Namaste Once there was a rich man who was very disturbed by his family troubles.
In his anguish,
He went to high in the Himalayas,
Thinking that he will find relief there.
In the high Himalayas,
He saw a sannyasin,
A Vedantic monk,
Sitting on a stone meditating.
He went to the monk and sat in front of him.
After half an hour or so,
The monk came out of the meditation and opened his eyes.
Seeing a man in front of him,
He asked,
How are you my dear?
How can I help you?
The man said,
Oh wise monk,
I am frustrated.
My wife doesn't respect me,
My son doesn't listen to me,
And my daughter-in-law,
She calls me names.
All of this hurts me.
I am in deep sorrow and disturbed.
Please help me.
The monk heard him quietly and then said,
You are not frustrated.
Disturbed or sad.
You are the knower of frustrations,
Disturbances and sadness in your mind.
Go back and meditate on this.
The man followed what the monk said and went back to his place.
After getting back,
He every day contemplated and meditated on the monk's words.
After a few months,
He again went back to the monk with lots of gifts with him.
When he reached there,
The monk was not living in the same place.
But inquiring some other monks and local villagers,
He finally found the monk's whereabouts.
When he reached the monk's place,
Monk had gone for daily alms.
So he waited there.
When monk came back,
The rich man saluted him and said,
Thank you for your teachings,
Master.
I followed your teachings.
I was able to witness the disturbances,
Frustrations in my mind.
And then they stopped bothering me.
As I was not so anxious and frustrated anymore,
Even my relationships with others got better.
I am really happy now.
The monk was listening to him quietly and then said,
You are not happy.
You are the witness to the happy state of your mind.
With this,
Let us prepare to sleep.
Now before we get started,
Just take a moment or two to get comfortable.
Lying in your bed,
Make sure you are under the covers.
If you do fall asleep during this practice.
Now gently close your eyes.
And start taking a few nice big deep breaths.
Breathing in and out through the nostrils only.
As you inhale,
Feel that whole body is getting healed.
And with exhalation,
Feel that all the cares,
Tensions and worries from the day are flowing out.
Let go of the deep breaths now.
Releasing any tension from your entire body.
It is not necessary to deliberately release tension in each part of the body.
Just develop the feeling of total relaxation.
Just enjoy that feeling of letting go.
Body is relaxed.
Sinking into the bed beneath you.
We are going to have a simple practice to wind down.
Just follow along with the voice and the instructions.
Try not to overanalyze.
Now gently shift your awareness to your surroundings.
Start to notice all the different sounds present here.
Without getting struck with any one particular sound,
Try to keep your awareness in your surroundings.
Without getting struck with any one particular sound,
Try to keep your awareness moving from sound to sound.
Keep the awareness moving from sound to sound.
And try to find the most distant sound which you can hear.
Let go the sound awareness and feel your body from within.
Now we begin body scan.
I will name a body part.
You just become aware of that body part.
Feel it and then just move to the next body part which is named.
Become aware of the right hand.
Right hand thumb.
Fingers of right hand.
Whole right hand.
Whole right arm.
Right shoulder.
Right side of the chest.
Waist.
Hip.
Whole right leg.
Right foot.
The toes.
Now left hand.
Left hand thumb.
Fingers of the left hand.
Whole left hand.
Whole left arm.
Left shoulder.
Left side of the chest.
Waist.
Hip.
Whole left leg.
The left foot.
The toes.
Feel the both legs together.
The buttocks.
Stomach.
Chest.
Back.
Shoulder blades.
Arms.
The neck.
The head.
The back.
Forehead.
Eyes.
Nose.
Right cheek.
Left cheek.
Mouth.
Lips.
Chin.
The whole face.
The whole head.
The whole neck.
The whole back.
The whole body.
The whole body.
The whole body.
The whole body.
The whole body.
Again we will go through the whole body.
This time a little more slower and in detail.
Starting with the right hand thumb.
First finger.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Little finger.
Fingers and thumb together.
Palm of the hand.
Back of the hand.
Wrist.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper part of the right arm.
Right shoulder.
Right armpit.
Right side of the torso.
Right side waist.
Hip.
Right thigh.
Kneecap.
Calf muscle.
Ankle.
Heel.
Sole of the foot.
Big toe.
Second toe.
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth.
The whole right side of the body.
From toes to the fingers.
Fingers to the toes.
The whole right side of the body.
Now go to the left hand.
Become aware of the left hand thumb.
First finger of left hand.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Little finger.
Fingers and thumb together.
Palm of the hand.
Back side of the hand.
Wrist.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper part of the arm.
Left shoulder.
Left armpit.
Left side of the torso.
Left side waist.
Hip.
Thigh.
Kneecap.
Calf muscle.
Right side of the body.
Ankle.
Left foot heel.
Sole of the foot.
Big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Fifth.
Whole left foot.
The whole left side of the body.
From toes to the fingers.
Fingers to the toes.
The whole left side of the body.
Now to the back.
Become aware of the lower back.
The right buttock.
And the left buttock.
Middle back.
Upper back.
Right shoulder blade.
Left shoulder blade.
Back of the neck.
Back of the head.
The whole back side together.
Now go to the top of the head.
The crown of the head.
Forehead.
Both sides of the head.
Right eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
The space between two eyebrows.
Right eyelid.
Left eyelid.
Right eye.
Left eye.
Right ear.
Left ear.
Right side cheek.
Left side cheek.
Bridge of the nostrils.
Right nostril.
Left nostril.
Upper lip.
Upper jaw.
Tongue.
Lower jaw.
Lower lip.
Chin.
Throat.
Right collarbone.
Left collarbone.
Chest.
Right part of the chest.
Middle part of the chest.
Left part of the chest.
Upper part of the belly.
Middle part of the belly.
The navel.
The navel.
The navel.
The navel.
Middle part of the belly.
The navel area.
Lower part of the belly.
The whole of the right leg.
The whole of the left leg.
Both legs together.
The whole of the right arm.
The whole of the left arm.
Both arms together.
The whole of the back.
Buttocks.
Spine.
Shoulder blades.
The whole of the front.
Abdomen.
Chest.
The whole of the back and front together.
The whole of the head.
The whole body.
The whole body.
The whole body.
Become aware of your breath now.
Just feel the flow of your breath.
In and out through the body.
Now,
We will do mental alternative nostril breathing and count backwards from 54 along with it.
Mentally feel as if breath only flows in through the left nostril and out through the right.
And then in through the right and out through the left.
This is one round.
54th.
Like this,
Continue to 53 more rounds.
Not trying to fall asleep.
Just counting down the breath.
And knowing that it really doesn't matter too much when the sleep comes.
As you lie there in this way,
Both the body and the mind are getting all the rest that they need.
If you lose track of the countdown,
Come back to 54 and start over.
