your body’s natural rhythm. Maybe your work schedule doesn’t allow you to change that, but if you can, try pushing your bedtime back a little bit. Not everyone needs to sleep from 10-6; some people are just more naturally able to sleep from 12-8.

Good luck, and good night.