Welcome to the Soothing Sleep Series here on Insight Timer.
My name is Jennifer and it's truly an honor to be here with you,
Nourishing the fertile soil where the seeds of sleep can be planted.
In your depths lies the pure power that comes from who you naturally are,
Rather than just what you do or accomplish.
So no matter what you did or didn't do today,
Celebrate your nature.
Your essence,
Your beingness,
Your soul is precious,
Divine,
And more than enough.
It's also so important to please remember that contrary to what mainstream culture tends to be obsessed with,
Sleep is not a performance.
Sleep is a form of grace.
You don't have to earn grace.
It's simply bestowed upon you.
No performance pressure,
No attachment to outcome,
Nothing you need to prove or do or get,
Nowhere to be,
A sense of spacious,
Timeless time.
It's like the Cosmic Mama.
She loves you no matter what.
In her eyes you cannot fail.
So no matter what happens,
Let that be something that always holds and supports you.
Remember that grace.
You never need to try to go to sleep.
Let it come to you.
And revel in the fact that just by lying down in rest,
You are an anti-inflammatory medicine maker,
A kind of peacemaker,
Creating cooling,
Peaceful waves,
Not only for yourself,
But the whole planet.
Let's begin with a short sleep invocation to bless this practice.
We welcome the soul of sleep,
The grace of the deep,
To hold,
Protect,
And nourish you.
Rest that is freeing,
Clarity of seeing,
For the peace and liberty of the world.
Clearity of seeing,
For the peace and liberation of all beings.
As we settle in,
I'll invite you to explore some self-soothing touch.
And this can also happen in your imagination,
If you feel too tired to move.
If you are willing,
Bring your palms to meet each other,
And then rest your thumbs at the space between the eyebrows.
Press a little there.
Enjoy a deep breath in through the nostrils.
And then as you exhale,
Draw your thumbs up the forehead and out toward the temples,
Like a mini massage.
If that feels good,
You might repeat it a couple of times.
Then,
If you are willing,
Invite your fingers to run through your hair,
Perhaps gently pulling a little from the roots.
Or if you have no hair to pull,
Simply running your fingers along your scalp.
Muscles and skin around the eyes,
Set free to be on vacation.
You might also massage and gently tug your ears and earlobes.
And invite the lower jaw to hang slightly slack.
These are simple ways to encourage clenchy facial structures to start to release,
Which has a ripple effect into the whole body.
Feel your skin breathing,
All the pores expanding and releasing,
One breath at a time.
The noisy demands of waking culture can be so shallow,
The tension constantly pulled outside ourselves,
Wanting us to stay stuck on the surface of things.
Abandon this superficiality.
And let your breath take you underneath your skin,
Away from the shallows and into the deep,
The deeper waters of you.
Each breath like an invisible passage,
Returning you to your depths.
Feel your breath in the low belly,
Hips and pelvis.
And if you are willing,
Rest your hands anywhere they are comfortable there.
Or you could even place a pillow or a folded blanket there.
And feel the movement of breath underneath that gentle touch,
Underneath skin.
And notice your process of settling.
Feel all the planes of contact that support you.
Can you breathe down through those contact points?
And let the gift of your weight be carried.
As if when you exhale,
Any burdens you usually carry around,
You could give up to those supports.
Like trust falls with the goddess of sleep,
Or the universe itself.
Trust you will be held,
Safe to release.
One breath at a time.
And just as you can feel underneath skin,
Sense and feel down into the space even under the surface of the earth.
The invisible networks of rooted support,
Like a gentle bond lovingly grounding you,
So you can float.
Sleep embodies the wisdom of both endings and beginnings simultaneously.
Feel the ending of your exhale,
And the beginning of your inhale.
Like the sun setting and the moon rising.
Can you feel the moment where the inhale ends and the exhale begins?
And the space is in between.
What endings and beginnings would you like to be nourished in sleep?
Is there a question you would like to plant into the creative power of sleep?
Or an intention you would like to offer your dream maker?
What kind of dreams do you wish to experience?
Whatever arises,
Allow it to glow like a north star,
Guiding you into the deep in sleep.
Now traveling through the magical portal that is your body.
Open to the feeling of sensation,
Not having to direct or even necessarily relax,
Simply allowing sensation to flow.
Sensation in the feet,
Heels,
Soles of the feet,
Tops of the feet,
Toes,
Spaces between the toes,
Tips of the toes,
Roots of the toes,
Bones in the feet,
Muscles in the feet,
The fluids and circulation in the feet,
Just like tiny rivers and streams,
Cells in the feet,
Pulsing like stars,
Space in the feet,
And the space all around the feet,
Ankles,
Knees,
Hips,
Heavy legs,
Left side of the pelvis,
Right side of the pelvis,
Heart of the pelvis,
The whole pelvis breathing,
Low belly,
Low back,
Center of the tailbone,
The whole spine breathing,
Vital energies drawing back to center,
Nourishing all the organ systems.
Sensation in hands,
Palms,
Backs of hands,
Fingers,
Spaces between the fingers,
Tips of the fingers,
Roots of the fingers,
Bones of the hands,
Muscles of the hands,
The fluids and circulation in the hands,
Like tiny rivers and streams,
Cells in the hands,
Pulsing like stars,
Space in the hands,
And the space all around the hands.
Sensation in the wrists,
Elbows,
Shoulders,
Heavy arms,
Left lung,
Right lung,
Upper back lungs,
The whole forest of the lungs,
All the branches breathing,
Unfurling in all directions.
And the pulse of the heart,
Glowing like the moon.
Resting in your luminous heart,
This non-rational genius.
Can you feel the emanation of your heart?
Feel how each breath is a gentle massage for the heart.
Feel the space around the heart,
The space above the heart,
The space below the heart,
The space above and below the heart at the same time.
The space in front of the heart,
The space behind the heart,
The space in front and behind the heart at the same time.
The field of the heart expanding in all directions,
Surrounded in love,
Wholeness,
And profound protection.
Allow waking to flow into the bridge of dreaming,
Carried by the heart into the dream world.
Yielding to the magic of deep,
Deep sleep.
Thank you.
