You may have woven different mindfulness practices into your day,
But as soon as you lie down in bed,
You may notice the mind beginning to race.
As you settle down for the evening,
The mind may not always read the situation accurately.
With the stimuli of daily life over,
The mind can seem louder than usual.
This exercise can be used in these moments to help settle the mind and body as you prepare for sleep.
Standing next to your bed,
Begin to take a few deep breaths.
Center yourself in the present moment,
Bringing your awareness to the body as it is right now.
When you climb into bed,
Remain aware of what is occurring in the body.
As you lie down,
Feel the body assume a resting position.
Try to lay flat on your back,
If that's comfortable to you,
And keep your legs uncrossed.
See if you can feel the sheets or bed underneath you.
Feel the weight of your body pressing against the fabric of the cloth of the bed.
What does it feel like?
Notice the sensations of the body lying down,
And then use the breath to bring mindfulness to the body and cultivate relaxation.
As you breathe in,
Feel the lungs fill with air,
And when you exhale,
Feel the body soften into your mattress.
Picture yourself falling deeper into the mattress as the body relaxes with each exhale.
Start a body scan at the top of the head,
Moving the body to the toes.
As your attention rests on each part,
Relax it and soften into the bed with every exhale.
And when you reach your toes,
Return to the body as a whole,
And the practice of breathing deeply.
Continue softening.
Enjoy noticing the sensations of the body,
Consciously releasing any tightness or tension from each body part to the next.
Noticing and releasing.
Noticing and releasing.
Take a large breath in,
Pulling as much air as you can,
And just let it go.
Allow yourself another full and beautiful breath,
Letting it go without pushing the air out too hard.
Letting it go without pushing the air out too hard.
Take one more breath in your own time,
As full as you can,
Holding it for a moment,
And then letting it go.
Very good.
Now begin to focus on your right palm.
Relax your right palm and hand.
Relax each finger one by one.
Relax your right wrist,
Your forearm,
Your elbow.
Relax your right bicep.
Relax your right bicep and entire upper arms.
Relax your right shoulder and down to your right hip,
Relaxing it too.
You relax your right leg all the way down to your right ankle and foot.
Each toe on your right foot slowly lets go completely.
Bring your awareness up now the right side of your neck,
Relaxing it.
Allow any sounds you hear to feel like tiny waves of relaxation going into your right ear.
The entire right side of your head fully relaxes.
The right side of your brain relaxes,
Allowing creativity to be fully accessible.
Your entire right side is fully calm and relaxed.
Sleep is easy for you when you feel this relaxed.
Begin to focus on your left palm.
Relax your left palm and hand.
Relax each finger one by one.
Relax your left wrist,
Your forearm,
Your elbow.
Relax your left bicep and entire upper arms.
Relax your left shoulder and down to your left hip,
Relaxing it too.
You relax your left leg all the way down to your right ankle and foot.
Each toe on your left foot slowly lets go completely.
Bring your awareness up now the left side of your neck,
Relaxing it.
Allow any sounds you hear to feel like tiny waves of relaxation going into your left ear.
The entire left side of your head fully relaxes.
The left side of your brain relaxes,
Allowing rationality to be fully accessible.
Your entire left side is fully calm and relaxed.
This makes bringing you closer to falling asleep very good.
Now bring your awareness to your back,
Starting with the back of your head.
Allow the weight of your head to generate relaxation.
The back of your neck relaxes.
Your shoulders and shoulder blades fully relax.
Your entire upper back is completely relaxed.
Your spine relaxes,
Starting from the neck,
Slowly going down bone by bone,
Relaxing your nervous system that runs through the spine.
There are 33 bones in your spine and each one of them is relaxing one by one.
Very good.
Your lower back relaxes as it presses against the surface you're laying on.
Your hips,
Pelvis,
And glutes relax.
The back of your legs,
All the way down to your ankles relax.
This makes you feel so sleepy.
Lean into that.
Just continue to lean into that relaxation.
Feel yourself getting closer to sleep with each and every word that I say.
We are now going to go through one more focus scan on the front of our bodies,
Starting at your forehead.
Many of us hold attention in our foreheads,
So allow your forehead to just melt away,
Allowing wrinkles to flatten.
This also relaxes the frontal cortex of the brain,
The place of creative formulation.
Relax your eyes now and notice they are making tiny movements.
These movements are called rapid eye movement,
Which allow you to relax even more.
Notice your nose and how the air passes through.
Allow this flow to relax you.
Allow this flow to relax you.
Relax your mouth and your tongue.
Relax your throat,
Going down,
Relaxing your entire lung.
Relax your heart.
Relax your ribs and stomach.
Allow all of your vital organs to relax.
Your liver,
Pancreas,
Spleen,
Kidneys,
Your entire digestive system relaxes.
Your reproductive organs completely relax.
The tops of your legs relax all the way down the tops of your feet.
Very good.
Every single part of your body is so relaxed right now.
Just enjoy this feeling for some time.
Get lost in it and let it bring you closer and closer to sleep.
Now we are going to relax your body one more time,
But in a different way.
A fully relaxed body makes sleep come easily and effortlessly.
So make a fist with both of your hands and squeeze as hard as you can for five seconds,
Then let go completely.
This technique is called tensing.
Tense your entire arms,
Flexing every muscle in your arms for five whole seconds,
And then release completely.
Now tense your chest and abs as much as you can,
Holding it for an entire five seconds,
And relax your chest and abs.
Tense your pelvis and hips and reproductive organs,
Holding tension firmly for five seconds,
And then relax this area.
Tense your entire legs as much as you can,
Holding this tension for five whole seconds,
And release the leg muscles completely,
Relaxing your legs.
And lastly,
Tense your feet as much as you can,
Holding for two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
And relax your feet.
Very good.
By doing this,
You activate and then deactivate every muscle in your body,
Causing a continuous relaxation.
Now just stop doing anything at all.
Don't flex or relax anything.
Don't activate or rest any area.
Just allow yourself to be.
Allow for your body to adjust to anything it sees as needed.
Allow for your body to have complete freedom from thought.
Let your body be in control now to heal what needs to be healed,
Or activate what needs to activate.
Arrest what needs to rest.
If you allow your body to rest,
It will do exactly as it needs now,
Without your conscious effort or even your suggestions.
Sleep fully now.
Let go of anything,
Anything that might be in the way,
And just relax deep,
Deep into your mattress,
Drifting deeper and deeper and deeper into a deep sleep.
