Hello.
So you're having a hard time falling asleep.
You are not alone.
Make yourself as comfortable as possible.
Curling up on your side,
On your back,
On your tummy.
Your most comfortable sleeping position.
Can you get even more comfortable?
Soften your shoulders and your jaw and your eyes.
However it is for you right here,
Right now is okay.
There's no pressure or rush to fall asleep.
Begin to follow the rhythm of your breath just as it is.
Breath in,
Breath out.
And maybe you can notice how when you breathe in,
Pressure and sensation in the pillows,
In the mattress underneath you.
On the inhale,
The pressure is a little greater.
And on the exhale,
A little softer and heavier.
Expanding into the support of pillows and mattress.
And then releasing and softening.
Letting all your weight fall into the support beneath you.
With each exhale,
Try softening and releasing the muscles just a bit more.
Letting go of control just a bit more.
Stay with the rhythm of your breath.
You are not alone.
So many folks right now,
Right now struggling to fall asleep.
Struggling with preoccupations or aches and pains of the heart and or body.
You're not alone.
And I'm with you too.
And it's okay to feel this way.
To feel alert and preoccupied.
Even when you'd really rather be drifting off to sleep.
You will.
You will soon.
Stay with the practice of witnessing breath in and the body expanding.
Witnessing breath out.
Softening.
You don't have to try to go to sleep.
In fact,
If you just stay with the practice of breath witnessing,
The body will do its thing.
It knows how to go to sleep.
When we stop resisting quite so hard.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Bring your attention to your feet.
Make them a bit more comfortable.
Release the weight of your feet into the mattress.
Scan up through the legs.
Imagine the body held as if by a cloud.
The legs comfy and supported and soft.
Move the attention up through the midsection.
Heavier torso.
Once again,
The invitation to drop the shoulders.
Let the head be heavy.
The jaw be slightly open.
Nothing to do or worry about.
You can let it go.
You might wish all the other sleepless souls out there a warm hello.
Here we are awake.
And it's okay.
Breathing and being.
Mindful self-compassion for sleeplessness.
Just witnessing what sleeplessness feels like.
Taking in a moment of mindfulness.
And the restlessness of a body not quite there yet.
Not quite ready to fall asleep.
What does that feel like in your body?
In your fingers?
In your toes?
Your jaw?
In your eyes?
Common humanity,
We remember we're not alone.
Everybody has trouble falling asleep sometimes.
Everybody.
The kindest thing we can do might be not to fight it so hard.
It's okay.
Offer yourself some kindness for this moment of sleeplessness.
I'm just awake and it's okay.
And you might find yourself feeling really,
Really heavy.
Drifting off to sleep.
The body getting heavier and heavier.
The mind less tethered to this moment.
And if the mind becomes more alert again,
That's okay.
Falling asleep is almost the opposite of our mindfulness practice.
We drift away and then awake again.
And that's okay.
With this practice,
If you notice yourself becoming wakeful again,
Just allow it to be as it is.
That moment of mindfulness.
Of the restlessness.
Feeling of alertness.
When you'd rather be drowsy.
Notice how you're aware of this in the throat,
The heart,
The belly.
And then come back to the practice of inhaling,
Expanding.
Exhaling,
Softening.
And releasing muscular tension into the support of the mattress and the pillows beneath you.
In moments of alertness,
Remember you're not alone.
And offer yourself some kindness.
It's okay.
I'll fall asleep eventually.
The body knows what to do.
Offer yourself this kindness of remembering the body knows what to do.
Time the mind.
Boomerangs to wakefulness.
Remind yourself you're okay.
You're not alone.
And you'll fall asleep.
You will.
Stay with the breath now.
Of expansion and release.
And softening.
Into sweet,
Sweet sleep.
