Welcome,
And thank you for joining me.
Whether your day felt heavy or light,
You made it here.
Now you get to rest.
Let this meditation gently guide your body into relaxation and your mind into quiet ease,
So you can fall asleep naturally and wake up renewed.
So let's begin.
Find a position that feels natural for sleep.
Let the mattress take your weight,
Your head resting into the pillow,
Your arms and legs arranging themselves however feels easiest and most comfortable.
If you haven't already,
Allow your eyes to gently close.
The activity of the day can pause now,
Messages,
Plans,
Lists,
They can all wait on the other side of this night.
Notice the quiet sound in the background,
A suggestion of distant,
Gentle waves,
Soft,
Soft,
Steady,
Not asking anything of you,
Simply keeping you company.
Take a slow,
Easy breath in through your nose,
And let it leave the body in a relaxed exhale.
Once more,
Breathe in softly,
And breathe out without effort.
While taking one more deep breath in and out,
Notice your body beginning to understand that it has permission to unwind.
Now,
Gently bring your awareness to the space around your head,
As if your head is resting in a small sphere of calm air and sound.
Imagine that your breath moves around this space like a small,
Quiet wave.
As you inhale,
The wave gathers closer around your head.
As you exhale,
It recedes slightly,
Though never far away,
Yet always gentle.
Inhale,
The wave draws in,
Exhale,
It drifts back,
No need to force the rhythm,
Just let your natural breathing pattern be mirrored by this soft movement around your head.
And with every cycle,
This subtle ocean around your head rinses away the leftover noise of the day,
Leaving a little more quiet behind.
Now invite each part of your face and head to move from holding into resting.
Begin at the very top of your head,
Sense the skin of your scalp,
And picture a warm,
Soothing softness spreading there,
Like a gentle glow,
Just beneath the surface.
Let this softness drift down to your forehead,
Feel your forehead smoothing,
Muscles loosening,
As if any tightness simply loses interest in staying.
Bring your attention to the space between your eyebrows now,
And allow that point to spread and soften.
As if it's opening into a small pool of still water.
Let the eyebrows themselves relax,
No effort to lift or furrow,
Just resting in their natural place.
Move your awareness to your eyelids,
Feel the gentle weight of your eyelids over your eyes,
The muscles around the eyes relaxing outward,
Like ripples fading on a quiet pond.
Now your temple,
Sense each temple,
Right and left,
As if a cool,
Calming hand were resting lightly there,
Easing away pressure or strain.
Bring your attention to your cheeks,
Let your cheeks become heavy and relaxed,
As though the skin has softened,
No longer needing to hold any expression.
Now feel the bridge of your nose,
The tip of your nose,
The skin around your nostrils,
All relaxing as the breath moves in and out freely.
Shift your awareness to your jaw,
Notice if there is any gripping or clenching.
Allow it to loosen,
Maybe letting a small space appear between the teeth,
The hinge of the jaw softening.
Now your lips,
Let your lips be at ease,
Without forming a smile or a frown,
Just soft.
Natural.
Unposed.
Bring your focus to the tongue,
Let the tongue rest loosely in your mouth,
The back of the tongue releasing,
The sides and the tip relaxing into a comfortable,
Neutral position.
Now notice your ears,
Both ears inside and out,
Resting quietly on either side of the head,
Receiving only gentle and familiar sounds.
Finally,
The back of your head,
Feel the weight of the back of your skull resting on the pillow.
Allow that weight to be fully held,
There is nothing to support with effort,
The pillow is doing that for you.
Now sense your entire face and head,
Scalp,
Forehead,
Eyes,
Cheeks,
Jaw,
Lips,
Back of the head as one relaxed field.
You might imagine your face lit from within by a soft,
Steady glow of calm.
Now gently bring your attention inward to an imagined center point within your head,
Not a spot you have to locate physically,
Just a sense of a center,
A quiet core inside,
Picture a small,
Steady point of light there.
It could be soft white,
Pale blue,
Golden or any color that feels reassuring to you.
