Hey friend,
Welcome back to the Grounded Sleep Podcast.
And if you're having trouble falling back asleep tonight,
Then I'm here for you.
I've noticed in life that there are some things where if you go and try harder to accomplish them,
It actually becomes counterproductive.
And sleeping is one of those things.
So if you're trying hard to fall asleep or to fall back asleep,
That might cause some stress and actually keep you awake.
So right now,
I wanna invite you to not try to fall back asleep.
One of the things that's always helped me fall asleep has been meditating before bed.
Or if I wake up in the middle of the night,
I might even sit up and meditate for a while.
Because when we meditate,
Our brain and our body get a certain kind of rest.
So even if you're not asleep,
It helps.
And if you fall asleep meditating,
Well,
Maybe you'll wake up enlightened.
So you can meditate laying down or sitting up.
It's up to you.
But let yourself be nice and comfortable.
And there's no need to put any pressure on yourself.
I heard this great story of the Dalai Lama going to visit this music guy in Maui.
I believe his name was Shep Gordon.
There's a movie about him called Super Mensch made by Mike Myers.
It's a documentary.
And he has this big home in Maui where lots of people come visit.
And he had the Dalai Lama come visit.
And he said he spent weeks trying to perfect yak tea.
And one morning,
The Dalai Lama woke up very early as he apparently always does.
Maybe it was 4.
30 or 5.
30.
And Shep walks in with some tea and the Dalai Lama says,
What is that smell?
And Shep says,
Oh,
That's yak tea.
I made it for you.
And the Dalai Lama jokes,
Oh,
This is why I left Tibet.
I love that.
What a great sense of humor.
The Dalai Lama had to escape China to save his life in 1959.
I believe it was.
And he walked through the Himalayas to India.
And he's still smiling and happy.
So I think for those of us awake late at night or who can't fall asleep,
Hey,
It's not the end of the world.
You're not having to walk through the Himalayas at the moment.
So take a few deep breaths and start to gently relax your energy into a light meditation.
And when I say light meditation,
I just mean you're becoming aware in this moment.
Allow yourself to feel your body anchoring you into this moment.
And whether you fall asleep in the next few minutes or not,
Can you appreciate just being here in this moment?
True meditation is about falling in love with this moment.
And as your breath slows down,
Maybe your mind can slow down.
And even if you feel anxious about not falling asleep,
Can you allow yourself to not be anxious about being anxious?
Who even said that was a problem?
All I want you to do right now is to start to bring some awareness to your body.
And we're gonna start with some body parts that we would not think to start with.
So can you just feel your ears and allow your ears to.
.
.
Notice that your ears hear sounds all day long and they're not stressed.
They do their job and they stay relaxed.
And next,
I want you to notice the back of your neck.
Just feel that very still space on the back of your neck.
And then let yourself feel your elbows.
And notice the tops of your thighs,
Above your knees.
And then let yourself feel the back of your knees.
And after you feel the back of your knees,
Just bring your attention down to the bottom of your feet.
And so we're just becoming aware of a few,
Let's call them anchor points around and on our bodies.
Now,
I want you to become aware of the area in front of your shins,
But not on your shins,
Maybe a few inches in front of them.
And then I want you to go ahead.
And then I'd like you to go ahead and become aware of the areas on the sides of your legs,
Up near your waist.
A few inches off of your legs,
Almost as if the hairs or the nerves on your skin are trying to reach out.
Just feeling this area extended a few inches off the sides of your legs,
Near your waist.
And then I'd like you to start to notice the area in front of your abdomen.
So we have an energy field around the body.
You're just noticing areas of that field.
Next,
I'd like you to notice the area in front of your upper back.
So a few inches off of your upper back,
Even if you're laying on your back.
And then let's go back to the ears,
But this time noticing the area a few inches off of each ear in the energy field around the ears.
And you're welcome to drift off into sleep at any point.
As you fall asleep,
Allow yourself to fall in love with rest.
Perhaps now you start feeling the energy field,
The space around your entire body.
And ever so gently,
You're just gonna let yourself drift off back into sleep.
And just like sometimes when a whale breaches,
Comes out from under the water and then dives back under,
Maybe you came out of sleep and now you're going back into it,
Back into a really deep rest.
Notice that there is no effort here.
It's just a letting go to the stillness let yourself have beautiful dreams tonight and wake up refreshed,
Sleep well.
