I invite you to begin this meditation in a relaxed position.
Seated or lying down,
Letting your eyes gently close,
Finding yourself at the end of a day,
The end of a week perhaps,
The culmination of an expanse of time.
And now your body and mind are preparing for rest,
Settling in,
Becoming quiet,
Becoming still,
Limiting yourself to the here and now,
Adjusting to this very moment,
No past,
No future,
And just this very liminal space between consciousness and rest.
Breathing in,
Settling down in your muscles and bones,
Finding a looseness and a suppleness that you may not have noticed during the day and time that preceded this meditation,
Letting a softness and warmth slip into and eventually pervade your body,
Breathing in,
And breathing out,
Breathing in,
And out,
Coming into stillness.
Letting the restfulness of dark just creep in around the corners of your awareness.
You don't have to make yourself tired,
You just have to let it in.
All of the going and jostling of life,
You can surrender it.
As you let in more and more feelings of softness,
And let go of all the stresses of the past day and days,
Just acknowledge briefly the way that all things are connected into a great and vast oneness,
The unity of creation in which you are embedded,
Breathing into that incredible unity and fullness.
Tucking yourself into the peacefulness of evening,
Finding a wholeness of rest,
Just waiting for you.
Being grateful for the shelter all around you,
The security of home and bed,
And the embrace of cool darkness and warm blanket,
Knowing that you're protected.
You are guarded by presences of unfathomable strength.
Breathing in deeply,
Out slowly.
On your right side rests all of the mystery,
All of the wonder of the world held for you while you sleep.
You can allow your questions to be held on your right side,
Becoming deeper and slower and more unfathomable,
Settling in.
Guarding you on your left side,
The forces of strength and heroism.
No need to defend yourself or feel fragile.
You are protected and strong,
So you can let your muscles release and come into a settling,
An ease.
Resting down and sinking in,
Breathing deeply and flowing through you.
Ahead of you as you rest,
As the force of the light,
The last glimmers of the day fading beyond your feet.
Sun and moon and stars,
Twinkling and then fading,
As darkness fills you with rest.
You're breathing deeply,
Going ever slower,
More relaxed.
Behind you rests the power of healing,
All of your wounds physical and emotional.
All the trauma and distress and pain can be held behind you.
You can surrender all the aches and suffering as you prepare to rest.
Letting go.
Breathing,
Settling into the quiet and the stillness,
The ease and rest.
And covering you up as massive as the sky and as powerful as an eagle's wing,
As the presence of all that transcends you.
You are sheltered by a love that sees you and knows you and attends to you and watches you as you rest in safety and security.
Feel that magnanimous comfort.
And let the quiet fill you up with peace and tranquility.
You're breathing,
Surrendering to the darkness and the stillness and the quiet,
Continuing to let go,
Letting go as you breathe and rest.
