Hello and welcome.
I'm Emily Hayden and I'm so glad you're here.
Tonight we're going to gently quiet an anxious mind and guide you into a deep restful sleep.
If you're here your mind is probably being busy today maybe racing right now maybe it's replaying something from the day or rehearsing something for tomorrow Or perhaps it just won't quieten down right now.
I want you to know that there's nothing wrong with you.
An anxious mind at bedtime isn't a flaw it's a nervous system that hasn't yet been told it's safe to rest now.
So that's exactly what we're going to do tonight.
Not forcing sleep,
Not fighting it We're simply going to send a message a deep gentle message to your body.
That says you can let go now.
You are safe.
There is nothing left to solve tonight.
So let your body settle into that surface beneath you and feel the weight of your head against your pillow.
Feel the weight of your shoulders your leg.
And take one slow deep breath in through your nose and a long soft sigh out through your mouth let it go.
Again breathing in slowly.
And sighing it out.
And that sigh is a signal.
A signal to your vagus nerve,
To your whole nervous system that the day is done you are no longer on duty.
Just one more deep breath in.
Sighing it out letting it all go now releasing any tension tightness.
As you now bring your attention gently to your forehead.
And just let it soften,
Allow it to soften.
The space between your eyebrows.
All those tiny muscles around your eyes.
And let your jaw drop just slightly.
Let your tongue rest heavy.
Feel your throat softening,
Opening as your attention goes down to your shoulders now.
Dropping them away from your ears.
Just remembering they don't have anything to hold tonight.
Allow them to become heavier and heavier.
As you are held here in this space.
And now your chair softens.
As does your belly.
Your hands resting exactly where they are,
Nothing to do.
Nothing to reach for right now allowing your legs to grow heavier and heavier with every breath.
Sinking down.
Dropping down.
Your whole body held by the bed beneath you.
The bed held by the floor.
The floor held by this earth.
You are held,
My friend.
And now just in your mind.
In your mind take yourself to somewhere safe.
A place where you feel completely safe and at ease It can be somewhere you've been before somewhere you know well or.
.
.
Somewhere you're creating right now with your powerful mind.
Whatever comes to mind now is exactly right for you.
Perhaps it's a small beach cabin.
The kind with white wooden walls.
A wide open window.
Soft white curtains.
Gently moving in the warm breeze.
Maybe now you can even hear the ocean.
Or another sound there remind you that you're safe.
Perhaps it's a breeze,
Perhaps it's the slow steady rhythm of the waves.
Somewhere just beyond that window.
Just a sound your body recognizes as completely safe.
And above you.
Through a ceiling window.
You can see a sky full of stars and they're glistening in the night sky.
You can even see the moon.
Soft.
4 watching gently over you.
Wherever your safe place is just be there right now let it come to you now Allowing the details to fill in slowly.
And then noticing the light in this place.
Is it soft and golden?
Is it a silver moonlight flooding into the room?
Or candlelight.
Noticing any sounds around you.
The ocean or a gentle breeze blowing through trees Or maybe you prefer peaceful silence.
And now noticing the air around you,
Is it warm or cool?
Is there a sense?
Flowers.
Sea and salt.
The candle flame.
Or something else familiar that you love.
And now just noticing in this safe place.
There is a beautiful bed.
The most comfortable bed you have ever seen.
The pillows are soft.
The heaviest,
Warmest duvet.
Or blanket.
A kind that feels like a long slow exhale just a touch smooth bedsheets and you walk towards it you can't wait to get in that beautiful comfortable bed and as you walk towards it perhaps you sit down on the edge of the bed and you notice something beside the bed.
A small wooden box.
And this box is for you it has your name on it anything you carry today.
Any worries,
Any tasks.
Any thoughts that just won't leave you right now.
You can place them gently inside this box.
You don't have to solve anything tonight you don't have to figure anything out.
You just have to set it down inside this box.
So just take a moment right now in your mind to gently lift each thought from your mind.
And one by one.
Place them softly.
Into that box.
They will still be there tomorrow if you need them.
But tomorrow is not now.
And when you've placed the last one in that box you close the lid gently That box knows what to do.
You don't have to think about it anymore.
Tomorrow you may wake up and have the answers ready for you.
