11/14/2025
This is fascinating....Makes so much sense.Night time journalling anyone?
The Kaluli tribe's "night clearing" is a practice where children gather each night to verbally share frightening or painful experiences, such as nightmares or falls. This process is intended to "burn fear" before sleep, allowing the nervous system to reset and emotional distress to be processed, unlike modern methods that often suppress these feelings.
Description: Children gather around a fire and tell stories about their fears, falls, or losses.
Parental role: Parents or adults listen without interrupting or reassuring the child. They allow the child to finish speaking until their breathing slows.
Purpose: The practice is called "night clearing" because it's believed to be a way to verbally process and release fear before sleep. The Kaluli say, "The body sleeps when the story ends," emphasizing that this emotional processing is necessary for rest.
Contrast with modern methods: This differs from the modern practice of telling children not to think about bad things, which is thought by some psychologists to trap the stress loop and prevent emotional processing.
Psychological impact: Research has shown that verbalizing distress before bed can reduce nocturnal cortisol levels, a stress hormone.
