Externally Oriented Ericksonian Relaxation Technique

Now that you are stressed from reading the title,
Let's begin.
This technique is helpful as a sleep exercise.

Notice 5 things you can see in your space
right now:
empty lightbulb socket
shadow grid on the ceiling
streetlights
palm tree
(Who was Erick, and who was
Erick's son?)
window planter

Notice 5 things you can hear in your space now:
a puttering moto - the Doppler effect
distant traffic - the ocean
(Are there any non-Ericksonian externally
oriented relaxation techniques?) soccer
referee's whistle
bats in the wall (Does the
supposition that orienting
oneself to the external heralds
relaxation inversely signify that
orienting to the internal
heralds anxiety?)
creaky bedframe

Notice 5 things you can feel in your space now:
(Does this then imply the outlook
for mankind, based on the stuff
we're made of, is bleak?)
the knot in my back
the sweat on my legs
(Is this what we get
the something biting me
for staring into ourselves,
a despair fixed on the looming
maw of the human soul?)

You will notice at some point that you get confused.
Just close your eyes
(If sleep is an exercise,
do I really want to do it?)
relax into the confusion
and fall asleep.