Welcome to this sleep meditation.
You are here and the day is over.
The mind has been busy with its thoughts,
Memory,
Worries,
Plans,
But right now there's nothing to be done.
Let the body lie just as it is,
Don't try to relax it,
Simply observe it.
From the weight of your legs,
The stillness of your hands,
The slight movement of the breath,
Let it all be.
Where there is observation,
There is no judgment,
No effort,
Just awareness.
Can you feel the tension in your jaw and just allow it to be seen,
Not to get rid of it,
But to watch it gently.
Slowly and in that watching it loosens.
In the same way,
Let this gentle seeing drift across the body.
From the quiet of the feet,
Slowly upward through the calves,
The thighs,
The hips,
The legs,
The belly rising and falling,
The chest soft,
Open,
The shoulders,
The neck,
The face.
Let the whole body be known,
Be seen,
Quietly,
Without resistance.
Now come to the breath,
Feel it moving all on its own,
There's no need to deepen it,
No need to shape it,
Just notice the breath arriving and leaving,
Like a wave that knows where it's going.
Let the attention rest here,
Lightly,
There may be thoughts in your mind,
Let them come and let them go,
Do not resist them,
Just see the movement of your thoughts,
There's no need to interfere,
Only to watch,
Just a quiet,
Gentle watching and perhaps you begin to sense something else,
This space that's between thoughts,
This watching isn't something to achieve,
But something already here,
If one does not chase it.
Watch the contact between your body and your bed,
The warmth of the blanket,
The coolness of the air on your skin,
The sense of being held without effort,
Let gravity hold you completely,
The room is quiet and the mind,
If not pushed,
Also becomes quiet,
You are not doing anything,
Just allowing everything to be just as it is,
And there's tremendous freedom in that.
And now sleep may come or it may not,
Right now it doesn't matter,
Because the mind is resting in observation,
Not in pursuit,
No effort,
And from this stillness,
Sleep comes naturally,
Without demand,
Remain with the sound of silence,
Not the silence of no noise,
But the silence that comes when the mind is free from struggle.
The day is finished and you are here,
Quietly,
Watching,
With no direction,
No effort,
No desire,
Only a gentle awareness of what is.
Whether sleep comes or not,
Just know that you are already at rest.
I'll leave you here now with the music,
Sleep well and good night.
