Hi,
This is Andrew.
This technique is one that I use personally to fall asleep at night.
It's nice and simple.
And once you get the hang of it,
The whole process will start to fade away and it will become a natural procedure.
So ready for sleep now.
Lying down in your bed.
Moving into the most comfortable position you can be in.
Placing your hands at your side.
Your feet slightly apart.
Closing down the eyes.
And connecting with your breath.
Noticing the flow in and out.
No need to change the speed or the depth of your breath in this moment.
Just relaxing with the natural flow of your breath.
Take your awareness down into the fingertips.
Notice any sensations there.
And with the in-breath,
Move your awareness from the fingertips up through the arms into the shoulders.
Relaxing.
And with the out-breath,
Move your awareness from the shoulders down to the fingertips.
Let's do that another couple of times.
With the in-breath,
From the fingertips up to the shoulders.
Relaxing.
And from the shoulders,
With the out-breath,
Down to the fingertips.
Releasing.
Once more.
With your in-breath,
From the fingertips up to the shoulders.
Releasing.
And from the shoulders,
With the out-breath,
All the way back down to the fingertips.
Relaxing.
And just notice what you notice.
Perhaps your arms and hands are feeling a little heavier.
A little softer.
There's been a little release.
Now hold on to the awareness there.
But also shift your awareness down to the toes.
And with the in-breath,
Move your awareness from the toes up through the legs into the hips.
And with the out-breath,
From the hips down to the toes.
Relaxing.
Let's do that another couple of times.
From the toes,
With the in-breath,
Up through the legs.
Right up to the hips.
And with the out-breath,
From the hips down through the legs to the toes.
Once more.
From the toes,
With the in-breath,
Up through the legs to the hips.
And from the hips,
With the out-breath,
All the way down to the toes.
And just noticing what you notice in the legs,
The feet,
The toes.
Next,
We move from the base of the spine up to the shoulder blades.
But this time,
We're not going to use the breath.
You see,
When you focus on the breath,
You feel it in the stomach and the chest.
And I want you to truly notice the feelings in the lower and the upper back.
So just allowing your breath to flow naturally,
But not focusing on it for this section.
Move your awareness from the base of the spine,
Up through the lower back,
The upper back,
Into the shoulder blades,
Relaxing.
And from the shoulder blades,
Down through the upper back,
The lower back,
Down to the base of the spine.
Let's do that another couple of times.
From the base of the spine,
Moving up,
Relaxing,
The lower back,
The upper back,
The shoulder blades.
And from the shoulder blades,
Down the upper back,
The lower back,
The base of the spine.
Once more,
From the base of the spine,
Into the lower back,
The upper back,
The shoulder blades.
And down from the shoulder blades,
The upper back,
The lower back,
The base of the spine.
And just notice what you notice.
A softening in its own time.
A release in its own way.
A deepening sense of comfort and heaviness.
And connecting with your breath again.
This time we move from the hips,
Up through the stomach,
To the chest,
To the collarbones,
And back down again.
So as you breathe in,
Moving your awareness into the hips,
The stomach,
The chest,
The collarbones.
And as you breathe out,
The collarbones,
The chest,
The stomach,
The hips.
Let's do that another couple of times.
Breathing in,
Hips,
Stomach,
Chest,
Collarbones.
Breathing out,
Collarbones,
Chest,
Stomach,
Hips.
Once more,
Breathing in,
Hips,
Stomach,
Chest,
Collarbones.
Breathing out,
Collarbones,
Chest,
Stomach,
Hips.
And letting your breath settle.
Just noticing what you notice now.
How the body is switching off.
Releasing.
Relaxing.
Relaxing.
Softening.
Now let's move in to the muscles around your neck.
Gently stretch the neck muscles.
Breathe in,
And out,
And release the muscles of the neck.
Gently stretch,
In,
And out,
And release.
Once more,
Gently stretch,
In,
And out,
And release.
Let's move in to the jaw now.
Bring some movement in to your jaw,
Slowly,
Wiggling the jaw left to right.
Allowing it to relax.
Do the same with the tongue now,
Moving from left to right.
Now,
Closing your lips together,
Inflate your cheeks.
Push them out,
Once,
And release.
Twice,
And release.
Twice,
And for the third time,
Pushing them out,
And release.
Notice how your cheeks,
Your tongue,
Your jaw,
Feel more relaxed.
Bringing your awareness to the nostrils now.
Noticing the breath at the nostrils,
Once again.
And taking a slightly deeper breath,
In,
Hold,
And out.
Let's do that another couple of times.
Slightly deeper breath,
In,
Hold,
And out.
Once more,
In,
Hold.
Move your awareness now,
Into the temples.
And then gently inwards,
To the eyes.
Noticing how nice it is to allow the eyes relaxation.
Comfort.
Peace.
And up now into the forehead.
Noticing what you notice as you rest your awareness in the forehead.
And just following the natural flow of your breath.
In,
And out.
And imagining now that with each out breath,
Your entire body from the top of your head,
Down to the fingertips,
And down to the toes,
Is relaxing just a little.
Releasing just a little.
With each out breath,
Letting go.
Letting go.
And carry on this gentle thought,
Following the out breath.
And allowing your body to sink deeper down into sleep.
Every out breath,
Taking you deeper into sleep.
Deeper,
And deeper asleep.
