Welcome,
My name is Mario,
And by the end of this meditation,
My hope is that your perspective on what it means to fall asleep will shift,
And instead of chasing the end goal as we are often taught,
We'll focus on what is attainable,
What is in our control,
Which is rest.
So when you're ready,
Let's lie down,
Not to achieve anything,
Not even to sleep,
But just to lie here,
To rest,
To be comfortable,
To be still.
Now notice the body,
Not with control,
Not to relax it,
Just notice the weight of it,
The warmth,
The quiet rhythm of your breath.
Let that be enough.
It's strange,
Isn't it,
How quickly the mind tries to do something with this moment.
It wants to get somewhere,
Even with sleep.
We say to ourselves,
I must sleep,
And in saying that,
We are already resisting where we are,
What we are,
How we are.
But what if we didn't resist it?
What if we simply rested?
Rest is not a means to an end,
It is not a tool to get something else.
True rest is the end itself,
And sleep,
When it comes,
Is a by-product of that deep,
Honest resting.
Now,
It's worth keeping this in mind,
That sleep is a by-product of rest.
Sleep cannot be forced,
But rest,
Rest is always available here,
Now.
To rest is not to escape,
It is not the same as sleep,
It is deeper than that,
It is a kind of listening,
A kind of stillness in which the body is allowed to be exactly as it is.
You do not need to fix anything,
You do not need to calm the mind,
You do not need to be peaceful.
What happens when you allow everything to be just as it is?
Thoughts may come,
Sensations may stir,
Even restlessness.
Can we observe this,
Gently,
Without naming it,
Without resisting it?
There is a strange clarity in doing nothing,
In simply being.
You are not trying to sleep,
You are not trying to be good at resting,
You are simply resting,
Letting the body fall into the surface beneath it,
Letting the breath come and go,
Letting the world be what it is.
There is no future moment to get to,
Not even the moment of falling asleep,
Let that take care of itself.
The stillness that you are in is complete in itself,
No effort,
No direction,
Just this quiet attention,
This gentle surrender to now.
Perhaps sleep will come,
Perhaps not,
But when the body is truly at rest,
Sleep often arrives uninvited,
Like a guest who enters quietly through the back door of the house,
It does not need to be chased.
And if sleep comes,
Let it come,
If it doesn't,
That's alright too.
You are resting,
And that is enough.
Now simply stay here,
There is nothing more to hear,
No more guidance,
Just rest.
Let the body continue in its own way,
As it always has,
I'll leave you here now,
Goodnight.
