Welcome to this practice to help you ease into sleep.
Many of us get to bedtime tired in the body,
But still with a mind that's wired and buzzing and activated.
So if all the voices in your head are giving you a 360 performance review of your day,
Rest assured you're not alone.
This is one of the many reasons that bedtime meditation,
Or beditation as I like to call it,
Can be so helpful.
It gives the mind a steadier place to land.
Here we're going to focus on the breath.
The body,
The comfort of the bed,
And we're going to sprinkle in a tiny bit of self-compassion as well.
And don't worry,
You don't need to have a gold medal in self-compassion to benefit from it.
Even a tiny amount of self-compassion helps and counts.
So before we begin,
It might be helpful to create an intention for the practice.
Maybe you want to rest.
Maybe you'd love some peaceful sleep.
Maybe you'd like to let go of the day.
When we create an intention for our practice,
This really helps the mind,
Emotions and body align and jump on the same page.
So just noticing whatever your intention might be for this practice.
And when you feel ready.
Taking a moment to get as comfortable as you can.
So adjusting your pillow if you need to.
Making sure you have just the right amount of covers so you're at a perfect temperature.
And letting the body settle into a position that feels as comfortable as possible right now.
Noticing how your shoulders feel.
The position of your arms.
Maybe just letting go a little more in your hips and your legs.
And letting the body settle into the support beneath you.
In whatever way feels right for you.
And when you're ready.
Just noticing how it feels to give yourself permission to rest.
Resting helps us to create conditions for sleep.
And a way to help to soothe the nervous system can be using something like touch.
So if it feels comfortable for you,
You might want to place a hand on your chest or a hand on your belly.
And just rest your hands wherever they feel most at ease right now.
Noticing that contact.
The warmth in the hands.
And noticing how your body responds to that touch.
Gentle touch like this can send a powerful signal to the nervous system that all is well,
That we're safe and we can rest.
And maybe offering yourself just a little self-compassion right now.
Offering this compassion to your mind.
Your emotions and your body.
And noticing how it feels,
Just to offer ourselves a little care and attention.
So feeling free to settle the hands down or leave them where they are,
Whatever feels best for you.
And from here,
Shifting awareness to the movement of breath in the body.
Noticing where you feel the movement of breath most easily.
In the body right now.
Might be the movement of air in your nostrils.
Might be the expansion and release in the chest.
Or maybe you feel that wave-like movement of breath in the belly.
Noticing how it feels to let awareness rest on that movement of breath.
And if any time your mind wanders,
Which is completely normal,
Minds love to wander,
Gently bringing the mind back.
You can just say,
Thank you,
Mind.
We're resting right now.
And bringing awareness back to the practice.
You can anchor into the breath or the body.
And here,
Just taking a few deeper breaths.
So noticing how the body feels as you breathe in,
Maybe directing that deeper breath down to the belly.
And seeing if you can breathe out just a little longer than your inhale.
It can be helpful to gently count the length of the in-breath in your mind.
And then gently counting the length of the out breath,
Breathing out through your nose or mouth,
Whatever you prefer.
And no forcing here,
Just going at a pace that feels right for you.
And just one more breath here,
Breathing in,
Counting the in-breaths.
And seeing if the out-breath can be just a little longer.
And from here.
Allowing the breath to return to its own natural rhythm.
Letting the breath breathe itself and finding its own pace.
And maybe taking a moment to appreciate the breath.
Breath that's been with you all your life and all day long.
Noticing just that wave-like movement that can help anchor awareness back to this moment.
And from here,
Shifting awareness,
Noticing the support of the bed beneath you.
So feeling the weight of your head resting into the pillow.
Noticing the contact points of your body resting onto the support of the bed.
Becoming aware of how comfortable the covers resting over you feel.
And noticing how it feels just to allow yourself to rest here,
Being supported by the bed and the comfort of the covers.
And from here maybe allowing yourself to soften into that support a little deeper with every out breath.
Feeling the weight of the body melting into that support behind you.
There's no need to hold yourself up now.
No need to carry any of the day any longer.
Enjoying this opportunity to rest.
Resting the mind.
The emotions and the body.
And noticing where in the body there's already a sense of ease.
Exploring any ease you can sense in the muscles of the face.
Noticing where the body feels slightly more settled.
Where you feel particularly comfortable.
Letting your awareness rest there just for a few breaths.
And if you choose to,
Imagining that sense of ease spreading a little further with each in-breath.
And feeling a little more softening with each out breath.
Feeling the exhalation releasing the body a little deeper.
Each exhale inviting the body to let go a little easier.
So from here bringing awareness to the muscles of the face.
Inviting the forehead to soften as much as it wants to.
Allowing the muscles around the eyes,
All those tiny muscles,
To release and relax as much as they want to.
Feeling the muscles around the mouth and the jaw letting go and releasing.
Allowing the throat to soften.
And imagining how the face might feel if it was settling even more deeply right now.
Even more at ease.
And then bringing awareness into the neck and shoulders.
And as we explore the body.
Bringing in a quality of compassion with the awareness.
Allowing the shoulders to drop and soften if they want to,
As much as they want to.
And noticing each time you breathe out,
There's a natural tendency in the body to soften and release.
So feeling the body.
Relaxing a little deeper with every out breath.
And feeling this softness moving all the way down the arms.
Allowing the arms to be heavy,
Resting completely into whatever they're supported by.
Allowing the hands to soften.
I'm inviting that softness and ease to move to the chest and the belly.
Feeling the front of the torso softening with each exhale.
And allowing the back of the torso to sink a little deeper into the support of the bed every time you breathe out.
No need to hold on.
Letting the body soften into that support behind you.
And noticing how the torso might feel if it was even more relaxed than it is right now.
And then moving down into the lower body.
Noticing the hips becoming softer,
Heavier.
And looser.
Feeling the weight of the pelvis.
Allowing all of the muscles surrounding the hip joints to soften and rest.
Allowing that softness to move down into the legs.
Noticing the weight of the legs.
The contact they're making with the bed.
The covers allowing the legs to feel more at ease.
Heavier.
Softer.
Imagining how the legs might feel if they were resting even more deeply than they are right now.
Allowing the softness to move all the way down the legs into the feet.
Nothing more for them to carry.
Allowing them to rest deeply.
And opening awareness to sensing the whole body.
One whole breathing,
Resting body.
Appreciating this moment to rest.
Just as you are.
Feeling the support behind you.
This chance to do nothing.
Just resting.
Feeling the movement of the breath.
Feeling the sensations of the body resting.
I'm feeling the support of the bed.
And if thoughts are still here,
That's okay.
There's no need to stop thinking.
The mind might still be unwinding a little and that's okay.
When this happens,
Gently reminding the mind,
Thank you mind,
Not right now,
Let's rest now.
And then coming back to three simple anchors.
Feeling the body.
Feeling the breath.
And feeling the bed.
And for the next few moments,
Just letting awareness drift gently between these three anchors.
Breath.
The body.
The bed.
Allowing that simple rhythm to carry you into rest.
It's resting here now.
Just this breath.
This body.
This bed.
And allowing yourself to soften.
To settle and to drift in your own time.
