Hello and welcome.
My name is Emily Hayden and I'm so glad you've joined me today.
And if you've come to this meditation tonight or perhaps it's the early hours of the morning It probably means that sleep is not coming easily to you right now.
Maybe you've been trying for a while.
Maybe you've been woken up in the middle of the night and just can't get back to sleep your mind racing,
Your body wired or a bit of both.
Whatever it is,
You're in the right place.
And I'm going to gently guide you back to sleep.
Using a few simple evidence-based tools that work directly with your nervous system All you have to do is just lie here.
Let your eyes close down.
And let my voice carry you the rest of the way.
And before we begin the most important thing I can say to you is you don't have to fall asleep right now If sleep comes,
Incredible.
If it takes a while,
That is also okay.
This rest itself is restoring you.
And often the very moment we stop chasing sleep.
Is the actual moment sleep can quietly arrive.
So for now no chasing,
No forcing,
No effort just be here with me right now and letting go of the trying is what helps you get some sleep So for now let your body settle fully into the bed beneath you fill your head deep into the pillow.
Allowing your shoulders to drop down.
Your chest softening.
Feel the weight of you right now.
Down into that bed beneath you.
The quietness around you,
The dark holding you gently in this space and just take one slow breath in through your nose and a soft sigh out through your mouth.
Let it go.
Again breathing in through the nose.
And slowly breathing out through the mouth letting your shoulders drop on the way down.
And one more breath in.
And this time as you exhale make it audible,
Sigh,
A release,
A letting go.
And now changing the breath if it feels good for you if not just breathing naturally if you want to try this breath breathing slowly down into your belly for 2,
3,
4,
5,
6 and hold it gently here And release slowly 2 3 4 5 6 again breathing in and exhaling.
One more and slowly.
And exhale gently.
Okay.
And let your breath return to its own rhythm now.
Your body has received the message you are safe it's time to let go now And now we're going to move into a gentle tool developed by a sleep scientist called Luke Bedoin,
Dr.
Luke Bedoin And this tool's been studied with a lot of research.
And it works for one beautiful simple reason When your mind is racing at night the part of your brain doing all that thinking is wide awake,
It's problem solving,
Looking for meaning.
And while it's doing that,
You can't rest,
Your mind just won't switch off.
But just before you fall asleep on a good night.
Something different happens your mind drifts and random images float by you probably don't even notice them a door a boat a teacup.
Nothing connects to anything.
And that randomness,
This gentle nonsense is what actually tells your brain it's finally safe to let go And it's called cognitive shuffling.
It's giving your mind a way to do this on purpose.
We're just going to feed it random neutral images.
And the mind finding nothing to grip onto,
Simply lets go.
And that's when sleep happens.
So join me now.
Just picking a neutral word or use mine.
My word is meadow.
And then go to the first letter of that word,
M.
And now slowly let any word beginning with M drift into your mind.
One at a time.
I'll offer a few to begin with.
Or you can just let your own arrive,
Whatever works for you.
My first thing that I'm visualizing right now is a moth.
Resting softly on a wall in the evening.
And now just let that image go.
Now what I'm seeing is a mountain.
Capped with snow.
And now let it simply drift away.
A mug filled with warm tea inside.
Held in both my hands.
And now it fades away a meadow.
Long grass moving in a soft gentle breeze.
And now it's release.
A mirror.
A moon.
Amma.
Just allow each image to rise.
And softly fade And now just let your own words come in your own time,
Any pace,
Any letter.
Just gentle.
Random.
Drifting images.
And I'll stay quiet for a little while just allowing you to cognitive shuffle on your own.
And now as the images slow.
I want to take you even deeper now,
Deeper into relaxation.
So in your mind.
Just imagine.
That you are standing at the top.
Of a beautiful white.
Marble staircase.
Thick white marble staircase with a really soft carpet going all the way down the middle.
And maybe it has beautiful banisters and it's leading all the way down to the most relaxing perfect place It curves gently downwards into a place of complete peace And in a moment,
We'll walk down those 10 gentle steps together.
And with each step you'll go deeper into relaxation with each step the world above grows quieter Let's begin now.
Feeling that soft carpet beneath your feet.
As you move on to that step 10.
And you're drifting down and sinking down.
9.
.
.
Going a little bit deeper now.
Body is getting heavier and heavier 7.
Letting go of the day Sick.
Breath is slower.
5.
.
.
You're halfway down and you're drifting deeper.
4 going further into relaxation 3 You're almost there.
Too.
Feeling all the large muscles release now.
1 and you have arrived.
At the most peaceful,
Relaxing place.
And just look around in your mind.
Just noticing.
And you'll lie.
The ground beneath you.
Holding you completely the shadows.
The air.
The quietness.
All the gentle sounds around you that feel so peaceful,
So relaxing And this is your place,
Your special place.
And you can return to this place any night,
Any time just by closing your eyes and walking down this beautiful staircase.
And it feels good to rest here.
Your body feeling heavy.
Your breath slowing down.
Your mind relaxed.
And sleep is rising up to take you now.
Because you've finally stopped trying.
And there is nothing more to do.
Just this deep rest.
And let yourself drift deeper now.
In this song.
Say.
Your arms and legs feeling heavier now.
You are feeling completely safe in this relaxation.
And sleep is gently rising up to meet you.
Sleep well my friend.
Enjoy this rest.
And if this meditation has brought you some peace tonight I've created a seven night course.
Called safe to sleep.
7.
Gentle night to retrain your mind and body Find your way back to the deep,
Natural rest you deserve.
Finding safety.
Stillness and relaxation when it comes to sleep.
Are now feeling peaceful.
As sleep rises up to meet you.
You are completely safe here it's safe to let go my friend It's safe to let go.
Sleep well my friend.
You you
