Welcome.
I'm so glad you're here.
This is a somatic support sleep session that will last about eight hours.
And I'll speak at the beginning,
And then there will be,
I think it's called brown noise.
And the brown noise is just for you to settle and to sleep.
And I'll guide you initially into a more restful and settled and embodied place so that your body can naturally,
Hopefully,
Actually slip into sleep.
But regardless of whether it does or not,
This practice is intended to be supportive and at least restful,
If not sleepful.
So let's get started.
Just notice your body here in this place,
Wherever you happen to be.
Are you lying down or sitting?
Are you reclined in some way where your head and your back are supported?
And if not,
Can you shift your posture in any way that could help your body to feel a little bit more support?
Take a moment to just play with that and see if there's any posture changes that could help.
And as you do that,
Notice if there's any more support that might be available to you as a result of this posture change and this intention to offer more support.
And even the intention of offering support,
Notice if that brings the body just a little bit more of a sense of your being here with it,
It being able to let go a little bit more.
And now practice or try and see if putting a hand on a location in your body might actually bring even more support.
And the way that you'll notice if there's support with both posture changes and self-contact is that there's an opening or a softening that starts to happen,
More of a landing maybe.
So just notice and play with both placement and pressure with the hand.
See if there's any kind of resonance,
Any kind of opening,
Any kind of softening or letting go.
And try that maybe with another hand too,
If you have two hands available that you can do that with.
You can try having them be in the same general location like your chest or your abdomen or you can try playing with different places.
You might try playing with maybe the back of your neck or a shoulder or your arm.
Maybe even try playing with your hips,
With your thighs.
Again,
Playing with how softly your pressure,
Your contact is being made and the placement of it and play around with where is there more opening or softening happening and does it change at all if I move it this way or press a little harder.
There's no wrong way of doing this.
So just keep noticing what's working in terms of letting go and opening.
And even if there's not letting go and opening,
You're still not doing it wrong,
You're still doing it right.
You're just noticing,
You're deepening your awareness.
It's this deepening of our awareness that helps to create more attunement and eventually even more ease.
There may be either some numbness or some tightness or both that might be showing up in the body too.
And without dismissing it or pushing it away,
Is it possible to just be with those places or that place with some kindness,
With some curiosity?
What is that tension,
That discomfort or tightness?
What is its message?
Is there anything it wants you to know?
And there's no wrong answer here.
And sometimes it's a message that might contain language.
Sometimes it's just a kind of knowing.
Sometimes it can be a kind of knowing through image or more sensation or even emotion.
Whatever is here that feels like a message,
Get curious about it.
What is here?
What might it want you to know?
Can you be with it?
And if there was any softening or opening from before,
Can you attune to that as well by going back and forth?
If there wasn't softness from either self-contact,
Hand placement or posture changes,
Is there any kind of softness from noticing the bed,
The chair,
The couch,
The floor,
Wherever you happen to be reclining,
If you are,
That could that give you any support?
And by support,
What I mean is notice the ways in which this place is holding you up and hopefully allowing your body to actually be here fully with all of the opening,
The softening,
The tightening,
The discomfort,
But there's still support here for you,
For your body,
For both of you,
For your soul too,
All three of you.
And can that also be a place of support?
And maybe even gently allowing your attention to imagine what's holding up the building or the space that you're in.
You may be outside,
But just to be aware of the land,
Even if you can't sense it or feel it right underneath you,
But especially if you can,
Really notice that the land is here and it's not asking anything of you.
It's here to support you and it's supporting you without request,
Without demand.
It's just here.
There's something really exquisite about that,
I think,
When I notice the land holding me up and supporting me without any kind of request or need.
It's just here doing this thing.
And see if there's any opening or any letting go that's happening as you're hearing me talk about this.
And notice if there were any places of tightness.
What's here now?
Is anything different?
Maybe it's not.
That's okay.
Maybe it is.
That's okay too.
Can you be with whatever is here?
And can you notice also,
Like really feel the sensation of what's here that might be tight or discomforting,
But then also notice where there's some opening,
Some softening.
Is it okay to be with both?
And can you notice some specificity of how your body is here in this place that is tuned into right here,
Right now,
Where there might be a little bit more support and see what the body does with that awareness.
And can you feel the support landing in your muscles,
In your limbs?
Where do you notice it?
Where is that support landing here?
Is there any gratefulness for the support that you might want to offer?
Just an acknowledgement maybe.
Thank you for being in support of me at this time,
In this place,
In this way.
In here in just a little bit,
I'm going to start to play some,
What I hope is brown noise.
I think it is.
It's a fan that I have taken.
I'm using a high pass filter,
So I'm taking out some of the higher frequencies,
Creating more low frequency.
Lower tones are soothing.
They can be,
But just notice how your body senses this sound and whether there is opening or whether there's tightness.
And if there's tightness,
By all means,
Find a different recording that works better for you and for your ears and your mind and your body.
And thank you for the honor of spending this time with me regardless,
Whether you stay or whether you go.
I appreciate you and your presence here with me.
Thank you for the honor of being here together.
And maybe even noticing if there's support in that,
That this is being created for you to be able to sleep better,
Even though we've never met.
Because I also struggle with sleep sometimes,
I wanted to offer a resource that could be of value.
So just notice if there's any opening or support there in that statement.
Where do you notice it?
Where in your body can you feel any more softening or opening or letting go?
