Good evening,
Wonderful human.
This will be a meditation for sleep,
But whatever that means to you in this moment,
Maybe you're getting ready for bed.
Maybe you need to walk around your room as you listen.
Maybe you're sitting on a chair,
Or maybe you're laying down fully ready to go to sleep wherever you are in this moment.
Take the next few seconds just to get comfortable.
So maybe you have to wiggle around bed or move from side to side to get into a position that feels nice and easy for you as you begin to wind down.
Beginning to notice your breath and how it feels without having to change it yet,
Just noticing the feeling of the air coming in through your nose on each inhale,
And the feel of the air leaving your nose on each exhale,
Noticing the warmth and the coolness of the air as it cycles through your body,
Meeting yourself where you are this evening,
Knowing that there's no perfect way to show up for yourself,
Knowing that who you are in this moment is enough,
Breathing that in.
If at any point thoughts come into your mind and take over,
You can come back to your breath with gentleness and compassion,
Knowing that thoughts will come and go.
But you can come back and use your breath as a guide to help give your mind something to focus on.
So just feeling with each breath,
Seeing if you can relax further into your body.
Relaxing doesn't mean you have to be perfectly still.
You might still be shifting around,
Trying to be comfortable.
It can be hard after a long day,
Whether you've been moving around and doing a lot or whether today was one of those comfortable days where you don't do much of anything,
Can still be difficult sometimes to settle.
So give yourself some space to settle into your body,
Knowing that you have all the time in the world in just this little moment,
However crazy that might sound.
And as you begin to feel your body relax even just a little bit more in this moment,
Bring in an intention for your sleep tonight.
It can be as simple as I want to sleep through the night with ease or as personal as during my sleep,
I'd like to cultivate more compassion for myself.
Just setting an intention for yourself.
It can also just be a word or a short phrase.
And once you've got that intention,
Take a deep breath in,
Welcoming in support and a deep breath out,
Maybe even through your mouth,
Sighing,
Letting go of anything that no longer serves you.
Again,
In this moment,
Meeting yourself where you are,
Knowing that you have all the time in the world in just this little moment,
Meeting yourself where you are,
And just trying bit by bit to relax your body even more as you prepare to rest.
Noticing if there are any areas of tension in your body and using your breath to help release any of those areas,
But maybe relaxing your jaw on your shoulders even more so that you can be open to receive the gift of rest,
The gift of sleep,
And so that you can take up all the space you need in your body to help you to achieve your intention,
Whatever that may be.
Noticing in this moment how your breath feels,
Letting these moments of silence in between the words to help you to settle even more into your body,
Allowing again that compassion for yourself to flow through you,
Knowing that if it's difficult tonight to calm down your mind or your body,
That's okay.
Just focusing on a little bit more in each moment if you can,
Letting go of the pressure to have to be or act or feel any certain way in this moment,
And just working to dive into who you are,
To relax into that,
That wherever you are,
Whatever you're feeling in this moment is exactly what you need to feel,
And it's exactly where you need to be.
Remembering and holding in that knowledge and that faith that you are enough to be able to feel that,
Remembering and holding in that knowledge and that faith that you are enough,
Letting your breath deepen even more.
Perhaps it's slowed down a bit by now.
Now we're going to simply just allow each breath for the next 10 breaths to help us to settle.
So in your mind,
You can count backwards from 10,
A grown-up version of counting sheep.
And after each count,
Take a big exhale.
So you'll inhale to 10 and exhale to 10,
Inhaling for 9,
Exhaling for 9,
Inhaling for 8,
Exhaling for 8,
Exhaling for 8,
Taking the next 7 breaths on your own in silence.
Letting every cell in your body relax,
Feeling the heaviness of your body underneath you,
Your chair or your bed.
Letting yourself sink even deeper,
Feeling gratitude for who you are.
As you allow yourself perhaps to drift into sleep in this moment,
To transition into the time of rest so that you can recharge,
Allowing this sleep to come and to give you all that you could possibly need,
Knowing that you are safe,
That you are loved,
That you are loved and that you matter.
Again,
At any point,
You can bring yourself back to your breath if you're still experiencing thoughts and feelings in your body that are preventing you from fully engaging in rest.
Come back to your breath.
In this sleep,
I wish you peace,
Give you hope,
And you are surrounded by love.
Sweet dreams,
Dear one.
May tomorrow bring everything you could ever want and more.
