Hi and welcome.
My name is Peta and today I'm going to share with you a meditation practice to help you get to sleep.
We're going to be practicing a body scan meditation which is a variation of mindfulness meditation.
So you may already be lying in your bed or perhaps you're practicing this meditation seated before making your way to bed.
But wherever you are,
Just take a moment to arrive.
Give your mind permission to finish wandering,
Playing,
Before you ask it to come to stillness.
Allow your eyes to become soft and closed.
And now bring your awareness to your breath.
And first take a cleansing breath.
Inhale deeply and exhale with a sigh.
Do the same again,
Only this time when you exhale,
Let go of your breath and also let go of any expectation for this practice.
Inhale deeply,
Exhale with a sigh and let it go.
Now place your left hand over your navel and your right hand over your lower ribs.
As you inhale,
Breathe deeply into your belly and feel your belly push into the palm of your left hand followed by your lower ribs.
Exhale slowly through the nose.
Do the same again on your own.
Now move your left hand up and place it on your chest and break this inhale into three parts.
Inhale first into your belly,
Then your lower ribs,
Then your chest.
Pause for a moment and exhale slowly through the nose.
And do this for four more rounds on your own.
Afterwards,
Return to your natural breath and bring your arms by your side.
When you take your next inhale,
Follow your breath with your mind.
Visualize the oxygen as it comes in past the nostrils,
Down the back of the throat,
All the way down into the lungs as they fill with air.
Pause for a moment and continue to watch your breath as you exhale slowly through the nose.
And this time as you breathe in,
Visualize the oxygen feeding every cell in your entire body,
Your brain,
Your bloodstream,
Your muscles,
Your organs,
Connective tissues.
And exhale slowly through the nose.
This time visualize your breath in its energetic form,
Prana.
As you inhale,
Visualize that you are clearing the energetic channels as you distribute the prana through your body with the control of your breath.
And exhale slowly through the nose.
Now bring your awareness to all of the parts of your body that are in contact with the bed or the ground and allow yourself to become heavy.
Cultivate a feeling of sinking,
Melting,
And develop a sense of trust and ultimate surrender.
Notice where in your body you are holding on to tension that doesn't serve you and use your exhale to soften there.
Your hands,
Your thighs,
Your belly,
And your shoulders,
Your forehead.
And place your tongue on the roof of your mouth behind your front teeth and invite softness into your jaw.
Now as we move through each body part,
Invite a little more softness into your toes,
On your left foot,
Your left ankle,
Your left calf,
Your left knee,
Your left thigh,
And the left hand side of your torso.
Your left shoulder,
Down the arm to the elbow,
The left forearm,
The wrist,
The hand.
All of your fingers on your left hand and your thumb.
The left hand side of your neck,
Your cheek and your ear,
Your eye,
Your forehead and into the left side of your scalp.
And across the crown of your head and over to the right side of your scalp.
And down the right side of your forehead,
Your right eye,
Your right ear,
And down your right cheek and the right side of your neck.
And down your right shoulder and down your right arm to the elbow,
The right forearm,
The wrist,
The hand,
All of the fingers and the thumb.
And down the right side of your torso,
Your right thigh,
Your right knee,
Calf,
Ankle,
Your right foot and all of your toes.
Back up the center to your belly,
Your chest,
Your nose,
Your forehead.
Across the top of your head and down the back of the spine.
And relax the muscles in your back,
Your glutes,
Back of the thighs,
The back of your knee,
Your calves,
Your heels,
The soles of your feet.
Become aware of the heaviness in your limbs and allow them to become heavier.
Encourage them to become heavier.
Melt,
Sink into your ultimate surrender.
Give yourself permission to come to your sleeping state now and to rest and to mend and heal.
Now come back to your breath.
Start to invite some subtle movement into your fingers,
Your toes.
And thank you all for sharing this meditation practice with me.
From my heart to yours.
Namaste.
