Get cozy,
Pull your blanket up just the way you like it,
Let your arms rest gently beside you and let your legs go loose and heavy.
Close your eyes if that feels comfortable or just let your gaze go soft toward the ceiling if you'd like.
Either way is perfect.
Here you're safe,
You're warm,
There's nothing you need to do right now and nowhere else you need to be.
Tonight the only job you have is to rest.
Take a slow,
Deep breath in through your nose,
Go ahead,
Fill up your belly like a balloon and then let it all out through your mouth with a long,
Slow sigh.
Let's do that again,
Breathe in and breathe out.
Good job.
Now let your breathing go back to normal,
Soft and easy and just notice how it feels.
Feel your belly gently rise and gently fall,
Rise and fall.
You don't need to change your breath at all,
Just feel it happening all on its own like gentle ocean waves.
Now quietly in your mind,
So not out loud,
Say this to yourself three times nice and slow.
I am relaxed.
I fall easily into deep,
Peaceful sleep.
Say it again.
I am relaxed.
I fall easily into deep,
Peaceful sleep.
One more time.
I am relaxed.
I fall easily into deep,
Peaceful sleep.
Then let it go.
Let those words sink down like stones dropping gently into still water.
Now I'm going to guide your attention through different parts of your body.
All you have to do is notice each place as I say it.
You don't need to move,
Squeeze or do anything at all.
Just gently place your awareness there like shining a little spotlight.
First feel your right hand,
So your right thumb and the fingers,
The palm and the back of your hand,
And now your wrist,
Forearm,
Upper arm and your right shoulder.
Now your left hand,
Left thumb,
Fingers,
Palm,
The back of your hand,
Left wrist,
Forearm,
Elbow,
Upper arm and left shoulder.
Now feel both shoulders at once,
The back of your neck,
The top of your head,
Your forehead,
Your forehead,
Eyebrows,
Your eyelids,
Soft and heavy,
Your cheeks,
Your jaw.
Let your jaw go loose,
Your lips,
Your chin.
Now feel your throat,
Your chest.
Notice how it gently rises and falls with each breath,
Your belly,
Your lower belly,
Your right hip,
Your right thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Right foot and your toes,
And now your left hip,
Left thigh,
Knee,
Lower leg,
Ankle,
Left foot and your toes.
Now feel your whole body at once,
From the top of your head all the way down to your toes,
Heavy,
Warm and melting into your mattress like you're sinking into the softest cloud that ever existed.
Now let your imagination wake up while your whole body stays perfectly still and heavy.
Picture yourself lying in a meadow at night,
The grass beneath you is soft and cool and you're wrapped in the coziest blanket you can imagine.
The air smells like summer and pine trees and something sweet like a bit of rain is coming.
Look up at the sky,
It's enormous,
Inky dark blue and absolutely full of stars,
More stars than you've ever seen.
They look like someone took a jar of glitter and flung it across the whole sky just for you.
One star begins to glow a little brighter than the others,
It's warm and golden like a tiny sun and it sends a beam of soft light all the way down,
Down,
Down and lands gently right in the center of your chest.
You can feel it there,
Warm,
Steady and calm.
Now a cloud soft as cotton candy drifts slowly overhead,
It's your cloud,
It knows your name,
It begins to float down lower and lower until it's right there beside you in the meadow just waiting.
You feel yourself rise up so so gently and settle onto the cloud,
It holds you perfectly,
You don't have to hold on,
You couldn't even fall off if you tried,
Your cloud knows just what to do.
It begins to drift upward,
Slowly between the stars,
You can hear nothing but the quietest softest wind,
Like the whole world is whispering goodnight,
The stars drift past you,
A slow glittering river of light and the cloud carries you deeper and deeper into the night sky,
Rocking you ever so gently like a hammock on a perfect afternoon.
Your body grows heavier,
Your eyes behind their lids go soft,
Dark,
Your thoughts begin to blur at the edges like watercolors in the rain,
Melting,
Drifting,
Fading.
The cloud moves in slow circles,
Taking you further into the most comfortable,
Peaceful dark.
There's nowhere to go,
Nothing to think,
Just the rocking,
The stars,
The quiet.
You are safe,
You are held,
You are drifting.
Let your thoughts go wherever they want to go,
Don't hold on to any of them,
Just let them float past like clouds.
Your breathing is slow and deep and easy,
Your body is heavy and warm and completely at rest.
You can let go now,
The night will take care of you,
Sleep well.
