Soothing Sleep Meditation - Release Anxiety

A warm welcome to this guided meditation brought to you by Sleepy Cat,

Designed to help you find peace tonight and to get some well-earned sleep.

I hope that you will find this meditation useful in calming you down and quieting any racing thoughts,

Allowing you to embrace the deep healing rest that awaits you now.

And as we settle in for the night,

Just begin by finding a comfortable position in your bed and acknowledge that this is a time for you,

A time to switch off,

Let go and enjoy this relaxing experience that will guide you further and further into comfort and into sleep.

Give yourself permission to truly relax tonight and to have this moment for yourself.

You deserve this time and you deserve this rest.

You are completely safe here.

This is your haven,

A place to bathe in comfort and a chance for you to be free from anything that might be holding you back from relaxation and from sleep.

And I want to reassure you that there is no right or wrong way to experience this meditation.

We are simply here to relax,

To let go and find peace.

So if you haven't already,

Just allow your eyes to gently close and take a nice,

Slow,

Deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth as we begin our wonderful journey to deep relaxation.

Give yourself permission to let go as best you can of any distractions and thoughts that might be lingering for you as you begin to wind down slowly but surely into a place of calm where the mind can be still and the body can be heavy.

And as you slow your breathing down,

Focusing on a long exhale,

It might be helpful to repeat these words of comfort to yourself quietly within your own head.

I am choosing to take care of myself.

I am choosing to let go of the things that do not serve me.

I am choosing to embrace relaxation and to be guided into a peaceful and healing rest.

You might find at the moment that there is still a lot of mental chatter and possibly even an inner dialogue going on in your mind,

With thoughts passing back and forth as if you are watching over a busy motorway.

You may even be replaying the day's events in your mind or pondering on something that happened a long time ago or something that is yet to happen.

Remind yourself that this is perfectly normal and it is okay.

The deeper we go into this meditation,

The more that this chatter and any remaining thoughts will slowly begin to fade,

So try not to be too hard on yourself tonight.

It's also worth remembering that no problem has ever been solved by worrying.

However,

By getting the best sleep that you can,

You can set yourself up to be in a better place tomorrow,

Ready to take on whatever the day might bring with a stronger,

Clearer mind.

And if at any time during this relaxation you find the mind does begin to wander,

Then please know that this,

Too,

Is perfectly normal.

It simply means that you are human,

And that in itself is a wonderful gift.

If or when the mind wanders,

Try to acknowledge that without judgment,

And then let the thought go as you bring your focus back to my voice and to this meditation.

Continue to breathe deep,

Filling the belly and the chest as you inhale,

And blowing away any remaining tension as you exhale.

Try to remove any pressure that you might be putting on yourself to fall asleep quickly tonight.

It doesn't matter how long it takes,

And every night will no doubt be different.

The main focus tonight is to bring the body into a deep state of comfort,

A state of relaxation and peace,

And to simply enjoy these sensations.

Even through a deep,

Conscious relaxation,

We can bring enormous healing and relief to our body and our mind.

So allow any of this pressure that you might be putting on yourself to melt away from you.

And now,

Just begin to check in with your body and notice any sensations that might be there.

There is no need to do anything about these sensations right now,

Or to judge them in any way.

We can simply observe,

Acknowledge what we feel,

And move on.

Notice how your head rests on the pillow.

Are you carrying tension in your face,

In the forehead,

Or perhaps the jaw?

How do your shoulders and neck feel tonight?

How do your arms lie?

Are they resting on your stomach or by your side?

How does your back rest on the mattress?

Are there any areas of your body that feel more supported than others?

Are your legs heavy and relaxed,

Or are you holding tension here?

Do you feel any sensations in the hands or the feet?

And as we become more and more relaxed,

Then new sensations will undoubtedly come and go,

With some lingering more than others,

And some even moving across your body,

Or changing from moment to moment.

Move with the flow,

And allow the sensations in your body to guide you now.

Often,

Much of the tension that we carry comes from our desire to keep control of a situation or an emotion.

And so,

Once again,

I want to invite you to give yourself permission to let go of all this tension now.

Let go of any desire for physical or mental control tonight.

Your body and your mind are free to rest and recover.

Allow the door of your mind to open wide now,

And watch any remaining thoughts and worries drift from your consciousness up into the sky above you,

Before fading out of sight beyond the stars.

There is nothing more that can be done tonight.

The day has come to an end,

And anything else can wait until the morning.

This time is for you.

And with that in mind,

Begin to shift your focus to your breath now,

And notice the gentle rising and falling sensation that occurs through your natural breathing pattern.

If it helps,

You might place a hand on your stomach and follow the waves of your breath.

And now,

We can embrace our breath further by slowing it down,

In through the nose,

And out through the mouth.

Allow the belly and the chest to expand and become free,

Before relaxing completely as you breathe out.

And with each breath in,

Feel that fresh,

Healing air being brought into your body.

And as you exhale,

Imagine that you are blowing away any tension far up into the deep black night above you.

And notice that as your breathing goes deeper and deeper,

So too does your mind and your body.

Give your body permission to sink just that bit deeper,

And your mind to slowly empty.

Enjoy the new relaxation that is flowing through you.

Allow it to trickle from the top of your head,

Down your body,

Into your arms,

Hands,

And fingers,

And all the way down your legs,

Into your toes.

Continue to breathe in this way,

Nice and slow,

Focusing on a long exhale.

