You made it through another day.
Whatever this day has brought now holds an opportunity to put it down.
This practice was created to meet you at the end of your day as a way to encourage the body and mind to settle in and prepare to sleep.
The goal here is not necessarily to fall asleep during or even right after this meditation.
Rather,
It is an opportunity to become witness to the natural process of downregulation.
We will begin this process by coming to a supine position lying on your back with the knees bent and the soles of the feet resting on the floor.
Explore walking the feet apart and allowing the knees to drop into touch.
If this feels comfortable for your body,
Keep it and let the knees rest upon one another so that all effort of holding the legs up dissipates.
If this does not feel comfortable,
Take a moment to find a position with the legs you can maintain while resting your body for several minutes.
Now reach your arms straight to the sky,
Palms facing one another.
Cross the arms,
One on top of the other,
As you reach around the ribcage and give yourself a hug.
One elbow will stack on top of the other over your heart space.
If this arm position does not feel right for you,
Simply cross the arms over the heart so the fingertips rest on opposite shoulders.
Keep the arms here and release all effort.
This is constructive rest position.
Here your muscles have an opportunity to relax.
Give them some space to do so.
Feel the weight of the arms on the body and let that offer an awareness of the breath as it rises and falls within the ribcage.
Soften the belly and watch the breath lift and lower the navel center.
Switch the cross of the arms and return the attention to the easy and fluid breath as it moves in and out of the nostrils.
Begin to lengthen the breath pattern,
Finding a sense of evenness on both sides of the breath.
Release the arms by your sides or bring your hands onto your belly.
Take a fuller inhale through the nose and as you exhale,
Let yourself hum from the beginning to the end of the exhaled breath.
Do this a couple more times,
Noticing the vibration in the throat space as well as the resonance through the head.
Next,
We will link the breath to a steady count of 4 on the inhale and 6 as we exhale.
Continue breathing through the nose if you are able.
Allow yourself to exhale completely,
Emptying out.
Then breathe in for 1,
2,
3,
4 and out for 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6.
Inhale 2,
3,
4 and exhale 2,
3,
4,
5,
6.
Inhale 2,
3,
4 and exhale 2,
3,
4,
5,
6.
Inhale 2,
3,
4 and exhale 2,
3,
4,
5,
6.
Continue this count silently to yourself or slow it down to a 6 count inhale and 8 count exhale.
Stay with this breath pattern for 2 more minutes.
On your next inhale,
Sip in a little bit more air and open the mouth and sigh.
As you let go of the breath,
Feel the weight of your body drop and release any remaining tension it may be holding.
Make contact with your body by bringing your hands to touch your belly,
Heart,
Head or a combination of these areas.
Allow the hands to hold you,
Inviting the mind and body to settle into a new layer of softness.
There is nothing left to do but be here now.
Let the arms come back to rest by your sides and scan your body,
Noticing how you feel now.
If they aren't already,
Bend your knees and bring your feet to the floor.
Roll onto your left side and pause there,
Allowing your bones to be heavy and your muscles soft.
Use the top hand to gently press yourself to seated with as little effort as possible.
Once you're upright,
Feel the weight of your seat before gently letting the light pass through the eyelashes.
Keep the gaze soft as you very slowly look around the room.
May you move slowly and gently through the rest of your evening,
Inviting sleep to meet you easily.
