Welcome to this guided practice for sleep using the image of the mandorla.
The mandorla is a sacred almond shape commonly found in the middle of a Venn diagram.
That's when two circles are overlapping and a little shape in the middle.
We'll be using this image as a visual to help us ground and settle in to our body for a very restful sleep.
So if not already,
I invite you to lay down,
Arms to the side or over.
Feel free to wiggle until you've found that spot.
What do I do with my mind?
What do I do with these feelings?
As we typically do,
We'll start with the breath.
Begin to take a few deep breaths,
Breathing in deeply,
Calming with a subtle smile.
Take a few deep breaths,
Each time the in-breath calming your body and the out-breath bringing a subtle and gentle smile.
After a few deep breaths,
Trust your body to shift into a more natural rhythm and continue to focus on this breath.
Choose a sacred word or a mantra to recite with the breath,
Like love.
And we'll use the breath as an anchor of meditation,
The thinking part,
The problem solving part to take a rest.
Give yourself the permission to let go of needing an answer,
Needing to worry.
What happens when you give yourself the permission to let go?
And if you notice tension,
Try not to resist or change that part of you.
Listen to the resistance and continue to ask that part of you do a quick scan of your body from your feet to your head and feel for any areas of discomfort.
Focus your breath on any part or parts of your body,
Breathing in to local spots in your body.
I invite you now to imagine a circle to the left of your body,
A circle to the left of your body with your body in that right side of the circle.
Feel into the space to the left of your body.
And now imagine a second circle to the right of your body.
And as you may guess,
On the left side of this circle is your body.
What does it mean to be in between?
What happens when there is room for this and that?
The third way or the mandorla,
It opens us up to new possibilities.
And it opens us up to a deeper wisdom.
To imagine the center of this energy is in the center of your chest.
It's in this deep spiritual heart.
Now this isn't necessarily your physical or emotional heart,
But the spiritual center of your being.
Going out what is called the cave of the heart,
This sacred ground.
And now what does it feel like to be laying down and resting on this sacred ground?
Be open to images from this deeper center.
And be open to in this sacred alignment,
In this alignment of
