Time.
So tonight we're focused on finding sleep,
Finding a settling of our thoughts and our mind and our energy.
Our brains are really good at thinking.
We think thousands of thoughts a day.
So when we find ourselves preparing to settle into sleep,
To find stillness,
It can be very challenging to stop that mind from doing all that work.
It's really efficient.
It can solve problems and it can do it in your sleep as well.
What we want to focus on tonight is letting that go for now.
Letting our thoughts go,
Letting the news go,
Letting everything around us that we can't control in this moment together.
So letting it go.
We'll do that by working with our breath,
By working with the sounds of the bowls and the chimes and working through some of the mantras together.
So we'll begin by setting our intention first together.
I'm placing my hand on my heart,
Connecting with all of you with my intention to offer this healing through sound,
A relaxing and a settling of the mind,
And a restful,
Peaceful sleep this evening.
As you come into a position where you're lying down,
I invite you to bring a hand to your heart center and a hand to your abdomen and begin to connect with this movement of breath in your body.
We should be very grateful that each breath that we take right now is with ease,
And we have the ability to harness this breath to calm us,
To bring about this state of ease and peace.
And breathing deeply,
Imagine filling your belly like a balloon,
And it rising so full that it fills the lungs and the chest and feeling the hand move underneath that breath.
And we hold at the top when this balloon is full,
And we slowly let that air exhale.
This deep breath in,
Full and hold.
And a slow,
Steady exhale.
Deep breath in.
Hold as you fill to the top.
And we hold at the top.
Deep breath in.
Hold as you fill to the top.
And letting everything from the day go,
Slowly escaping.
Again,
Deep breath in.
And a slow,
Steady exhale.
A few more at your own pace,
Breathing in deeply.
Letting your hands settle down by your side.
Gently closing the eyes if they're not already.
Allowing your body to fully connect to the bed or the floor.
And begin to sense all the spaces where you're connecting with something else.
Something outside of self.
And allow the gravity and the weight of your body to sink down.
As we let go within our breath,
We also let go the holding,
The tensing that lives within the body.
And we begin to bring our imagination to our mind's eye.
We stand before a room.
There's a shelf off to the side.
And on the shelf,
You place all of the things that you're holding.
And on the shelf,
You place all of the things that have been running in your mind throughout the day.
The things that you worry about.
Perhaps your health or your family.
Your work or your money.
And place that on the shelf.
That will come back to it after our practice.
It will be here if we need to pick it up.
Or it will be here tomorrow when we wake.
So collecting all the things that we no longer need to carry with us for this moment.
And then we enter this room.
And this is the most beautiful,
Relaxing room you can create in your mind.
Perhaps there's floor to ceiling pillows and curtains and windows.
Create your room,
One of relaxation and protection and comfort.
Perhaps there is a big window and you see this view outside of you.
Into this world,
Peaceful and relaxing.
And begin to find a place to lay down in this room.
Settling down,
You find yourself supported and comfortable.
You feel that your breath has moved freer through your body entering this space.
The legs relax.
Perhaps the feet gently fall apart from each other as they settle in.
Feeling the weight of the legs fully supported by the ground beneath you.
The hips settle.
The abdomen softens and the breath flows easy.
Imagine each vertebrae from the tailbone all the way through the low back.
The muscles on each side relaxing and letting go of the tensions that we carry throughout.
The mid back,
Feeling all your connection points to the floor beneath you.
The shoulders sink away from the ears.
The muscles in the jaw begin to relax and the throat softens as breath flows.
All the muscles in the face,
The cheeks and the forehead begin to relax.
The body begins to relax.
And all the muscles in the face,
The cheeks and the forehead is completely letting go.
The back of the neck and the head resting.
As you melt into the ground beneath you,
Sending you deeper to relaxation.
To a space of letting go and dissolving.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
Feeling the space.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
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The body begins to relax.
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The body begins to relax.
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The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
The body begins to relax.
Beginning to connect with the sounds in the space all around you.
Feeling the breath moving in the body.
Beginning to move parts that are calling out to you.
And connecting with that heart center once again.
With the intention for restful sleep to bring about ease and balance in our bodies.
To allow stillness and letting go of thoughts.
I wish you all a blissful evening of sleep.
Thank you from my heart to yours.
Until the next time,
Namaste.
Thank you for watching.
