Just as you are settling in,
Just trying to really just give yourself maybe 15 minutes to be curious,
To kind of feel into this idea rather than your mind trying to nut it out,
Trying to work it out.
So let's just begin by once again just tuning into your body,
Tuning into your posture,
Making any little adjustments you need to be as comfortable as you can be right now.
And you might even like to just take a deep breath or two,
Really taking your time to fill your lungs with air,
And as you breathe out,
See if you can allow your body to relax,
Just letting your whole body rest a little heavier.
And then very casually becoming aware of your breathing,
Perhaps at your nostrils,
Or maybe somewhere else if it's more apparent to you,
Maybe the rising and falling of your chest,
Or the inflation of your belly.
And sometimes when you begin to pay attention to your breath,
It can change.
If that happens,
Know that that's perfectly normal and natural.
So just noticing wherever you feel your breath the most,
At your nostrils or somewhere else,
And just gently focusing there,
Not thinking about your breath,
But really feeling the sensations that go with breathing in,
The gentle opening and expanding feelings that go with breathing in,
And noticing the sensations that go with breathing out,
Releasing,
Letting go.
And if it helps,
Just repeating that mantra to yourself,
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
And remember,
There's nothing you're trying to achieve,
No state you're trying to reach.
You are exercising your mental muscle of attention.
Being able to gently focus on your breathing can be an anchor.
Whenever you notice your mind drifting into thinking,
You can gently bring it back to your breath,
Letting go of the thinking and refocusing on your breath.
And now letting go of focusing on your breath,
And begin to imagine a dial in front of you if you like,
Or in any other way that feels natural for you.
Begin to pay attention to the different sounds that you can hear.
Sounds in the room,
The voice,
The projector,
Sounds from your own body,
Sounds from outside the room,
Music,
Activity,
Aeroplanes,
Traffic,
Whatever is there.
Begin to imagine that you could turn down the sounds,
Turning the sounds all the way down to off.
You don't actually have to be able to turn the sounds down,
But just like a scientist conducting an experiment,
Just be curious to notice.
Imagining you could turn the sounds down and ask yourself,
What remains?
Try not to think about an answer,
But let your instinct take you to the experience of being aware of yourself,
That sense of I am.
I am aware of sounds.
When you turn sounds down,
You can simply be aware of that awareness that you are.
See if you can rest in that sense of presence,
That sense of being,
The quality of awareness within you,
Your very centre.
And now shifting your attention when you're ready to your sense of touch,
Begin to notice the touch of your clothing against your skin.
Notice how that feels.
Clothing against your arms and your back and your legs,
Your chest.
Perhaps you can feel a sense of warmth or pressure or the material of your clothes,
The texture.
And notice the sensations of pressure where your body rests on the chair,
Your back leans back against the backrest.
The sensation where your feet rest on the floor.
Any other sensations of touch,
Perhaps your hands,
Whatever they're touching.
And now once again,
Imagine you could turn down the sense of touch,
Turn down the perception of touch.
Turn it off and ask yourself,
What remains?
This feeling of centeredness of yourself,
Of your I am presence is so familiar that we easily overlook it.
And now you might like to just tune into your sense of sight,
Either noticing any shadows or colors behind your closed eyelids,
Or if you want to just open your eyes a little and just notice what you can see.
And then perhaps closing your eyes again and without the shapes,
The objects in your line of sight,
Turning down the sense of sight.
And what remains?
Sights cannot see themselves.
You are the one aware of them,
Seeing them.
Feel that sense of yourself,
Aware and present.
This is your center.
If you can rest your attention here,
This is the path to deep sleep.
Begin to be aware of sensations inside your body,
The feeling of breathing,
Any sensations of tension or tingling sensation,
Perhaps the beating of your heart.
Just try to notice any sensations inside your body,
Whatever is there.
And once again,
Imagine that you could turn those sensations all the way down to off.
And once again,
Ask yourself,
What remains when sensations are turned down?
And then finally,
Begin to become aware of any thoughts or emotional feelings,
Any images or memories in your mind,
Any imaginations or a commentary,
A voice in your head.
Noticing any mental activity and imagining you could turn thoughts off,
Turning them all the way down to zero.
And again,
What remains when thinking goes quiet?
Perhaps there is a thought that says,
I don't know how to do this.
I'm struggling to understand what to do.
See if you can notice that that too is a thought,
And imagine you could just turn it off.
You don't need to be able to turn it off,
But just imagine you could.
What remains is the quality of awareness within you,
Your very center.
You that knows your experience.
So just see if you can rest in that sense of presence,
That sense of being,
The quality of awareness within you,
Your very center.
That is the same being that is aware of the sounds that you hear,
The thoughts that come and go,
The feelings and sensations in your body.
And that is all that remains in deep sleep,
When all of your faculties of thinking and perceiving and sensing all turn down.
All that remains is that centeredness,
That essential nature of aware being,
Being aware.
So maybe you had a bit of fun with that technique,
Maybe it worked to some degree,
Or maybe it didn't.
But whatever your experience,
You can always notice that you are the one having the experience,
Knowing the experience.
Letting your attention rest back in that centeredness of your self-aware being.
And this can be a powerful practice to slip into deep sleep.
Let your whole body relax with each breath out.
Letting go,
Letting go.
Enjoy this blissful,
Warm feeling of relaxation.
And let yourself drift into deep sleep.
