Come into your resting spot.
It could be a bed,
A couch,
A chair.
Wherever you find yourself to do this meditation,
To give yourself the peace of rest and sleep.
Attend to any unmet needs.
Maybe you have an itch,
Warm spot.
Maybe you need to adjust your covers or shift,
Beginning to let your eyes close.
Your body will tell you.
And then you might start to notice that the day is ending.
Sounds are changing.
Becoming more quiet.
The world is slowing down.
And you are becoming more still.
Let gravity take over.
Let night fall and rest descend.
And you just drift amid it all.
In the quiet and the stillness.
Time to achieve nothing at all,
But rest and sleep,
And perhaps dream.
That's all you need right now.
Maybe you want to let out a yawn or just breathe deeply in a natural way.
Completing the work of the day.
Putting it aside.
Breathing.
Letting all your cares go and drift like a breeze.
Ephemeral as the sound of crickets or birds.
And the clouds covering the moon.
Draw your breath deeper in.
Deeper in.
Slower out.
Coming into that flow.
That persistence and continuity.
Yawn again if you need to.
Stretch out.
Get cozy.
On any given day,
Misdeeds creep in.
We make mistakes.
We break boundaries.
We hurt people's feelings or even their bodies.
Sometimes consciously.
Most times without being fully aware.
Can you forgive anyone that may have harmed you today?
Let go of it just for the night.
Maybe longer,
But at least for the night.
Holding that resentment or grudge won't help you rest.
And it's so painful to know that we've hurt other people too.
But hurt them we do all the time.
Inevitably,
Like breathing.
All we can do is ask forgiveness.
All we can do is ask forgiveness.
Try to improve.
Try to learn the lesson.
So for now,
Even if you're not totally ready,
Maybe you can ask forgiveness.
You don't even have to believe that you were wrong yet.
You just have to want to let go.
And want to sleep,
Sleep of the innocent.
May all this be acceptable.
And as you breathe,
Taking it in,
Letting it out.
Letting it out.
Maybe dreams start to edge their way in.
And your consciousness becomes less concrete,
More malleable at the edges,
Fuzzy,
As your eye closes down.
Wish and usher in good dreams.
Invite them.
Invite sweet thoughts and patterns of images to dance across your synapses while you sleep.
And in the moments we start to lose consciousness,
Lose consciousness,
It can take just a second to acknowledge the incredible pervading unity of the world that all of this sun,
Stars,
Moon,
Human,
Cricket,
Air,
All began together and is fundamentally united.
And from that unity,
You might feel love,
Faithfulness and compassion drifting out from you in an expression of gratitude.
For all that is,
And all that is wrapped up in you and throughout the entire universe sharing existence.
And you,
You are protected.
You are loved and adored.
You are protected,
Sheltered in refuge,
Uncatchable,
Shielded with armor and eagle's wings,
Lifted,
Supported,
Good,
Accompanying you,
Protecting you from dangerous,
Hearing your every need,
Delivering you safely.
You can take this moment to breathe deeply.
You might inhale all the way down and exhale with the ancient word of breath,
Selah,
Selah,
And yawn it out.
You'll lie down,
Peace and wholeness.
And when the time comes,
Get up in wholeness.
In wholeness,
Your life can be complete.
You are shielded and sheltered,
Vouchsafed and blessed when you go out from this conscious time until you return to consciousness again.
Breathing,
Letting gravity do all the work,
Embraced in stillness and quiet,
Settling in and floating down.
Great and good forces surround us,
They preceded us and looked over our ancestors.
And these great and good forces will continue our legacy beyond us,
Blessing those who follow us.
Now may you be able to breathe deeply and now may you be blessed.
May the universe bless you and guard you.
Breathe that in,
Take it in,
And then let the breath out.
May the universe shine upon you with the light of grace.
Breathe that in.
Maybe you can let it out with a yawn.
May this loving universe look upon you with peace.
A peace deeper than tranquility,
Greater than harmony,
An indescribable wholeness.
Take a moment to say any words of gratitude or request that you have as you let go of the day and surrender all of your concerns.
There are great and good forces witnessing you while you sleep.
During the day we have questions,
Concerns,
Doubts,
At night we can rest all of those wonderings with the great and good force at our right side that is responsible for questions.
In our waking hours we struggle mightily,
We exert ourselves,
In our waking hours we struggle mightily,
We exert ourselves wickedly.
You can surrender all of that effort at your left side with the great and good force responsible for effort and heroism.
During the day we seek the path,
We look for the lights,
We find our way.
In rest we don't need to strive in that way and there is a light holding the path ready for us just in front of us,
Held by a great and good force.
Our bodies might ache and gripe during the day.
At night we can surrender our pains behind us with the great and good force responsible for healing.
And above us,
The masterful,
Wondrous presence and glory of all creation.
You might want to take a moment to shift,
Adjust,
Squirm any last itches,
You might have,
And then you can breathe in and breathe out with the word SELAH.
And the universe is complete,
Going on and on without end and loving you at every step.
And you are held in its gentle and caring palm and there is nothing to fear.
