Beginning where you are.
Coming into whatever restful space you find yourself.
Chair,
Couch,
A bed.
Finding ease and comfort in this moment.
Using the pull of gravity on your body.
Feeling the weight of your body as the earth begins to embrace it.
Feeling the weight of the day starting to dissipate.
Coming into a space of self-soothing.
Using your mind to let your body relax.
And beyond that,
Changing your focus from the cognitive,
That is to say mind and brain,
Into the sensory,
Your perceptions of yourself and others and your environment.
Getting inward,
Slowing down,
And becoming more quiet.
Acknowledging that in any day,
And nearly every day,
You have been slighted.
Wrongs have been visited upon you.
And in order for you to fully rest,
You need to forgive and to ask forgiveness.
Maybe you're not ready yet to forgive,
But you can put aside the grievance,
At least for the evening.
Letting any sense of resentment flow out of you and drift away like a mist in a vapor.
And as you slow down and become heavy,
Notice the ways in which your mind starts to unspool and thoughts drift as neurons begin to fire in a less coordinated way.
Approaching the unstructuredness of dreams.
Catching into a deeper place,
A more secluded space.
Withdrawing from the light of day.
You may start to feel your breath getting deeper,
Relaxing.
Your muscles losing their tone.
Your heart rate gently decreasing.
Your digestion slowing.
Let it all happen.
If at any time your mind wanders into fantasy,
Distraction,
Or a paranoia,
Those things don't need to be real.
You just come back to this moment,
My voice,
Your breath,
The space in which you find yourself.
Let yourself relax and ease in.
Being aware of the vast continuity of all life,
The interconnectedness of all things,
Reaching to and fro.
And this very moment is shared with the universe entire.
Becoming aware of a greater unity within all creation.
And acknowledging that unity with an unending and passionate of and compassion and fidelity.
You are a part of all and the only response is love.
Just as you took in the unity of all things around you,
Send out that deep and abiding love for all things.
You're breathing,
You settle in,
You become heavy,
You become more quiet and more still.
As you breathe and slow down and continue to settle in more deeply to your resting space.
Know that you are sheltered by a vast canopy of compassion and grace.
Covered in the wings and safe spaces of the universe that cares for you,
That knows you.
Settle in again more deeply with that deeper knowing.
The unity and love in all things that shields you even as you sleep.
Getting ready to rest in that stillness and wholeness.
A sense of harmony pervading you from fingers to toes,
From top to bottom and side to side.
All is complete and whole.
And as you enter this resting space,
You are sheltered and protected and you will be when you come out of it.
You are guarded by the great goodness of this world.
A good and greatness that has pervaded generations before you and will endure beyond you.
You're part of a lineage that has thrived upon this earth.
You're breathing in slowly,
Breathing out with ease,
Settling in to rest,
Absorbing the unity and wholeness and love from which the world is made.
You are blessed and protected.
You are illumined and given grace.
In all the forces and elements of nature,
Stand watch as you rest.
There to guard your safe travels into the land of rest and sleep.
On your right side,
As you rest,
Beside you guards the spirit of all mysteries.
A container for all wonders so that you can put aside your questions and curiosities.
Rest them to your right side,
Letting go.
Letting go of your minds,
Wanderings and questings.
Surrendering.
On your left side,
A servant for all that is powerful,
All that is strong.
Where you are going in rest,
There is no need for exertion or power.
Let your muscles relax and hand off that duty to your left side.
In front of you,
A lantern,
A candle,
A wick,
A small light to show you the way into the realms of rest.
Following close behind,
Watching you,
Guarding you as you sleep.
A spirit of all that is healing,
In the ways that rest heals your body and replenishes you.
That healing is behind you.
Warming you,
Shepherding you.
And above you,
And all around you,
The great and unending presence of all that is sacred.
Your body starts to drift.
Your mind continues to unroll.
And your breathing goes in and out.
And in and out.
Slower and slower.
And less and less consciously.
Barely perceptible.
Perhaps you make one last twitch or shiver or adjustment in your body.
And let go of one last tiny bit of concern,
Letting it all drift away like a moat.
In your resting place,
A chair,
A couch,
A warm bed,
A campsite,
You find yourself held by a deep and strong and unending support.
And you have no cause for fear.
And you continue drifting.
Letting go.
Falling away.
