Welcome to the end of your day.
You have done enough,
And you have carried enough.
Now with a quiet sigh of relief,
Allow yourself to lay your burdens down.
This time is for gentle release.
Settle into the support beneath you,
Feeling the beautiful gravity of the earth holding you perfectly.
There is nowhere else you need to be,
Nothing else you need to solve.
Take a deep breath in,
Drawing stillness into your core.
And as you exhale,
Imagine the day's tasks,
Conversations,
And anxieties simply rolling off your shoulders,
Dropping harmlessly away.
See your mind as a quiet,
Dark pond.
For hours,
Ripples have traveled across its surface.
Now,
We invite the water to become completely still,
Reflecting only the deep,
Quiet stars.
Turn your attention to your thoughts.
Perhaps they are looping,
A conversation you wish you'd handled differently,
Or a worry about tomorrow.
Give these thoughts a soft nod of acknowledgment,
But do not invite them in for tea.
Imagine you are holding a smooth,
Heavy stone in your hand.
This stone represents the very last thought or tension you are carrying from the day.
Feel its weight.
Now,
Gently unclench your fingers.
Allow the stone to drop into the dark,
Still pond of your mind,
Sinking slowly,
Completely out of sight.
It is finished.
Feel the muscles of your face soften.
Release the tension from your jaw and from the space between your eyebrows.
Let your whole face become entirely yielding and quiet.
Whisper this quiet promise to your body.
I trust you now to rest.
I surrender all the effort I have put into this moment.
Visualize yourself now standing at the edge of a slow,
Warm,
Gentle river.
This is the river of sleep.
Its waters are dark,
Soothing,
And perfectly calm.
Step into this river.
Feel the cool,
Enveloping water rise up around you,
Supporting you completely.
You don't need to swim or paddle.
You are simply carried.
Allow yourself to drift.
Feel the river dissolving any remaining tension in your legs,
In your hips.
With every slow breath,
You drift further from the shore of your waking life and deeper into the quiet center of the night.
The river knows where to take you.
Your only job is to trust the current.
Take one last long,
Slow breath.
On the exhale,
Imagine your consciousness melting into the mattress,
Becoming one with the dark,
Comforting silence of the room.
Rest well,
Dear one.
May your sleep be deep,
Gentle,
And restorative.
