Guided Deep Rest For Inviting Sleep

Welcome.

Oftentimes,

When we're trying to fall asleep and having difficulty,

The striving and the frustration around sleep can actually become a hindrance.

So this meditation is a deep rest meditation.

It's a gentle invitation to sleep.

You may fall asleep,

You may not,

But the very idea that we are not only striving for sleep,

But we would be happy with deep rest oftentimes helps sleep arrive.

So as you begin,

Find a comfortable position,

Lying down or reclining,

Just noticing the way that your body is supported by the surface beneath you.

And recognizing that in some ways,

It's quite a luxury that there's nowhere to go right now.

There's nothing you need to do.

Yeah,

This time is simply for you to rest.

We're not trying to make anything happen.

Sleep may come,

Or it may not.

And either way,

Your body can still receive deep,

Nourishing rest.

So I invite you to take an easy breath in through your nose,

And let it go softly,

Slowly out through your mouth.

You might try something called straw breathing,

Where you're exhaling as if you are breathing slowly out through a straw.

This allows the breath to lengthen and soften just for a few rounds into the nose and long,

Gentle,

Slow,

Out through the mouth with or without straw breathing,

Just elongating the out breath,

Which is a signal to our nervous system that everything is okay.

In this moment,

It is okay to rest.

You might even notice that with no effort at all,

The body breathes itself.

We don't need to think about an in breath or when to take the next out breath.

This beautiful natural cycle simply happens on its own.

We can just sit back and observe it.

And for the next few moments,

We'll do a little bit of grounding,

A body scan,

And this helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system,

The part of our nervous system that is designed for rest,

Reset,

Restore.

So just inviting your attention to move gently down through your body,

Beginning with the crown of your head,

Noticing if there's any subtle sensations there,

Maybe warmth or tingling or the sensation of your pillow underneath your head.

We're not looking to change anything,

Just simply notice and let your awareness drift down to the front of your forehead,

Between the eyes,

The little micro muscles around the eyes,

Letting your attention cover your entire face.

And if you like,

You might invite some softening to the tiny muscles around the eyes,

Soften the muscles around the jaw,

The mouth.

Just imagining this invisible force of gravity kind of doing this work for you.

No need to hold yourself up.

You are being held.

You're being gently tethered to the earth by gravity,

This invisible force of nature coming from the center of the earth,

Up through the crest of the earth,

Through the dirt,

Through the foundation.

If you're in a building,

Through the room you're in,

Through the sofa or the bed that you're lying on,

Through the mattress,

Through the pillows,

And then just noticing that gentle gravity,

Almost like a hug from the earth,

Tethering us down to the bed.

It's quite easy to lift up your hand if you wanted to,

But other than that,

The earth is holding us like a hug,

Gently tethering us down.

And then you might invite the awareness to move down the neck and the shoulders,

And just noticing if there's any tension there,

Any tightness there.

And you might silently say to yourself,

That's okay to relax the shoulders right now.

Imagining any tension just rolling out of the shoulders,

Onto the bed,

Onto the floor,

And just letting the shoulders sink a little closer to the surface below.

If your attention wanders off to things you're doing tomorrow,

Things you did earlier,

That's okay.

You might just simply notice it,

Thinking,

Planning,

And then just invite the attention back to the body scan.

And now moving the attention down the shoulders,

Down the arms,

The elbows,

The wrists,

Into the hands.

Feeling a soft heaviness in the palms and the fingers.

And if it feels good,

Maybe imagining a warm light gently filling your hands,

A sign that your body is already beginning to rest.

You might even notice the gentle pulsing of the circulatory system in the hands.

If you want to tune in to that,

It's easier to notice at the top or bottom of a breath when the diaphragm is still.

Again,

Nowhere to go,

Nothing to do right now.

Our goal is simply to shift into deep rest.

Deep rest.

That's it.

And then we'll move our attention out of the hands and back to the center of the body,

Into the chest,

Into the heart space.

You might just notice this gentle rise and fall of the chest as the breath goes in and out.

It's almost like waves moving gently up onto the beach and then slowly,

Gently pulling back down into the ocean.

Each breath reminding you that there's nothing to fix right now.

There's nothing to chase.

Just observing this gentle breath going in and out of the body.

Gently rise,

Fall.

And then you might let the awareness move down to your belly,

Just noticing the way the belly expands and contracts.

You might even put a hand on the chest or the belly to help the connection of noticing the rise and fall,

Expanding and contracting.

And if sleep hasn't come yet,

That's okay.

We're not even aiming for that.

We're aiming for deep rest.

If sleep arrives after the deep rest,

Wonderful.

But even being here,

Resting,

Listening,

Tuning into the body,

Tuning into the breath,

This is deep rest and it helps your body restore and repair.

Now we'll invite the attention to move down to the hips,

The thighs,

The knees,

And just offering a little gratitude to the parts of our body that carry us around throughout the day.

And just let them be heavy and grounded and supported down to the lower legs,

The ankles,

The feet,

Allowing the feet to gently turn outward if they wish.

And just inviting the attention to soften,

Feeling the heaviness of the legs and noticing whatever sensations are present with the feet.

There's hundreds of little sensors in the feet,

Maybe tingling or throbbing or feeling the blanket or the socks or the air on the feet,

What can be known around the feet.

And then just noticing a sense of the whole body from head to toe is now wrapped in stillness,

Ease,

Comfort.

And for the next few moments,

We will invite a loving kindness practice,

Which is permission,

Permission to rest.

And so if you wish to bring your attention to the center of your chest again,

To the heart space,

We know the heart doesn't do the breathing,

But imagine just for a moment,

If the breath were going right into the heart space,

Right out of the heart space.

In,

Out,

Warming the heart space.

And if your attention wanders off to planning tomorrow,

Worrying about yesterday,

This is normal,

This is okay.

You might just offer a soft mental note,

Thinking or planning.

Just let that be there while you lovingly invite your attention right back into the body,

Imagining that the breath is going in and out of the heart space.

And then letting that practice go.

I'm just going to offer some loving kindness phrases,

Which are just well wishes for ourself.

May I rest in this moment.

May my body unwind and release what it no longer needs for the night.

May I be at ease,

Even if sleep hasn't come.

I'm going to offer the phrases again,

And you might repeat them silently in your own mind after I say them.

May I enjoy deep rest in this moment.

May my body unwind and release what is no longer needed.

May I be at ease,

Even if my body is not ready to sleep yet.

It's perfectly human that sometimes we can't fall asleep when we wish to.

Instead,

We can let go and enjoy deep rest.

And then when the body feels safe and ready,

Sleep naturally arrives on its own time.

And now if you're still awake,

Just stay here.

Just stay with my voice.

Stay with the sensation of the body slowly softening,

Slowly unwinding.

No need to move or open your eyes.

Just let yourself rest in the softness of deep rest.

The softness of this moment.

If sleep wants to come,

You can let it find you.

And if not,

You can simply enjoy this calm,

Supportive space you've created.

Every cell in your body is already beginning its nighttime repair.

You are resting deeply.

You are safe.

You are enough exactly as you are.

You are resting deeply.

You are safe.

You are resting exactly as you are.

You are enough exactly as you are.

And our closing invitation.

I'm going to offer some phrases from Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village,

Which is a metta chant.

Metta is simply loving kindness,

Well-wishing.

May I be happy.

May I be filled with loving kindness.

May I be well.

May I be peaceful and at ease.

And if you wish to,

You might repeat the phrases after I say them.

May I be happy.

May I be filled with loving kindness.

May I be well.

May I be peaceful and at ease.

May I rest deeply.

Thank you.