Hello and welcome to this gentle guided meditation geared towards finding rest and sleep in whatever form it may take tonight.
My name is Ariel.
Please take as much time as you need to get yourself settled and comfortable.
Grabbing as many pillows or blankets as you need,
Taking your time settling in with no particular rush,
Adjusting the body as many times as is needed until you find a nice comfortable place to explore rest,
Closing the eyes when it feels right,
And when you feel settled,
Allowing the mind just a few more moments to think about anything calling your attention,
Allowing some focus to your thoughts one last time for today.
When you're ready,
Slowly,
Gently releasing any focus on those thoughts,
Allowing the parts of your day to slowly fade away.
Knowing that they'll be there tomorrow,
But for now you're focused on exploring rest,
Perhaps exploring sleep,
Not going in with any goal,
Allowing your body to rest in whatever way works tonight.
And when you're ready,
Gently allowing the mind to turn more inwards towards the physical body,
Noticing first where you feel contact with the surface beneath you,
Perhaps noticing the softness of your pillows,
The weight of your blankets,
The air on your skin,
And taking time to notice any sensation in the neck,
Face,
And head.
And noticing any sensation in the shoulders,
Upper arms,
Lower arms,
Wrists,
Hand,
And fingers.
And noticing any sensation in the upper back,
Middle,
And lower back.
Letting the mind explore what you may feel in the chest,
Belly,
And down into the hips and groin.
Noticing any sensation you may feel in the thighs,
Knees,
Lower legs,
Ankles,
And feet.
And taking a moment to notice any sensation you may feel through the entire body.
Not seeking anything in particular,
Simply noticing.
Does one area feel heavy or light?
Does one area feel relaxed or warm?
We'll begin this gentle body scan again,
And as we work through the body parts,
Noticing what sensation you feel.
Perhaps as we touch on each part,
Encouraging a little softness,
A little release of tension,
A little something to work more towards rest.
So when you're ready,
Turning your attention back to the head,
Shoulders,
Upper arms,
Lower arms,
Wrists,
Hands,
And fingers.
And noticing and softening through the shoulders,
Upper back,
Lower back,
Through the chest and abdomen.
And working down through the hips,
Groin,
And buttocks.
Noticing and softening the upper legs,
Lower legs,
Ankles,
Feet,
And toes.
And again,
Bringing that noticing,
That softening,
Perhaps releasing,
To the body as a whole.
Taking time simply to observe and to notice.
And once again,
We'll move through our body scan,
This time with the option of releasing any sensation that's not so helpful for your rest.
We'll move more slowly this time,
So with each body part,
Noticing a sensation you'd like to release or perhaps bringing in more softening.
Taking a nice breath,
Exhaling to release with each part.
When you're ready,
Taking your focus to the head and face.
And exhaling.
Moving down to the neck and shoulders.
Finding a sensation to release or perhaps bringing in more softening.
Inhale when you're ready.
And exhale as you're ready.
Next,
Working down the arms,
The upper arms,
Lower arms,
Wrists,
Hands,
And fingers.
And when you're ready,
A cycle of breath in your own time.
Taking your focus to your whole torso,
Chest,
Belly,
And back.
And first noticing sensation and deciding if you'd like to release or soften.
Taking your cycle of breath when you're ready.
Moving down to focus on the hips,
Groin,
And buttocks.
Taking your cycle of breath at your own pace.
Working down now to the upper legs,
Lower legs,
Ankle,
Feet,
And toes.
Cycle of breath when you're ready.
And again,
Noticing sensation through the entire body.
Taking a large,
Easy cycle of breath at your own pace.
And with no plan,
No goal,
Allow your mind to simply wander through the body.
Noticing sensation,
Noticing perhaps how things may feel differently than before.
Noticing where you may still be holding tension,
Where perhaps you could soften,
Relax,
Or release even just a bit more.
And we'll move one final time through the body again.
And this final body scan can be,
Of course,
Whatever is most helpful to you.
As we're moving through each body part one last time,
Perhaps with your cycle of breath,
Inviting in rest.
And remembering there is no goal,
No expectation.
We're simply exploring what rest looks like tonight.
As you're ready,
Take the focus back to the head and face.
And as you exhale,
Inviting in rest.
Focusing now on the arms and hands and fingers.
And allowing rest to wash over you as you exhale.
Moving on now to the neck,
Chest,
Belly,
Upper back and lower back.
The whole torso.
Taking an inhale when you're ready.
Allowing your exhale to spread rest through the body.
Allowing the attention to wander now to the hips,
Groin and buttocks.
Inhaling at your own pace.
Exhaling when ready.
Gently allowing the mind to wander further down to include the legs,
Feet,
Toes.
Inhaling when ready.
Exhaling,
Allowing rest to wash over the legs.
And expanding your focus to include the whole body.
Inhaling at your own pace.
Exhaling rest over the whole body.
Allowing the mind to gently wander through parts of the body.
No particular goal or path.
Allowing the mind to simply notice sensation.
And gently encourage rest.
Perhaps drifting off to sleep should that call to you.
