Day one,
The first descent.
Hello and welcome to this meditation for sleep.
This session will take around 20 minutes,
So find yourself a comfortable position,
Lie down and let the body arrange itself however it wants,
And when you are ready,
Gently close your eyes.
Good.
Now,
Just breathe for a moment.
Nothing to do,
Nowhere to get to,
Nothing that needs your attention right now.
Whatever the day has been,
It's done now.
The thinking,
The doing,
The managing,
The performing.
All of it belongs to today,
And today is finished.
What exists right now is just this,
The weight of your body wherever you are lying,
The breath moving in.
Quiet of wherever you are.
Be enough for now.
So let's start by taking a slow breath in through the nose,
Long and full all the way down into the belly.
Feel it expand.
And breathe out.
Through the mouth.
Slow and complete,
Letting everything go with it.
And again,
In through the nose,
The belly rising,
The chest following,
And out through the mouth.
The body,
Softening with each exhale,
Sinking a little further.
Into wherever is resting.
And one more time,
In through the nose.
And this time,
As you breathe out,
Feel the shoulders drop.
The jaw on clench.
On curl.
The space behind the eyes.
Releasing.
I want you to notice your body right now.
Not to analyze it,
Not to check what hurts or what is tense.
Just a feel.
The weight of it.
The simple.
Reassuring heaviness.
Of a body that has been carrying you through a full day.
That is now.
Finally.
Being allowed.
To rest.
Feel the surface beneath you.
The support of it.
The facts.
That it is there.
Holding you.
Without asking anything.
In return.
And with each breath,
Feel that heaviness.
The legs becoming heavier.
The arms heavy.
The back,
Releasing whatever it has been bracing against.
The whole body settling.
Gradually and slowly.
Naturally.
Like something that has been held tight for too long.
Is finally here.
Gently.
Being let go.
Your mind may still be moving,
And that's completely fine.
Thoughts will come and thoughts will go.
And you don't need to follow them anywhere tonight.
Just let them drift past like sounds from another room.
Presence.
But distant.
There and then.
Let them drift.
I want you now to imagine somewhere that feels safe.
For you.
It does not need to be somewhere real.
It can be a room,
A garden,
A stretch of open water,
A forest at dusk,
A place that exists only here,
Only here.
In this moment.
Built entirely.
From whatever your body and mind.
Need most.
Tonight.
Let it come.
Naturally.
Whatever arrives first.
Take a moment to look around this place.
Notice the lights.
The temperature of the air,
The sounds or the silence,
The particular quality of safety that this place holds for you.
This is yours.
Nobody needs anything from you here.
There are no decisions to make,
No problems to solve,
No version of yourself.
Required.
Just this place and you in it.
Feel the ground beneath you in this place,
Solid.
And real and completely reliable.
With each breath.
Let yourself sink.
A little further into it.
Not falling.
Settling.
The way,
Water.
Find its level.
The way your body finds rest.
When rest.
Is finally here.
Genuinely.
Available.
Your breathing is slower now,
Deeper.
The body doing what it always knows how to do.
When it's given permission.
Running underneath this is working quietly.
With your nervous system.
Not forcing anything simply.
Creating the conditions.
Signal to the body.
That it is safe.
To let go.
And it is.
Safe.
Tonight.
In this place.
There is nothing to stay alert for.
Let the image around you soar for now.
Not disappear,
Just become less defined.
The edges.
Blurring gently the way things look.
Just.
Before sleeping.
Calm.
Your body is heavy.
Breath.
Is slow.
Mind.
Is quieter.
Than it was.
You are close now.
Just.
Follow the music.
Follow.
And let each exhale carry you a little further from the day.
And a little closer to the rest.
That has been waiting.
For you.
There is nothing else required of you tonight.
Just this.
Just.
Of breath.
Just.
The dark.
Arriving in its own time.
In it.
Own way.
When you finally stop trying.
To catch it.