Feel your body growing heavier and heavier.

And,

When you are ready,

Just allow this breathing to fall back to a comfortable rhythm once again.

Recognize that our breathing has a rhythm to it,

Just like the pattern of our thoughts.

And if we can slow down our breathing,

We can also begin to slow down our thoughts and quiet our mind.

You might find that already,

Your body is feeling just that bit heavier and more relaxed.

And your mind is beginning to slow down,

With a new sense of peace and quiet washing over you.

And if you feel as though you are ready to go even deeper tonight,

Into a tranquil state of freedom,

Then let us continue together on this journey to peace.

In a moment,

I am going to ask you to open your eyes.

This may appear counterproductive at first,

But I encourage you to trust tonight,

And I think you will be pleasantly surprised by this experience.

So,

When you feel ready,

Slowly open your eyes and try to focus your gaze to a fixed spot in the room.

There is no need to force anything here,

Just allow yourself to focus on this spot.

With your eyes open,

You might have noticed the room coming into focus for you as your vision adjusts to the space.

And after a few moments,

You might feel that your eyes are getting heavier,

And that you are blinking more and more frequently.

And you might feel now that it has become very difficult to keep your eyes open at all,

As a new heaviness falls upon the eyelids,

Like tiny weights pulling them down.

And with each blink,

There is a deeper and deeper temptation to allow them to close fully.

Allow yourself to give in to this temptation now,

As you let your eyelids drop closed.

Allow the heaviness to completely take over.

Enjoy the relief of finally letting those tired eyes close.

Your mind is releasing any remaining thoughts,

And they fall away from you like grains of sand,

Leaving you with a quiet stillness and peace.

A deep state of comfort washes over you.

You have completely let go,

And you are free.

Now,

As the roof begins to open above you,

You find yourself lying beneath a glittering dome of starlight,

With pulsing stars watching over you.

From the galaxy above,

One of the stars descends from the night sky,

Shrinking to the size of a tiny silver orb and hovers around your feet.

Let your awareness drift to the soft silver light that is beginning to orbit your body in a spiral,

From your feet all the way up to your head and back down again.

The light pulses with a soft,

Healing energy that allows you to feel completely safe and protected.

You feel as though this magical starlight is beginning to lift you ever so slightly,

And you are now floating just above your bed.

And as you begin to hear a slow,

Gentle countdown,

This silver orb will pass over your body,

Healing as it goes and bringing you into a deep,

Heavy comfort.

Ten.

The star begins to orbit your head very slowly,

And you feel a gentle humming sensation across your face,

Melting away any tension in the forehead.

All the muscles in your face become soft and loose,

Your eyes are heavy,

Your cheeks are warm,

Your jaw is soft,

And your lips part slightly as they let go now.

Nine.

The warm,

Silver light trickles down the back of your neck,

Releasing any tension as it goes,

Like butter melting.

It passes over your shoulders,

Softening each and every muscle with its magical orbit.

Eight.

The star splits in two and traces down both of your arms,

Softening the muscles in your upper arms,

Loosening the elbows and the forearms,

Before sending a warm sensation through the hands and the fingers.

Your arms hang heavy now,

Free and loose.

Seven.

As the beautiful,

Pulsing light rests in your chest now,

You feel a warmth running over your ribcage,

Softening the muscles and melting away any tension.

There is a new openness in your chest and a freedom in your breath.

Six.

The belly expands as well,

And a wonderful sensation runs through your chest and your belly,

Allowing you to completely let go.

You can release any holding in tonight and breathe away any and all tension.

There is a deep,

Healing starlight sitting in your very core and radiating out of you.

Five.

The perfect silver orb trickles up and down your spine,

Relaxing you vertebra by vertebra.

The light spreads across all the muscles in your back,

Filling them with warmth and comfort.

Your entire upper body is in a beautiful state of pure relaxation.

Four.

This guiding starlight warms your buttocks muscles now,

And you feel yourself letting go of any tension here as it slowly melts away.

Three.

The silver orb trickles down over your legs,

Spiraling around them as it moves down.

You feel the muscles in your thighs tingling with a soft warmth as they completely relax.

Your knees become loose and free.

Your calves hum with a starlight sensation,

Softening the muscles.

The warmth passes gently over your feet and all the way into your toes.

Two.

Your whole body now is in a deep,

Tranquil state.

Your muscles are completely relaxed and washed with peace,

Free from all tension.

One.

It's as if you are now floating on a twilight cloud,

With a million stars watching over you and guarded by the eternal moon.

Zero.

The enchanted star spirals up above you and returns to the rich,

Black night.

As it rises up,

It gives off a silver stardust that falls back down onto your body,

Surrounding you in a soft,

White glitter.

The silver orb rejoins its infinite family of stars high above you,

And pulses brighter than all the rest,

Your chief guardian tonight.

The stars give off a beautiful lullaby,

And their music will guide you on your journey into sleep.

Any lingering thoughts are being taken by the stars up into the twilight and dissolved by the silver glitter above you.

Allow yourself to be in this total state of bliss,

And drift along with the stars to a place of wonder.

Rest and recovery is coming to you now.

Health,

Happiness,

And positivity are filling your body,

Mind,

And soul.

Trust that these beautiful stars will watch over you tonight,

And the moon will guide your dreams.

And when you wake up,

You will be refreshed,

Energized,

And ready for the day ahead.

Give yourself permission to let go.

Be at one with this world of starlight,

And this land of dreams.