Good evening and welcome to this sacred sleep meditation.
This is an intentional practice to invite in sleep so please do spend as long as you need creating your sacred space in the sanctuary of your bedroom.
Make sure that you have everything that you need to be comfortable and undisturbed and that you have enough darkness,
Quiet and the most comfortable temperature possible.
Allow your body to be fully supported now as you prepare to travel inwards to the healing sanctuary of Asclepios.
In ancient Greece,
Asclepios was the god of healing and travelers made pilgrimage to his shrine to receive healing in their sleep and dreams.
Tonight you will do the same.
We will start by filling your room,
Bed and body with healing energy so that you can receive the healing even while you sleep.
Know that if you do drift off even early on in the process you will still receive everything you need and you can give yourself permission to do so.
Now notice your body where you rest in your bed and send your awareness all the way down,
Sensing inwards down even to your toes.
As your breathing naturally deepens and slows,
See if you can get it to flow all the way to your extremities,
Fingers and toes,
Bringing rest and relaxation as you breathe.
Allow your eyes to be closed and bring your focus behind your eyes to the place where your inner vision resides.
Open yourself to the energetic impression of your bedroom.
You may visualize it,
Feel it,
Intuit it or sense it in some other way.
As you do so,
Notice a healing,
Protective and relaxing energy filling the room now,
Clearing out anything which is stale or unhelpful.
You may experience the energy as a gentle healing light or a rich relaxing tone or perhaps as a sensation of restful movement or stillness.
Observe as the room slowly fills with healing energy and if there is any point that needs a little more,
You can use your intention to invite that in now until the space you're in is completely filled with gentle,
Healing,
Restful energy,
A peaceful sanctuary where you can sleep.
Become aware of the bed below you and all your pillows and covers.
Almost as soon as you're aware of them,
You may notice that they too are filling with healing energy and that this enables you to relax completely into your bed,
A place of sacred rest,
A place of sleep and even as you're settled and free to drift off,
You may notice the wonderful sensations of healing energy filling you and you may even see that gentle energy fill your body,
Dissolving tension and giving you that wonderful feeling that you get just as you go to sleep and you can trust that energy to bring you balance and to hold you safe right now,
Even as you rest and you don't even have to try to go to sleep.
Just let yourself be in the energy,
Breathing deeply and easily and now it's time to go deep inside to the stillest,
Quietest place within you and from here you can begin your journey.
Search inside until you find a lush,
Verdant mountain landscape.
The sun shines mildly through a shimmering haze and as you alight on the mountains,
You notice the scent of the trees and the flowers they shelter,
Weaving through the easeful air.
The warmth of the landscape creates an unconscious and entirely natural relaxation response in your very being and you find that you can move through the landscape with ease.
Gently,
The impressions of beautiful flowers reach you and you find a path to follow that brings you breathing the clean air,
Hearing the soothing babble of a brook in the distance,
Appreciating the tranquil colours.
Whatever impressions you have,
That's just fine.
You are energetically in the landscape and you follow your path which winds through the mountains and to the top of a valley.
As you travel,
You begin to feel a sensation of delicious tiredness in all of your muscles,
That wonderful feeling of having lived a full day and being ready to rest.
You know that you will be able to rest very soon.
Looking down into the valley,
You become aware of a temple complex gleaming amid the greenery.
You follow the winding path down and down until you come to the front of the temple.
The pillars are high and solid,
Holding up the temple to the sky and a healer comes from the temple and greets you.
In the background,
You hear a beautiful melody and the murmur of voices and you know that this is a sacred place,
A sanctuary.
You follow the healer into the temple,
Moving through a forest of columns.
You count them now,
Counting six across and eleven along,
Weaving through them in the path of the healer until you come to the great altar and statue of Asclepius,
Healing god.
The statue is white and gold,
Made of precious materials and healing Asclepius holds a staff around which twines a snake.
You know instinctively that the staff holds healing power and the snake is a guide here to bring you renewal.
At Asclepius' side lies a dog,
Sleeping restfully and dreaming healing dreams.
Dreams of love and loyalty and comfort.
The healer leaves you for a moment at the altar of Asclepius and now is the time to ask for what you need.
Hand on heart,
You ask for healing and as you do so,
That part of you which needs healing manifests as a little model in your hands.
Place it on the altar as an offering and by this act Asclepius will make it whole.
The healer now leads you through light,
Airy corridors to a small clean room with a bed and a window.
Through the window,
You can hear the sounds of nightfall,
Crickets gently chirping and you see the moon gently rising in the night sky.
You know that it is time to sleep.
You climb into the bed,
Noticing the scent of soft rose and soothing lavender as you do so.
The healer leaves you,
Delicately closing the door and you lay your body down in the sacred bed.
You know that this is a place where thousands before you have come to seek healing,
Have slept and received sacred dreams which have given them what they need.
You know that whatever weariness you bring,
This is a place where you can rest and where you will rest and sleep easily.
For it is the nature of the place that it is time to close your eye and allow yourself to sleep now.
Safe and comfortable in the bed in the sanctuary,
You surrender your weight into the mattress supporting you,
Allowing yourself to gently drift with each slow,
Deep breath.
The healing dreams surround you almost before you slumber and you allow the sounds of the sanctuary to drift by as you fall into a deep sleep.
Asclepius brings you blessings as you rest,
Sleep and dream.