And now you lie down in this beautiful,
Deep,
Comfortable bed The pillow accepts the weight of your head completely The blanket wraps itself around you,
Warm and heavy.
And you can feel it in your body that you are completely safe here.
You are held in this journey.
Nothing in this place needs your attention nothing outside this place needs you tonight.
There is only this.
The soft bed.
The gentle sounds around you.
The slow rhythm of your breath.
Outside the world is quieter now.
If you're by the ocean,
The waves rolling in and out Steady.
Or perhaps that gentle breeze like a lullaby.
Blowing gently,
Easily in that breeze.
The white curtains.
Moving softly.
Your body singing.
A little deeper and deeper.
Into that bed.
Getting heavier.
Softer.
There's nowhere else you need to be.
Nothing you need to do.
Just you.
And your breath.
Sleep is rising up to meet you now.
Getting softer.
Heavier.
Feeling safe.
Feeling at total ease.
Feeling present in this journey.
Allowing sleep to come upon you now.
No forcing Just gently allowing.
Yourself to.
Me sleep.
Whenever it arises.
And if you're still here with me.
Still drifting at the end.
Let's go even deeper together.
So now just bring your attention.
All the way down to your feet.
Feel the soles of your feet.
Soft and warm against the sheath.
Each toe completely still Letting go.
Noticing how heavy your feet feel now.
As if they were sinking gently into the bed beneath you and let that heaviness rise slowly into your ankles the small bones the soft tendons.
All releasing.
Feel your coughs now.
The long quiet muscles.
Growing heavier.
Woman.
And behind your knees softening completely.
Your thighs.
The front of your thighs.
The back of your thighs.
The deep strong muscles that carried you through this day.
They can rest now,
Fully.
Completely.
And feel the heaviness rise up into your hips.
Perhaps that holds so much.
The place where so much of the day's tension lives and let your hips sink into that mattress.
Heavier and heavier.
Your lower back.
Melting down into that base beneath you.
Your belly softening,
Rising,
Falling all on its own.
For your chest opening.
A space around your heart gentle and warm.
Your shoulder blades.
Spreading wide across the bed heavier.
Releasing.
Letting go.
And your shoulders themselves.
Let them drop one more time away from your ears.
Down into deep breaths as the heaviness moves.
Into your arms now.
Upper arms.
Elbow.
Forearms.
All growing heavy,
More relaxed,
More at ease.
As it moves down into your wrists,
Your hands.
And each finger.
Completely still.
Each fingertip.
Softening.
And your hands rest exactly where they are,
Nothing to hold.
Feel your neck now.
The long muscles at the back.
A soft hollow at the front.
All releasing.
Fill your jaw.
Letting it drop.
Allowing your teeth to pass.
Your tongue soft.
The muscles around your eyes again releasing.
Back up to your forehead,
Smoothing.
Soften it.
And now awareness at the very top of your head.
Your whole body from the soles of your feet up to the crown of your head.
Feeling relaxed.
Feeling at ease.
Completely letting go And now with each breath.
You're going to sink a little deeper.
Not into sleep exactly,
Just into rest.
The kind of rest that knows the way to sleep on its own.
And with your next exhale.
Let yourself sing.
Down.
A little deeper.
And again.
Your next exhale.
Deeper.
And deeper.
Each breath.
Softer than the last.
Each breath getting heavier.
Don't even think about the breath now,
Just letting it happen naturally Imagine yourself moving further from the day.
Further from the noise.
Further away from thinking.
For yourself getting closer to the deep.
Quiet place inside you that already knows how to rest naturally.
Easily.
And somewhere in your mind.
The soft sound of waves roll in.
And out.
The slow steady rhythm.
Warm air drifts through an open window.
And you can feel it on your skin.
While those white curtains move gently in the breeze Perhaps you can sense the moon.
Casting silver light across the room that you're in.
There is nowhere to be.
Nothing else to do.
Just this slow Soft.
Into relaxation.
Relaxation getting deeper and deeper as sleep is so close now.
Just a few breaths away.
There's nothing you need to do.
Nothing to remember.
Just allowing yourself to drift.
Into that softness.
Heaviness.
In this place you are held.
You are supported.
You are safe.
Good night,
My friend.
Good night
