Begin by settling yourself into a comfortable position.
You do not need to do anything right now.
There is nowhere to go.
Nothing to fix.
Nothing to figure out.
And as you listen to my voice,
You can allow yourself to rest.
Because rest is not something you have to earn.
It is something your nervous system already knows how to do.
And tonight,
We are simply reminding it now.
Gently bring your attention to your breathing.
You do not need to change it yet.
And just notice the rhythm that is already there.
And when you are ready,
Take a slow breath in through the nose,
And let it out through the mouth.
Again,
Breathing in slowly and gently.
.
.
And breathing out just a little longer than the in-breath.
That longer out-breath is a signal,
A message to the nervous system that says it is safe to soften.
And each time you breathe out,
You may notice your body responding,
All by itself.
Because the body is always listening.
Now,
Allow your attention to drift down to the muscles of your face.
The forehead softening.
The space between the eyes unclenching.
The jaw loosening.
And if the tongue rests gently in the bottom of the mouth,
That can be another signal of safety.
And as the face softens,
The shoulders often follow.
Allow them to drop just a little,
As though you no longer need to hold anything up,
Because for now,
You are supported.
And you might notice that the more you allow things to happen naturally,
The deeper this relaxation becomes.
Not by trying,
But by letting.
Just like sleep itself,
You do not force sleep.
You allow the conditions where sleep happens.
And tonight,
Those conditions are being created gently and safely inside you.
Some part of you may already recognize this feeling,
A sense of being ok right now,
And And even if the mind has been busy lately,
The nervous system can rest.
Because safety is not a thought,
It is a felt sense.
And as you listen,
Your body can remember how to return to that sense all by itself.
In a moment,
We will begin to go deeper,
And you do not need to concentrate.
Just listen and allow,
Because every pause,
Every space between words is an invitation to drift.
And drifting is exactly where deep sleep begins.
Now,
As your body continues to settle on its own,
You may notice that the mind does not need to follow every word.
You can listen in a soft way,
And that softness is a sign that the nervous system is moving from effort into ease.
In a moment,
I will count down from 10 to 1,
And with each number,
You can allow yourself to drift twice as deeply into comfort and safety.
There is nothing you need to do.
Just allow the numbers to pass through you like gentle waves.
10.
A feeling of heaviness beginning to spread.
The breath slowing all by itself.
8.
Muscles releasing without effort.
7.
Thoughts drifting further into the background.
6.
A deeper sense of being supported.
5.
Halfway down and twice as relaxed.
4.
The body sinking into rest.
3.
The nervous system recognizing safety.
2.
Almost there,
Letting go completely.
Deeply calm.
Deeply settled.
Deeply safe.
And now,
You may imagine your nervous system like a boat that has been traveling for a long time.
Sometimes through busy waters.
Sometimes through storms.
Always doing its best to protect you.
And now that boat is gliding into a safe harbor.
The water here is calm.
The boat is held securely.
Nothing needs to be watched.
Nothing needs to be scanned.
Because in this harbor,
The nervous system can finally rest.
And you may notice that when that safety is present,
The body naturally chooses healing.
It chooses repair.
It chooses sleep.
There is an intelligence inside you that knows exactly how to do this.
And you do not have to tell it how.
You simply allow it the right conditions.
Now,
As you rest here,
I want you to notice any place on your body that feels even slightly comfortable.
It might be the chest.
The belly.
Or the hands.
And as you notice it,
That feeling can gently expand.
This sensation is your safety signal.
And any time in the future when your body needs to sleep or calm or settle,
It can return to this feeling.
Automatically.
Slowly.
You may already notice that the space between thoughts is growing.
And in that space,
Sleep begins to take over.
We will allow this calm to deepen into natural,
Restorative sleep.
There is nothing left to listen for.
Nothing to track.
Nothing to remember.
The conscious mind can rest.
And as it does,
Sleep takes over naturally.
You may imagine a gentle dimmer switch inside the mind.
Not an on or off switch.
Just a smooth,
Gradual lowering of awareness.
As that switch moves downward,
The nervous system receives the message that the day is complete.
There is no need to stay alert.
No need to monitor.
Because night is for repair.
And you may allow the deeper mind to take responsibility.
It knows how to regulate heart rate.
How to soften muscles.
How to keep you safe while you sleep.
You do not need to supervise this.
The system has been doing this since before you were aware of thoughts.
And as you sleep through the night,
Your nervous system continues to recalibrate.
If at any point you shift or turn or briefly wake,
Your body knows how to return to rest.
Automatically.
Because safety is now the default.
And it may interest you to know that deep rest often comes when you stop trying to sleep.
So there is nothing you must do.
Nothing you must think.
Nothing you must control.
Just this gentle drifting away from effort.
You may imagine sinking into a soft,
Supportive surface.
Not falling.
Just being held.
The body is heavy.
The mind is quiet.
And the space between breaths grows.
And tomorrow you may notice a subtle difference.
A steadiness.
A resilience.
A sense that your system knows how to return to calm.
And each night this becomes easier.
Because the pathway has been learned.
And now I will become quieter.
And as the sound of my voice fades,
You can drift deeper into sleep.
Supported.
And deeply at rest.
