Sleep that soothes away all our worries.
Sleep that puts each day to rest.
Sleep that relieves the weary laborer and heals hurt minds.
Sleep,
The main course in life's feast.
And the most nourishing.
A quote by William Shakespeare.
It's time to rest now.
The day has unfolded into a quiet,
Empty night.
And we lay our bodies in blankets of warmth and comfort to encourage a folding inward.
We close our eyes.
Closing our eyes,
We sink into the body fully.
Feeling each part of us become heavy with weight.
Letting the head get heavy.
The neck,
Shoulders,
Ribs,
Spine,
Feeling the back soften and sink,
Nourishing just the body.
That Dick's and sink.
The arms,
The forearms,
The hands,
The hips,
The thighs,
The knees,
The calves,
The ankles,
The feet,
The toes.
We let the body drain of movement.
We allow it to release.
We instruct it to be quiet.
We instruct it to be quiet and to be still.
And then we let the breath drop deep into our lungs.
Taking a very deep inhale.
And sigh.
And sigh.
One more deep inhale and deep sigh.
And sigh.
We feel all the space that was created in that,
The tension that was released.
And we allow ourselves to sink into that tiny crack.
We allow ourselves to escape into that rest.
We open the door and we lay down.
We let our eyes grow heavy.
We let our jaw and our tongue slacken.
We let our scalp release.
Our cheeks,
Forehead,
Our brow,
Our head,
Our brow.
And down the front of the neck,
Down our throat,
Through each rib.
And we settle on our heart.
Asking that it slow down and relax.
Noticing your attention,
Helping it do so.
Thank you,
Heart.
For bringing the blood.
For helping me love.
Rest now.
Moving down to the belly.
Moving down to the belly.
Letting knot and tension and holding go.
Growing wide and soft.
I thank you,
Belly.
For making medicine with my food.
For giving me instinct,
Guiding me.
Rest now.
Rest now.
Going up to your brain now,
Your mind,
See if you can soften the edges.
Create space,
Movement and fluidity around your borders of your mind,
Of your brain.
Filling it with breath.
Let yourself move like water.
I learned this next meditation technique from Shinzen Yang.
I want you to open your eyes briefly for a second,
Just to register the room and the space of the room around you.
And then I want you to close your eyes,
But keep that spatial awareness with you.
And let yourself expand into that spaciousness.
You're no longer a body with restrictions,
You are growing wide.
And let your consciousness just drift into every corner of this spaciousness.
Upper right corner,
And lower right corner,
And lower right corner,
And lower right corner,
Upper right corner,
Lower left corner,
Center,
Whole room,
Upper left,
Upper left,
Bottom,
Center,
Center,
Whole room,
And just follow your consciousness,
Your awareness,
Ricocheting off the corners.
Just notice how you drift.
You are drifting.
Keep watching your awareness drifting.
Upper right,
Center,
Center,
Lower left,
Center,
Whole,
Drifting in the bounds of your awareness,
Letting yourself become so wide.
Upper right,
Upper left,
Whole,
Center,
Center,
Whole,
Center,
Center,
Center,
You are safe,
Dear one.
You are allowed to rest and lean into this large expanse.
Rest is a gift that you deserve.
You are allowed to be nourished and to be helped.
You are allowed to be in the middle.
You are safe,
Dear one.
Whatever is not solved in your life will be solved in time.
Don't worry.
Everything gets ironed out,
Dear one.
Drift now.
Lower right,
Center,
Upper left,
Center,
Center,
Upper left,
Upper right,
Center,
Whole,
Drift,
Drift,
Drift,
Drift,
Drift,
