Tonight,
There's nowhere to go.
And there's nothing more to achieve.
You've done enough for today.
For the next little while.
Just let yourself be held by this practice.
Find a position lying down where your body can be completely supported.
Let the eyes close and allow yourself to settle.
Adjust anything that needs adjusting now so that you can be completely comfortable for this meditation.
If sleep happens naturally at any point during this practice,
That's perfectly okay.
Simply allow yourself to receive whatever rest your body needs tonight.
Before we begin,
We'll plant a seed of intention.
Not as something to force or to make happen.
And for tonight,
Let it be a truth you're allowing your body to remember.
Repeat silently to yourself.
I'm safe in my body.
I return to the peace that lives within me.
Again.
I'm safe in my body.
I return to the peace that lives within me.
One more time.
I'm safe in my body.
I return to the peace that lives within me.
Now bring awareness to the feet.
Both feet together.
Imagine a pleasant heaviness gathering there.
Allow the feet to become heavy.
Very heavy.
Comfortably heavy.
As though they could sink into the support beneath you.
Allow this heaviness to move into the ankles.
The calves,
The knees.
The thighs.
The hips.
The whole lower body becoming heavy.
Warm Dance.
Feel the heaviness moving into the belly.
The lower back.
The chest,
The upper back.
Heaviness flowing into the shoulders.
Down the arms.
Into the hands.
Into every finger.
The heaviness moves into the neck.
The jaw.
The face.
The forehead.
The Scout The whole body is heavy now.
Deeply supported.
Deeply held.
Nothing left to carry.
And now gently allow the sensation to shift.
Starting at the feet.
Feel them becoming lighter.
As if they're light as a feather.
May be floating off the surface beneath you.
Feel the ankles becoming light.
The calves becoming light.
The knees.
The thighs.
The hips.
The lower body becoming spacious.
Effortless.
Open.
Feel the belly becoming lighter.
The lower back.
The chest.
The upper back.
Light as a feather.
The shoulders.
The upper arms.
Four arms.
Rests.
The hands.
Light and spacious.
Feel that lightness moving into the throat.
The face.
The forehead.
The top of the head.
The whole body is light now.
Spacious.
Effortless.
Free.
Now let all of this dissolve.
And just rest in the awareness that you are here.
And you are supported.
Now bring awareness to your breath.
Simply notice it.
Feel the inhale arriving.
And the exhale leaving.
And imagine a beautiful staircase appearing within you.
Softly lit.
Quiet and safe.
And imagine with each exhale,
It's like you're descending down one gentle step.
Not downward into effort.
But downward into ease.
Breathing in,
You're simply arriving.
Breathing out.
You're one step lower.
In hell,
There's nothing to do.
Exhale,
You descend.
And now we'll count down as you breathe,
Beginning with 10.
Inhale 10.
Exhale 10.
Descending one step.
Inhale nine.
Exhale,
Nine.
Descend.
Inhale 8.
Exhale,
Eight.
Descending seven,
6.
Five.
Four,
3.
2.
1.
.
And now feel a sense of arriving.
And just notice where you are.
It's not somewhere you're creating,
Or somewhere you need to imagine perfectly.
Sense that this is the place that's always existed beneath the noise.
This is a place within you that's been waiting patiently.
This whole journey.
The softening.
The releasing.
The descending.
Hasn't been to bring you somewhere new.
It's been bringing you here.
To your sanctuary within.
Notice what's here.
You might notice warmth.
Quiet.
Maybe softness.
Or maybe it's just the feeling of being completely received.
This is the place where no one asks anything from you.
There are no expectations.
No roles to play.
And nothing to hold together.
You don't need to earn your place here.
You don't need to prove anything here.
You belong here because you are here.
And perhaps you begin to notice this sanctuary isn't somewhere outside of yourself.
It's not somewhere you visit when things are perfect.
It's something that's always been here,
Beneath all of it.
And this is truly a part of you.
Rest here now.
And allow yourself to simply be here.
Bring back your intention that we made at the beginning of practice.
I'm safe in my body.
I return to the peace that lives within me.
Again.
I'm safe in my body.
I return to the peace that lives within me.
One last time.
.
.
I'm safe in my body.
I return to the peace that lives within me.
Feel the body resting here.
Feel the breath moving.
Feel the quiet beneath all of it.
And maybe you'll drift into sleep now.
But just carry this with you.
The sanctuary within is never somewhere you have to find.
It's been within you all along.
Sweet dreams.
