Get settled,
Say and feel nice things about yourself.
What a good job you did today.
And any mistakes that crept in as they must,
Let go of.
Give yourself a silent cheer that you made it through the day and the reward is well-earned rest.
Breathe it all in with a deep and abiding gratitude for what was and what may be and most of all,
What is right now.
Some days are harried,
Some are quiet,
Some are productive and some aimless and all have lessons to teach us and messages to absorb when we sleep.
You may not be able to name what those lessons may be but let your body start to take them in and trust that they will be sorted in the dream world.
When you're ready,
You could close your eyes,
Settle into your seat,
Couch or bed,
Letting go of any held muscles and letting gravity take you over,
Becoming more still,
Feeling the blanket and embrace of quiet and the love of the earth pulling you with its gravity.
Let yourself sink into all of that embrace using sleep as a time to become more whole.
You might yawn or stretch,
Fidget or shift,
Take a deep breath in and perhaps exhale with the ancient breath word,
Selah,
Getting expansive and dripping across and out your bed or couch,
Loose and woozy.
Don't hold back from being your most comfortable.
Breathe deep into any places that are tight,
Making your inhale deeper and your exhale slower.
Life is funny and complicated and full of misdirection and misdeeds and it's certain that in each and every day someone did you wrong,
Mispronounced your name,
Bumped into you,
Gave you the wrong change,
You were triggered in some way.
You could nurse that resentment all night but you probably wouldn't sleep very well so maybe you'd like to forgive or just toy with the idea of forgiving,
Letting go tentatively,
Try it on for size,
See how it feels,
Forgive.
And if people hurt your body or your feelings,
You can probably guess effectively that you did the same thing to someone,
Probably not on purpose,
Maybe without even realizing it.
We hurt people every day.
We are fragile and delicate creatures without a lot of good sense and we can be pretty clumsy.
Maybe you're even ready to ask forgiveness,
Maybe not.
Chew the words around in your mouth,
See how it might feel to apologize.
It might be deeply liberating to apologize.
Maybe you might even forgive yourself breathing.
Just coming into this very moment and this moment again,
Letting the darkness or the evening seep in through the curtains,
Across the landscape,
Wrapping you in its cool,
Mesmerizing blanket and inviting you into sweet dreams as the day begins to go dim.
You could take note that it's all one,
All of this great and bountiful,
Awesome and cherished world is one singular unity that surpasses comprehension.
All of creation beginning in a infinitesimally small point and you are part of it all.
Perhaps that fills you with awe and an outpouring of love and joy.
And you can experience that diversity and oneness almost every moment of the day.
Say a word of praise just to yourself and you are gathered and you are protected,
Sheltered in a refuge,
A garrison,
Protected by an eagle's wing or a great and mighty shield,
Comforted,
Supported and safeguarded through the night.
Nothing will harm you,
Not now.
Great and good forces surrounding you as you rest,
Guarding you in all your ways,
Carrying you,
Lifting you,
Holding you,
Lest you stumble,
Even in sleep.
You are strengthened by the universe and your body's experience of rest.
And you lie down in wholeness so that you can get up again in the morning in peace and tranquility,
Protected as you depart from consciousness,
Guarded as you go out of consciousness,
And protected when you will come back in to consciousness when the time arrives.
There are great and good forces that preceded you,
That supported and surrounded your ancestors,
That will watch over you and shelter your sleep and look over those who come next,
The loving world.
Take it in,
Settling in deeply to the tranquility and wholeness of peace.
You are blessed and protected.
The universe is looking toward you with grace,
And the universe is turning toward you to grant you wholeness,
A peace that passes understanding.
Great and good forces surround your bed as you sleep,
Taking care of the things you might worry about during the day.
You have doubts and questions all the live long day,
And at night,
You can rest those questions at your right side with the great force responsible for mystery.
In waking hours,
We struggle mightily,
Wrestle and grapple,
Show vigor.
You can let that go.
Let all of your strength and energy slide to your left side,
Depositing it with the great and good force responsible for vitality.
Ahead of you,
A great and good force holding a torch,
A nightlight,
A lamp to guide you through the worlds of dream.
And in the day,
All the aches and pains sufferings and sorrows that you have,
You can deposit at night behind you with an angel responsible for your healing and swirling above and all around you,
The great and mysterious presence deepest in the universe watching out for you as you sleep.
Take any last moments to shift and squirm,
Adjust yourself for last moments of consciousness as you begin to drift into sleep.
Breathing in,
Out,
You are contained in the world without end,
Vast,
Living,
United,
Eternal,
A world that holds you in the palm of its hand,
And you have nothing to fear.
