Welcome to Insight Timer.
My name is Amanda Houston and this short meditation is to help you unwind and prepare for bed.
When you are ready,
Lie down on your back and get comfortable,
Making sure that you are nice and warm and that the neck and lower back are supported.
Feel free to use extra props and pillows,
Just try to make yourself as comfy as possible.
Then allow the legs and arms to relax and fall away from the body.
You can either rest the palms beside you or on top of the belly.
When you feel settled,
Start to close the eyes as slowly as you can.
Soften through the brow and the jaw and let the shoulders just dissolve into the ground.
Become aware of the whole body lying here.
Do you feel heavy or light,
Tense or relaxed?
Get a sense of how you are feeling emotionally,
Mentally.
Is there anything still lingering that you need to just release?
Now bring your awareness to the breath.
I invite you to take three deep conscious breaths before we settle in deeper.
Take a deep inhale and allow the belly to fully expand and if it feels good,
At the same time,
Squeeze the toes and fingers together and hold.
And then a big release on the exhale.
And again,
Deep inhale as you squeeze,
Squeeze,
Squeeze and then let that tension go on the exhale.
One last time,
Inhale,
Squeeze the toes,
Fingers,
Toes,
Legs,
Buttocks,
Even the face.
Hold and then let it all go.
Now just let the body breathe naturally.
The belly gently rises and then falls.
Just noticing the air moving through the nostrils,
Allowing the mind to settle.
Breathing softly,
Deeply,
No effort,
No forcing,
Just relaxing,
Allowing everything to slow down.
Calm and relaxed.
Calm and relaxed.
As we move through this practice,
Try,
If you can,
To remain awake and follow my voice.
And when the mind does wander,
Which it will,
Just come back to the sound of my voice.
When you're ready,
Allow your awareness to gently drift all the way down to the right big toe,
The second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and the little toe.
And travelling out through the sole of the right foot,
To the heel,
The ankle,
Through the lower leg,
To the knee,
And then up through the thigh,
To the right hip.
And then just linger in here for a moment,
Just sensing into the whole of the right leg.
Can you soften the leg a little bit more?
Releasing tension,
Just relaxing.
Let your awareness drift all the way down to the left big toe,
The second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe and the little toe.
And moving all the way up through the sole of the left foot,
To the heel,
The ankle,
Through the lower leg,
To the left knee,
And then all the way up through the left thigh,
To the hip.
Just the whole of the left leg.
Notice if there's any gripping.
Can you invite a sense of release?
Just relaxing.
And now the awareness drifts through the pelvis,
To the belly.
Just noticing the rise and the fall of the belly,
The in and the out.
Travelling up through the ribs,
To the heart.
Becoming aware of the beating of the heart.
The love that radiates from the heart.
Become aware of the shoulders.
Can you relax the shoulders a little bit more?
And let your awareness travel all the way down to the right thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger and pinky finger.
Be aware of the curl of the fingers.
They do so much for us.
Awareness of the wrist.
And then travelling all the way up through the forearm to the elbow.
And then all the way up through the upper arm.
And then this time let your awareness drift to the left thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger and pinky finger.
Aware of the palm of the hand and the wrist.
And then travelling all the way up through the forearm to the elbow.
And all the way up through the upper arm to the shoulder.
Now let your awareness drift to the back of the body.
Feeling a connection with the earth.
Moving up through the lower back,
Middle back,
Upper back.
And allow the shoulder blades to soften into the surface a little bit more.
Moving up to the back of the neck,
Around to the throat,
The mouth,
Lips,
Cheeks,
Nose,
Ears,
Eyes,
Forehead and the top of the head.
Now,
Get a sense of the whole body.
The entire right side.
The entire left side.
Maybe you can sense the energy above the body and below.
Calm and relaxed.
Calm and relaxed.
Just resting your whole being.
And as this practice comes to an end,
You can either take a nice deep stretch or if you feel ready,
Roll over and go to sleep.
Thank you so much for joining me.
Sleep well.
