Welcome to this guided relaxation and visualization to help you fall back to sleep in the middle of the night.
So I'd like to suggest that you do this while lying in your bed if you can or do it someplace where it is safe and comfortable to fall asleep.
And if you have a few extra pillows I would like to suggest that you lay on your back and put a couple of pillows under your knees.
And you can also use an extra pillow or two to prop up your upper back and your head so you are being cradled.
And having those pillows under your knees really lets your whole body relax.
So once you are settled I'd like you to bring your mind as clearly and completely as you can.
So once you are settled I'd like you to bring your mind as clearly and completely as you can.
To the bed that you are in the comfort of the sheets.
The feeling of the bed and the pillows cradling your body.
Notice the support and let gravity pull your body deeper into the bed.
Take a moment to be grateful for this warm dry place that you have to lay down.
Whether you're sleeping or not your body can relax and rest.
And then for a moment take one hand and put it on your belly and take the other hand and put it on your chest just underneath your throat.
And just feel your body breathing.
Feel how your body breathes naturally.
It does not require effort.
It will breathe no matter what.
And as you're breathing just notice which hand is moving the most.
And notice which direction it's moving as you're breathing.
Now I'd like you to put some effort into your breathing.
And really see if you can expand your belly upwards as you breathe in.
So take a deep breath in and you can use your stomach muscles to push your belly up.
Feel the hand being pushed up as you fill your lungs.
And then on the exhale feel the belly slowly going back down.
And we're going to do a couple of breaths in this exaggerated form.
Just pushing your belly up with your stomach muscles as you breathe in.
Filling the bottom of the lungs first and then the air fills all of your lungs.
Feel your stomach and your hand drop as you exhale.
Now this time I'd like you to count on the in-breath.
Just a nice slow in-breath.
See what number you count to.
And on the exhale let's have it be longer.
So whatever you counted to on your in-breath we're going to add a couple of seconds longer for that out-breath.
And again filling that belly with air breathing in.
And let's make sure that our out-breath is even and steady.
That through the entire time we're counting we have a steady pace of exhale.
And I want to ask you to just practice that by yourself right now a couple of times.
I'm going to be doing it with you.
And now let's just shift to a more natural way of breathing but continuing to have it be nice and slow.
And continuing to have that exhale be nice and long.
And again bringing your awareness to the comfort of where you are.
Your knees being supported by the pillow allow you to relax your hips fully.
Just take a deep breath into your hip area.
And on the exhale feel all those muscles relax.
And then let's move down to the legs and bring the inhale.
Direct it to your upper leg all the way down to your lower leg.
And on the exhale feel all those muscles relax.
To your upper leg all the way down to your lower leg.
And on the exhale feel the whole leg melt into the bed.
And again a deep breath in.
Direct it to the leg.
Visualize the air filling up the inside of your leg.
And on the exhale everything relaxes.
And now let's bring that breath down to our feet.
The whole foot from the heel to the toes.
Another deep breath.
Direct it down to your feet filling your feet.
And on your exhale feel your feet relax.
Another deep breath.
And on the exhale feel your feet relax.
And now let's breathe the air into the very very tips of our fingers.
And on the exhale feel the fingers relax.
And a deep breath bringing it all the way into the hand.
And on the exhale the hand and fingers can relax.
And this time direct your breath to your full arm.
Picture the breath filling up your arm from the shoulder all the way down to the wrist.
And on the exhale feel all the tension drain away.
And let's just do that again bringing the breath into the full arm and the hand and the fingers.
And on the exhale you can be aware of the heaviness of your arms and your legs.
All your limbs sinking into the bed.
And now let's take one of those deep breaths and direct it to our shoulders and the back of our neck.
And into all those areas that sometimes feel a lot of tension breathe the air in.
And on the exhale you can visualize the tension draining away.
Again breathing into the shoulders and the back of the neck.
And on the exhale feel everything draining away.
And now let's take that healing breath and direct it to the front of our neck,
Our throat,
Our upper chest.
Breathe it into that whole area.
And on the exhale let all of that relax.
Let yourself know it's okay to fully relax all of those areas.
And now let's take that breath and deeply breathe it into our face,
Into our eyes,
Our forehead,
Our cheekbones,
Our jaw.
And on the exhale feel all of that relax.
Another deep breath into the face and the eyes.
And on the exhale feel the tension drain away.
And now on the in-breath we're going to feel the air circulate through our scalp and the back of our head from the forehead down to the neck.
Feel the air coming into that area.
On the exhale the tension drains away.
Let yourself feel your whole body relaxing into the bed.
Your limbs heavier and heavier but in that beautiful way melting into the bed.
Your eyes are relaxed,
Your jaw.
You can keep focusing on the breath,
Relaxing everything on the exhale.
As long as you need.
Gently,
Gently,
Gently allowing yourself to sink deeper and deeper into sleep.
Breathing.
Sinking.
Beautiful,
Beautiful rest of your body.
