I Give Myself Permission To Rest

This gentle meditation offers you a space to pause, soften, and give yourself permission to rest.

There is nothing you need to accomplish and no particular way you need to feel. You are invited to let your body be supported while the words and music gently accompany you.

This practice may be especially comforting when you feel tired, overwhelmed, or caught in constant doing. Rest does not have to be earned. For these few moments, you can simply allow yourself to be here.

Background music: “The Inner Calling,” composed by Music of Wisdom. Licensed from meditationmusiclibrary.

Transcript

Today's meditation is called I Give Myself Permission to Rest. For the next few minutes, There is nothing you need to accomplish. You don't have to fall asleep. You don't have to make your mind quiet and you don't have to relax your body in just the right way. You don't have to fix anything about yourself, Your day, Or even your sleep. For these next few minutes, You are simply allowed to rest. Begin by noticing where your body is being supported right now. Maybe you can feel the bed beneath your back or the couch beneath your body. Or the pillow beneath your head. You don't have to make yourself feel supported. Just notice that something underneath you is already doing some of the holding. And perhaps, Just for a moment, You can let it. You may have spent a lot of your life doing, Thinking, Planning, Taking care of people. Figuring things out. Making decisions. Pushing through when you were tired. And sometimes, Even when your body is asking for rest, Another part of you may immediately arrive with all the reasons you shouldn't need it. I should be doing something. I shouldn't be this tired. Have things to get done. I don't want to waste the day. I shouldn't need to lie down. Maybe you recognize that voice. And tonight, Or this afternoon, Or whenever you are listening to this, We aren't going to fight with that part either. We can simply notice it. Oh, There you are. The part of me that believes I should be doing something. The part of me that believes rest has to be earned. The part of me that wants to make sure I am doing life correctly. Thank you. You have worked very hard too. And beneath all of that doing, Maybe there is another part of you, A tired part, A part that has been asking for a little space, A little quiet. A little less responsibility. A little less effort. And what if this tired part isn't doing anything wrong? What if you don't need to decide whether you have a good enough reason to be tired? And what if tired is simply something your body is telling you right now? Imagine for a moment that this tired part of you was a small child. A little one who had reached the end of a very long day. You probably wouldn't stand over that child and say, Come on, You shouldn't be tired. You have things to do. Get up. You might pick them up. You might pull them close. You might gently rock them. You might whisper, Of course you're tired. Come here. I've got you and you can rest. And I wonder what would happen if you offered some of that same kindness to yourself. Not because you are trying to make anything happen. Not because being kind to yourself is another strategy of getting yourself to sleep. Simply because this tired part of you also deserves care. So maybe you place a hand somewhere on your body that feels comforting. Or perhaps you simply imagine wrapping your arms around this tired part of you. And quietly, Inside, You can say, I give myself permission to rest. I don't have to earn this. I don't have to justify this. I don't need a good enough reason. I give myself permission to rest. And your mind may still be busy. It may start dinging away with thoughts. Things you forgot. Things you need to do. Things you should have done differently. Things you need to remember later. That's okay. A busy mind doesn't mean you're doing rest wrong. You don't have to chase every thought away. You don't have to empty your mind. You can have thoughts and rest. You can feel a little tension and rest. You can hear sounds around you and rest. You can even wonder whether this is working and rest. Rest doesn't require perfect conditions. Maybe your shoulders want to drop a little. Or maybe they don't. Maybe your jaw softens. Or maybe it stays exactly as it is. Maybe you notice a deeper breath or a sigh moving through you. There is nothing you need to force. Your body gets to decide what letting go looks like today. Your only job is to stop asking it to perform. And perhaps this is something new. Because sometimes we approach rest with the same energy we bring to everything else. I need to relax. I need to sleep. I need to make this work. I need to get enough rest because tomorrow I have to fill in the blank. And suddenly rest becomes another job. Another thing to succeed at. Another place where you can somehow get it wrong. But what if rest isn't something you accomplish? What if rest is simply something you allow? It isn't only what you do. Is the energy you do it with. So perhaps. Right now, The energy can change. It can change from, I have to sleep. To I am allowed to rest. It can change from I shouldn't be lying here to my body is asking for a pause and I am listening. It can change from I need to make something happen to nothing needs to happen right now. If sleep comes, Sleep can come. If sleep doesn't come, You are still resting. Your mind may wander and you are still resting. If your body takes a little while to settle, You are still resting. There is no finish line here. There is nothing you need to prove. You're simply practicing something that perhaps your nervous system hasn't had enough opportunity to experience. Stopping without being in trouble. Being still without needing to be productive. Doing nothing without needing to explain yourself. And maybe somewhere inside of you, There's a tired part that begins to realize. Oh, You're not mad at me anymore. You're not trying to get rid of me. You're listening. You're here. So once again, Imagine gathering that part of you into your arms. No fixing. No judgment. No lecture about what you should be doing instead. Just the gentle rhythm of being held. I've got you. You can rest now. We don't have to figure everything out today. We don't have to know what comes next. We can meet the next moment when it arrives. And right now, We are here. Right now, We are support it. Right now, Nothing is being asked of us. And quietly one more time. I give myself permission to rest. I give myself permission not to judge my need for rest. I give myself permission to listen when my body is tired. I give myself permission to lie here without needing an outcome. I give myself permission to be held. I give myself permission to stop doing. Just for now. And if there is still a part of me that isn't sure, That part can rest here too. There is room for all of me. Nothing to accomplish in this moment. Nothing to prove. Nothing to fix. For this moment, I am allowed to rest and that is enough.