However you are feeling tonight,
You're welcome exactly as you are.
There's no preparation needed for this practice.
You've already done the preparation.
You've lived a whole day.
Allow yourself to be horizontal.
Feel the full length of your body supported.
Notice the places where your body touches the bed,
The back of the head,
The shoulder blades,
The back of the arms,
The hips,
The heels.
Every point of contact is a place where you can hand your weight over to something that will hold it for you.
We're going to do something very simple.
We're going to let the day complete itself.
Not by thinking about it,
Not by solving anything,
But by allowing the body to do what it already knows how to do.
Process,
Soften,
And let go.
All you need to do is listen,
And even that is optional.
If sleep comes before I finish speaking,
That's all okay.
That's the practice working perfectly.
Allow for a quiet intention to now settle in your heart.
Something simple,
Something that feels true,
And it might be,
I release what is not mine to carry,
Or today was enough,
I am enough,
Or I am at peace.
Whatever words arrive for you,
Receive them without question.
Plant them softly,
The way you'd press a seed into soil.
Slowly,
Gently,
Without force,
Trusting that it knows how to grow.
Throughout the day,
Your body has been holding things for you.
Perhaps tension in the shoulders from concentration.
Tightness in the jaw from words you held back,
Or words that you said.
Heaviness in the legs from carrying you through every task and errand and moment.
Let's visit these places now,
Not to fix them,
But to thank them.
Now bringing your attention to your right hand,
Right thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger,
The palm of the right hand,
All the things this hand reached for today.
Put down,
Touched,
Let the hand rest now,
Its work is done.
The right wrist,
The forearm,
The elbow,
The upper arm,
The right shoulder,
Allowing for the shoulder to drop,
The right side of the chest,
The right side of the belly.
The right thigh,
The right knee,
The shin,
The calf,
The ankle,
The sole of the right foot.
The foot that has carried you through every step of this day,
And each toe softening.
And now the left hand,
The left thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Little finger.
The left palm,
Open and quiet,
The left wrist,
Upper arm,
And the left shoulder,
All releasing.
The left side of the chest,
The left side of the belly,
The left hip,
The left thigh,
The left knee.
The right thigh,
Shin,
The sole of the left foot,
And each toe,
And the back of the body now.
Feel the whole back of you resting down,
The lower back,
Which has been supporting you upright all day.
Let it widen,
The mid-back,
The space between the shoulder blades,
The upper back,
And the back of the neck.
Let it all pour downward,
Like water finding its level,
The back of the head,
The top of the head,
And the forehead.
Imagine a cool hand resting on your forehead,
Smoothing away every wrinkle of concern.
The eyebrows,
The eyelids,
Tired from looking at so many things today,
Let them rest in darkness now.
The cheeks,
The nose,
The lips,
The jaw.
If you've clenched your teeth at any point today,
Just allowing for the jaw to release now,
And creating a tiny space between the upper and lower teeth.
And let the tongue rest,
Heavy and soft.
The throat,
The chest,
The belly,
The whole body,
Lying here having completed a whole day.
A whole,
Complete day.
Turn your attention now to the exhale.
Just the exhale.
Each time you breathe out,
Something leaves you.
You don't have to decide what that is.
The body knows what it's ready to release.
And the inhale will take care of itself.
You don't need to manage it.
But each exhale,
Notice how it empties you out.
How it creates a small,
Quiet space inside.
And with each exhale,
Imagine that you are setting something down.
Not throwing it away.
Just placing it beside you gently.
The way you place your glasses on the bedside table.
The day's conversations,
Set them down.
The day's decisions,
Set them down.
Anything unfinished,
Set it down.
It will still be there in the morning if you need it.
Breathing out,
And setting down.
Breathing out,
And emptying.
Breathing out,
And softening into a space that remains.
Now imagine a quiet river moving slowly through a wide valley at dusk.
The water is dark and calm and warm.
The river carries the day.
And you are sitting on the bank watching.
And on the surface of the water,
You begin to see the day flowing past.
Not as a story.
Not with words.
But as impressions.
Colours.
Textures.
And fragments of sound.
And perhaps you see the light from this morning.
The way it fell through a window or across a room.
Let it drift past.
And perhaps a face appears.
Someone you spoke to.
Someone you thought of.
And you don't need to replay any conversation.
Just noticing the feeling it left behind.
And let the river carry it on.
And there may be moments that felt good.
Small successes.
A meal that nourished you.
A moment of laughter.
A task completed.
And let them float past,
Like flowers on the water.
You don't need to hold onto them.
They're already a part of you.
And there may be moments that felt hard.
A difficult interaction.
A worry that keeps circling.
Or something you wish had gone differently.
Now watch these two.
Notice them.
And let them pass.
You are not the river.
You are not the day.
You are the one sitting on the bank,
Watching it all move on.
And the river keeps flowing.
Slowly.
Gently.
Slowly.
And carrying everything with it.
And the water is becoming darker now.
Reflecting the evening sky.
And the details are blurring.
And the impressions are fading.
Until the river is simply a river.
Dark water.
Moving through the dark land.
Under the dark sky.
No images.
No fragments.
No sounds.
Just the sound of water moving.
And the day is complete.
It has been fully lived.
It has been fully released.
And now it belongs to the river.
There is nothing left to review.
Nothing left to resolve.
And the body is quiet now.
The mind is quiet now.
Now.
You have set everything down.
There is only this.
And darkness.
Sleep now.
