Welcome to this power nap meditation.
This power nap has no guidance to indicate an ending time,
And this may be particularly useful if you've had a really short night of sleep last night and have the opportunity to catch up,
Or if for any other reason you simply need to rest for as long as you can.
If you do need to be awake at a certain time,
Please set your alarm now so that you can totally relax,
Knowing that it'll wake you up when you need it to.
I'll guide you into a state of relaxation and then allow the music to continue for three hours.
You may go to sleep during this time,
But know that if you don't,
You can still relax deeply and feel rested as a result of taking this time to be still.
Trust that your body knows how to rest,
And know that when you wake up at the time you've chosen,
Or when you wake up naturally,
You'll feel well-rested and refreshed.
So if you haven't already,
Please begin to get comfortable wherever you are,
And firstly focus on things external to you,
Such as the position of any pillows and blankets you have,
And adjust anything that's uncomfortable or distracting.
Create the conditions for rest to the best of your ability with what you have here today.
It doesn't need to be perfect.
Know that you have the ability to rest wherever you are,
And if you have any stories that doubt your ability to rest at this time,
Let them go for now and just allow yourself to see what happens.
I invite you now to label whatever comes into your awareness.
If you wish,
You can add the words there is before wherever you encounter.
There is sound of Shona's voice.
There is music.
There is sensation of breath at the nose.
There is thought.
Notice whatever you notice every few moments,
Without reacting to it.
If you have moments where there's nothing,
You can label there is stillness.
There is quiet.
There is nothing.
You can stop your labeling practice and become aware of your right side,
The right side of your body,
And the right side of your space.
Now be aware of the left side of your body and the space to your left.
Notice the front of your body and the space above or in front of you.
Notice the back of your body and the space beneath or behind you.
Now be aware of your right side of your body again,
Right leg,
Right side of your head and right side of your torso.
And aware of your whole left side,
Your left leg,
Left arm,
Left side of your torso and head.
Aware of the front of your body,
Spacious and light and relax into the back of your body.
Can you feel the sensations of your mouth and relax your jaw?
Feel your tongue,
Teeth,
Lips.
Relax all around your mouth.
And allow this relaxation to expand to your cheeks and up to your eyes.
Soften all the tiny muscles around your eyes.
And invite your eyes to soften and still.
Be aware of your eyebrows and soften the space between them.
Your temples and forehead relax too.
All the way up to your scalp at the top of your head and around to the back of your head.
So your whole head feels relaxed.
Your neck can relax all the way down into your collarbones and shoulders.
Breathe into your belly.
And as you exhale,
Release your shoulders.
Trace your awareness down the front of your right arm,
Your bicep,
To inner elbow,
To forearm and wrist.
Let your whole arm relax.
Be aware of your right palm,
Fingers and thumb.
All the way to your fingertips,
No tension needed.
Trace awareness up the back of your arm.
Starting with your fingertips and back of your hand.
Into the wrist and up to the elbow.
All the way up the back of your arm and into your shoulder.
Guide your awareness across to your left side and soften tension as you follow awareness from tricep to inner elbow,
Down the forearm to your wrist,
Allowing your whole left arm to relax.
Your palm can soften,
As can all your fingers and thumb.
Guide your awareness all the way to your fingertips,
No tension needed.
Trace awareness up the back of your arm.
Starting with your fingertips,
To the back of your hand.
Following all the way up to forearm,
Elbow.
Back of the upper arm and to your shoulder.
Relax even more deeply now,
As you are aware of your belly and the movement of your belly as you breathe.
Simply watch this subtle movement,
No need to do anything.
Relax and watch your breath,
Calm and gentle.
On your next exhale,
Let go of tension from your pelvis.
Relax the fronts of your thighs,
Down to your knees,
To the shins,
To the tops of your feet and all of your toes.
Feel as though you could relax the soles of your feet.
And trace awareness to the heels,
Softening back up the calves,
The knees,
To the backs of the thighs.
And relax the buttocks.
Bring your awareness back to the gentle movement of your belly as you breathe.
Feel how your whole body is relaxed and comfortable.
Relaxing even more deeply.
Become aware of your breath,
The gentle movement of your inhale and exhale.
Encourage your exhales to be a little bit longer than your inhales and simply continue to watch them.
Don't try too hard or overthink this,
Keep your breath gentle and easy.
Soft and slow inhale.
Long exhale.
Feel your body relax even more with each exhale.
Becoming comfortably heavy and relaxed.
Feel that these long exhales can guide you into deep rest.
They can guide you into sleep.
Let them help you to relax and rest.
And give yourself permission to drift.
Give yourself permission to rest.
You feel relaxed and you can rest here.
Let yourself drift into sleep.
