Good evening my friend,
And welcome to Sleeping in Your Sanctuary.
Think of this guided meditation as a bedtime story to help you relax and drift off into a deep and restful sleep.
So if you're already cozy in bed,
Let's go ahead and dive in.
Let's start off by just allowing your body to get heavy on your bed.
Breathing in.
And exhaling nice and long and slow.
Coming to the very bottom of the breath.
And slowly breathing in again nice and gentle.
Exhaling nice and slow and long.
Breathing in again.
One last nice slow long exhale.
Letting each slow long exhale bring the body into more relaxation.
And eventually allowing the breath to return to a natural,
Comfortable,
Soothing,
Steady pace.
Beginning to scan through your body for anywhere that you are still holding tension or tightness.
Anywhere that your body is resisting.
Notice where can you soften and get heavier and heavier.
Relaxing into the toes,
The bottoms of the feet,
And the ankles.
Letting that relaxation move up the shins and the calves.
Releasing into the knees and the thighs.
And from the hips down,
Feeling your body get heavier,
Sinking deeper.
Relaxing into the belly,
Releasing into the lower back.
Letting the ribcage get heavy,
Softening in the breath.
And feeling that quiet heartbeat in your chest.
Feeling the backs of the shoulders get heavier as that relaxation runs down the backs of the arms to the elbows.
Down the forearms,
Feeling the wrists and the palms get heavier.
Feeling the back of the neck releasing into your bed,
The back of the head getting heavier.
Starting to relax into the face,
And the heart,
And the belly.
And with each exhale,
Letting your body drift away.
As we begin to make a journey into the mind's eye,
I invite you to visualize a beautiful place in nature.
Wherever your mind's eye takes you is perfect.
And as you arrive at that place in nature,
Start to walk around and wander through this sacred space.
Begin to explore this space in nature.
What is there for you?
What kind of climate do you see yourself landing in?
What is the geography like?
And as you wander around this scene in nature,
You can customize what you want to experience.
Maybe a calming river running by,
Or the sound of ocean waves.
Trust in wherever you're being taken,
And allow this sanctuary in nature to begin to come to life around you.
And as you see yourself exploring this space in nature,
I want you to find the most perfect place to lie down and rest.
Somewhere that feels close to the earth,
Safe,
Cozy.
Wander around until that place arrives for you.
And as you find yourself there,
Go ahead and lie down on the earth.
Get comfortable.
Close your eyes.
And begin to take in the sensation of the earth underneath you.
Is it warm or is it cool?
Is it grassy or rocky?
Is it soft or rough?
Can you feel the sensation of the earth underneath your skin,
Underneath your body,
Holding you?
And can you exhale and surrender into this earth holding you now?
As you feel your back body settling into this beautiful sanctuary in earth,
Begin to become aware of the climate around you.
And as you settle into this cozy spot on the earth,
Feeling the textures of the earth underneath you,
Begin to become aware of the climate around you.
Is it cool or warm?
Is it breezy or humid?
Is it raining or dry?
And can you feel the sensation of the weather on your skin in this sanctuary in nature?
As you settle in deeper,
You begin to open your ears to the sounds of nature around you.
What can you hear?
What are all the sounds in nature surrounding you letting you know that you're perfectly safe here?
Maybe you can even hear people or birds or dogs barking or rustling in the woods.
Allow your ears to open up to the vastness of space in this nature that surrounds you.
And as your body is resting on this earth and your ears are resting on the sounds around you,
You breathe in and you can smell the nature.
You can smell the dirt.
You can smell the air.
You can smell the plants around you.
What do you smell as you breathe in?
And as you're breathing in,
What can you taste?
Fully allowing this beautiful sanctuary to immerse your senses.
Through our mind's eye as we're resting in this space,
We can begin to look around at this beautiful sanctuary around us.
The colors.
The shapes.
The scenery.
The way that it all feels so safe.
The way that it was all built just for you.
And slowly you settle into this space.
Maybe you even magically have blankets,
Pillows.
You're so comfortable.
You're so safe.
You're so relaxed.
And the sun begins to set in this gorgeous sanctuary.
Until there's nothing but the stars and the moon shining on your skin as you slowly fall asleep.