This light is not harsh or glaring,
It's a calm,
Clear presence,
Like a small lantern shining in a spacious room.
With each breath,
Notice this point of light becoming a little more distinct,
Not brighter,
But just more defined,
More easy to sense,
It carries a feeling of ease,
Of being gently watched over,
Of being okay exactly as you are in this moment.
Now imagine that this inner light can move,
And with your next exhale,
See the light begin to rise from the center of your head,
Gently streaming upward until it reaches the crown.
As you breathe,
Let it flow out through the top of your head,
Like a slow,
Graceful beam extending upward.
It begins to travel in a gentle arc above your body,
Curving overhead in slow motion,
Like a comet tracing a soft path across the sky.
Or a wave lifting and rolling over,
Unhurried.
As you inhale again,
The arc continues its journey down toward the feet.
As you exhale,
The light arrives at the soles of your feet and begins to slip back inside,
Entering through both soles at once,
With a feeling of cool,
Quiet relief.
Now the light is within your body,
Settling at the base,
Soft and luminous.
With your next breath,
The light begins to rise from the feet,
Moving slowly through your ankles,
Your lower legs,
Thighs,
And feet.
Hips,
Belly,
Chest,
Throat,
And into the center of the head once more.
You've completed one full loop of this arc of light,
From head,
Out and around the body,
In through the feet,
Up through the center line,
And back to the head.
We let this loop continue,
Each cycle bringing more calm.
There's no need to see it clearly.
A vague sense is more than enough.
With your next exhale,
The light streams gently upward from the center of the head,
Out through the crown.
Forming a quiet arc above you.
As you breathe in,
It drifts down toward your feet as if carried by gravity in a kind and unhurried way.
On the exhale,
It re-enters the body through the soles of the feet,
Bringing with it a feeling of relief and softening.
On the exhale,
Inside the body,
The light rises again.
Feet,
Legs,
Chest,
Throat,
Returning to the center of the head,
Where it pauses and settles.
Each time the light moves outside your body,
It carries away leftover tension,
Mental residue,
Anything that doesn't need to follow you into sleep,
And each time it comes back in through your feet and rises within.
It brings quiet,
Comfort,
And a sense of being gently recalibrated.
Allow the motion to become smooth and familiar,
Almost like the tide rolling in,
Rolling out.
And if it feels supportive,
You can introduce simple words to match the flow.
As the light travels outside the body in its arc,
You might think letting go.
And as it moves inside,
Rising from the feet upwards to the head,
You might think resting now,
Letting go,
Resting now.
There is no strict timing to this.
Let it be as loose and natural as your breathing.
Now allow the moment of the light,
The rhythm of your breath,
And the sound of the oceanic music to blend together.
Simply trust that this gentle loop continues in the background,
Like a soft current moving through and around you.
Your breath flows at its own relaxed pace.
The quiet,
Ocean-inspired music surrounds you,
Holding the space steady.
You may notice a sense of floating,
As if your body is resting on a calm sea of sound and light,
Even as you lie perfectly still.
The head and face remain loose and at ease.
The body is settled.
The looping light takes care of the rest,
Creating a smooth passage towards sleep.
The light keeps looping.
The music keeps blowing,
Guiding you gently through the night.
In a little while,
This guidance will fall quiet,
And only the oceanic music will remain.
You can drift right through it.
Let the image of the light become softer now,
More like a feeling than a picture.
A sense of something kind moving through you and around you.
Let the sounds you hear become your only anchor,
The music,
The slow suggestion of waves,
Steady,
Familiar,
Asking nothing of you.
If you find yourself hovering between waking and sleep,
There's no need to choose.
You can rest in that in-between state,
And let sleep arrive in its own time.
The night is long enough.
You have more than enough time to rest.
Your body knows how to sleep and when to sleep.
You can trust that.
As the music continues,
Allow yourself to slip further into quiet.
Thoughts thin out.
Sensations soften.
Awareness loosens its grip.
My voice will gradually fade now,
But the soundscape will stay with you.
Let yourself be carried.
Let yourself be held by the rhythm of the ocean.
Rest in your own way.
