15-Minute Releasing Into Sleep

Welcome to our meditation time.

This is a practice for deep relaxation and includes breath work,

Progressive muscle relaxation,

And yoga nidra.

I've recorded it without an ending notification so that you can use it to help induce sleep.

So if you want to use this during the daytime for a midday reset,

Pause the recording for a moment and set a timer for about 30 minutes so that in case you fall asleep,

You can be awakened to get on with your day.

Either way,

This is an ideal meditation to do lying down,

But it can be done sitting up in case your circumstances require you to be seated.

So wherever you are,

Lying down or seated,

Get really comfortable,

Settle into your space,

Take a conscious breath in and out,

And consider an intention for this practice.

Maybe it's simply to allow yourself deep rest and a release.

Maybe you want to restore some energy.

Maybe you want to let go of or invite something in.

And whatever it is you need,

Set your attention around that.

And we'll begin by notifying the body that it's time to let go and release any tension in the muscles with some progressive muscle relaxation.

So begin by taking a full and deep inhale,

And we'll hold the breath while tightly tensing the muscles of the feet,

The calves,

The thighs,

Hips and glutes,

Pelvic floor muscles,

Even the lower abdomen.

Hold for 4,

3,

2,

1,

And sigh it out as you release and let everything go.

Take a couple gentle transition breaths now.

Now let's take another full big inhale.

We're going to hold the breath at the top and tightly tense the hands,

The lower arms,

Upper arms,

Shoulders,

Abdominals,

Chest,

Lower,

Mid and upper back,

Even the shoulders and hold for 4,

3,

2,

1.

Let everything go on an exhale,

Big sigh,

Releasing all the tension and taking a couple gentle transition breaths here.

Now take another big full inhale,

Holding the breath at the top and squeeze tightly the muscles of the neck,

The upper shoulders,

Scalp,

The ears,

The whole face,

Pursing the mouth,

Squeezing the nose,

The eyes,

And hold for 4,

3,

2,

1,

And release it all with a full exhale,

Big sigh,

And take a couple gentle transition breaths here.

And let's wrap this up with a whole body tensing and relaxing.

We'll start by taking a big full inhale,

Holding at the top,

Start by tensing the toes,

The feet,

The ankles,

The legs,

The thighs,

The hips,

The abdominals,

Every muscle in the torso and midsection,

Shoulders,

Arms,

Fists,

Neck,

Face,

Clenching the jaw even and holding for 4,

3,

2,

1.

Let everything go on the exhale and then bring the breathing back to that gentle natural pacing.

We'll work our way into another breathing pattern here to bring relaxation.

So we'll begin by inhaling for a count of 4 and then we'll exhale for a count of 6.

Let's take a transition breath first.

Let's begin.

Inhale 1,

2,

3,

4.

Exhale 1,

2,

3,

4,

5,

6.

Inhale 1,

2,

3,

4.

Pause at the top and exhale 1,

2,

3,

4,

5,

6.

Inhaling 1,

2,

3,

4.

Hold at the top.

Exhale 1,

2,

3,

4,

5,

6.

Once more.

Inhale 1,

2,

3,

4.

Hold at the top.

Exhale 1,

2,

3,

4,

5,

6.

And now bring the breathing back to a natural unconscious pacing.

Just a natural inhale and exhale.

Take particular notice of how the air feels cool as it enters and comes in contact with the top of the nostrils.

Notice how the exhale fills the nostril with warmer air as it exits the body.

Take 3 more conscious breaths just like this,

Noticing the physical sensations of the inhale and the sensations of the exhale in the nostrils,

In the throat,

In the chest and lungs,

Even down into the abdomen.

Maybe you notice that it's somewhat energizing as the air enters the body and then slightly relaxing as the muscles let go on the exhale.

Now imagine a shimmery,

Warm,

Golden light just below your feet.

And this light begins to fill your right big toe with its warm glow.

And then it fills the other toes one at a time.

The second toe,

The third toe,

The fourth toe,

The fifth toe.

And slowly it begins to spread to fill your whole foot with its warm light,

All the way to the heel,

Filling up the ankle and the lower leg,

Swirling into the knee,

Filling the thigh,

All the way up to the hip and the glute.

And take notice of the warm fullness of that whole right leg just sinking into the surface beneath you.

Now this warm,

Golden shimmer starts to fill the left big toe and moves to fill each and every toe one at a time.

The second toe,

The third toe,

The fourth toe,

And the fifth toe,

Spreading to fill the foot,

All the way back to the heel,

Up into the ankle,

All the way up to the heel,

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