This meditation track is intended to help you relax and refresh after a possibly challenging day.
You can listen to this right before bed,
Or maybe right before you settle in for a restful evening.
So,
It's been a day,
Has it?
Maybe you had a plan for how you wanted the day to go,
And it got all sassy and took a bit of a detour.
Perhaps it was hectic,
Or maybe you felt lonely or bored or angry.
Or one of those days where people's breathing and mouth noises suddenly are turned up to a volume 11.
Those are the worst.
Whatever it was,
Whether today was a 1 or a 10 or one of those in-between 5s,
You are here now.
If you haven't already,
Go ahead and close your eyes.
You are breathing without even thinking about it.
You're listening to my voice without thinking about it.
At this very moment,
Your brain and body are communicating in lots of miraculous ways without you having to physically do anything.
Now if it's been a challenging day,
That inner communication can feel a bit staticky sometimes.
So what do you say we give a little TLC to your central nervous system and get your body refreshed and relaxed for the evening?
I have one last thing for you to do before you're off the hook to relax.
I want you to tense your entire body.
Scrunch your face,
Make fists,
And flex every muscle you can think of.
Hold it.
Relax even more.
Feel the tension.
Now let it go.
Relax your muscles.
Flatten that furrowed brow and release that tense jaw.
Let it all melt.
You made it.
You survived the day.
Congratulations.
I mean it.
Being human can be downright hard sometimes,
Especially if you've had one of those days where you feel like the volume has just turned up on life.
But here you are right now,
Getting cozy,
Settling in so your mind can go offline and reboot fresh tomorrow.
The fact that you're here right now taking this action,
That is definitely an accomplishment.
Listen,
I don't know the details of your day,
But I do know this.
I know that you did the best that you could.
And that's not some cheesy affirmation.
I genuinely mean it,
And I know it to be true.
Here's the thing.
Our best is different every day.
For instance,
Some days my best is filled with accomplishments.
Other days my best is wearing yesterday's pajamas and binge-watching baking shows with a spoon and a jar of sun butter.
And my best can be everything in between.
I've found it personally helpful to give myself space to be wherever I am on any given day.
If something stressful happened today,
Or challenging,
Or confusing,
That's okay.
But there's nothing for you to do about it right now.
So let's toss that on the back burner.
And if you have any sense of dread or anxiety about tomorrow,
That's okay too.
Let's let future you deal with all that stuff though.
Word on the street is that future you is kind of a big deal.
Trust me,
They can handle any obstacles that seem daunting to you right now.
So let that go.
Now let's take relaxation a step further.
We'll use some deep breathing to physically release anything else trying to get in between you and that sweet,
Sweet nectar of relaxation and sleep.
We'll do three mindful deep breaths with some natural breathing in between.
If thoughts dance around in that beautiful skull of yours,
That's okay.
Let's happen.
Your subconscious will do most of the work anyway.
You are just along for the ride.
Here we go.
Breathe in the coziness of right now.
Breathe in deeply and hold it.
When I say exhale,
You'll breathe out anything left over from your day.
Exhale.
Feel it leaving your body and floating out the window or down into the ground.
Then breathe naturally,
Focusing on anything left over leaving your body and the room that you are in.
Pull it from your toes if you need to,
Just get rid of it.
It's not doing you or anyone else any good.
Keep breathing.
Let's do our second deep breath.
Breathe in that yumminess of good rest and hold it.
When I say exhale,
Breathe out anything else you think you should be doing right now.
Exhale.
Let it go.
Then breathe naturally.
If there's anything else trying to stick to your big squishy brain,
Breathe that out too.
To-do lists,
A lofty sense of obligation,
Out with it.
There's nowhere else you need to be right now.
Keep breathing.
There's nothing else you have to be doing.
Here is our third and final deep breath of this recording.
You know when you're sleeping in on vacation and there's not an alarm in sight?
You wake up,
You look at the clock and you go,
I don't have to wake up.
We're going to play around with that,
That feeling,
That energy.
Go ahead and breathe in the relaxation of sleeping in on vacation.
Breathe a little deeper,
A little bit deeper and hold it.
When I say exhale,
Breathe out any attachments to tomorrow.
Exhale.
There you go.
Great.
Now let your breathing and awareness settle.
How are you feeling?
A little calmer?
I know I am.
So here you are.
Eyes closed,
Cozied up.
You've survived a day as a human where you did your darn best.
And you let go of physical tension.
And now you've delegated the past,
Present and future.
Look out Buddha,
Here we come.
The only thing left to do is give yourself permission to rest.
If it feels right to you,
Think or say to yourself,
Hey,
You're allowed to rest.
Here,
I'll say it to you too.
You're allowed rest.
Rest is good.
It's imperative.
Our brains and bodies need to recharge and reboot.
And all those things you want to accomplish,
They're so much easier when you have rested.
You are allowed to rest.
Breathe it in.
There's nowhere else you have to be.
So rest.
