Lie down in your bed or wherever you are now and get as comfortable as possible.
Let the body settle naturally.
Let your hands fall wherever they may.
Palms open ready to receive peace.
Close your eyes now and notice the darkness behind them,
Infinite and soft.
Take in a slow,
Rich breath through your nose and then exhale slowly and deliberately.
Do this again,
Holding the breath at the top just for a moment before you exhale.
With each inhale,
Feel the coolness of the air as it enters your nostrils,
Rises into your forehead,
Expands into your lungs,
Feeling your fullness.
And with each exhale,
Feel how you pour yourself into the bed beneath you.
Feel your body beginning to yield to gravity,
Beginning to trust that it is held.
Now bring your awareness to the crown of your head.
Imagine a warm light like liquid sunlight beginning to trickle down from above,
Touching the top of your scalp.
Feel the skin of your scalp softening,
Loosening and relaxing.
Your forehead smoothing completely as though a gentle thumb is wiping away every line and every worry.
The muscles around your eyebrows melt,
Sliding softly away from each other.
Your eyes become heavy now,
Like precious stones resting quietly behind its lids.
The temples on either side of your head soften,
Tiny spirals of tension dissolving outward into the air.
Feel your cheeks drooping gently,
Serene and slack.
Let your jaw unhook.
Allow your teeth to separate slightly and your tongue to fall to the bottom of your mouth,
Resting like a leaf on a still pond.
Even your ears soften now,
Wrapped in a hush of deep relaxation.
Now sense the delicate tendons and tiny muscles inside your neck unwinding.
The sides of your neck,
The front and the back all loosening and releasing,
Like a thousand invisible threads slowly unravelling.
Feel the golden warmth pooling now in your shoulders.
Let the shoulder blades sink deeper into the mattress,
Sliding wider apart,
Spreading out and down.
Your collarbones like beams across your chest,
Drifting softly outward,
Relaxing the upper chest.
Your upper arms feel warm and heavy,
The muscles loosening and lengthening.
Your elbows,
Simple hinges,
Unlock and release.
Your forearms stretch out longer and looser.
Your wrists soften,
Small and free,
As though they are smooth stones resting at the bottom of a clear river.
Your hands open naturally,
Palms facing upward,
Relaxed.
Your fingers unfold easily,
Like flower petals unfolding at dawn.
The thumbs,
The index fingers,
The middle fingers,
The ring fingers,
The pinky fingers,
All entirely loose,
Entirely free.
Your fingertips buzz lightly with the gentle energy of peace.
Within your arms,
Imagine the bones,
The humerus,
The radius,
The ulna,
Floating effortlessly,
Cradled in a sea of glorious comfort.
The warmth flows downward now into the middle of your chest.
Feel your heart slowing down,
Just pulsing gently,
Rhythmically,
Like a drum heard far away in the night.
Feel your lungs expanding and deflating effortlessly,
Like soft sponges floating in warm water.
The ribs widen slightly with every inhalation,
Creating more and more space inside you.
And relax with each exhale.
Now bring your attention to your solar plexus,
That tender space between your ribs and your belly.
Allow it to soften and melt,
Releasing any armour,
Any guarding you've carried through the day.
The warm light moves into your spine,
Illuminating the entire column of your back.
Starting at the neck,
Each vertebra gently loosens its grip,
Stacking lightly on top of the next.
The middle of your back releases.
The lumbar spine unwinds,
Giving in completely to the pull of the earth.
The vertebrae feel buoyant now,
As if floating in a warm endless sea.
The golden warmth flows down into your hips.
Feel your hip joints widening,
Like gates opening and inviting freedom.
Feel the sacrum,
That triangular bone at the base of the spine,
Growing heavy and sacred,
Anchoring you deeply into the earth.
Your pelvis fills with warmth,
Safety and softness.
The relaxing warmth continues its journey into your thighs.
The muscles here,
The quadriceps at the front,
The hamstrings at the back,
Unbind themselves,
Releasing decades of unconscious tension.
Your knees soften,
Bending easily,
Bathed in a cool,
Healing mist.
The calves and the shins unwrap themselves,
Letting go of all the holding and all the striving.
The ankles relax now,
Swinging free and loose.
And your feet,
Those steadfast travellers of the day,
Melt open.
Feel the heels rooted deeply into the ground.
The arches soften and flatten,
Releasing.
The toes spread easily,
One by one,
Like tiny sea creatures resting peacefully on a quiet ocean floor.
Within your legs,
Imagine the bones,
The femurs,
The tibias,
The fibulas,
Perfectly aligned,
Resting in gentle suspension,
Held in effortless balance by the earth's loving embrace.
Now become aware of your whole body at once.
Sense yourself not as separate parts,
But as a single,
Unified being.
A being that is completely liquid,
Completely weightless and free.
Your skin droops,
Your muscles are loose and buttery.
Your bones shine like soft stars beneath the surface of your body.
Every cell inside you understands that it is safe to let go.
It is safe to drift and surrender.
Feel yourself melting downward,
Deeper into the earth,
Deeper into dreams.
Your mind drifts now,
Like a feather caught in a slow,
Dark river,
Carried ever further into a place where thought dissolves into pure peace.
You are whole,
Loved and free.
Rest now,
Sleep now.
Let the gentle currents of peace carry you into the deepest,
Most healing sleep.
Good night,
Dear one.
