There are some nights when your body is tired but your mind is still carrying the day Maybe you are replaying a conversation.
Thinking about what you should have said or what still needs to get done.
What tomorrow is going to ask of you.
Maybe nothing dramatic happened at all.
You are simply full full of noise full of responsibility full of everyone else.
And tonight.
I want to help you put some of that down.
You do not need to force yourself to sleep.
You do not need to have an empty mind.
You do not have to become completely calm.
You are simply going to give your body a chance to recognize that this day is ending.
Let yourself settle into the surface beneath you Notice where your body is already being held The back of your head,
Your shoulders,
Your back.
Your hips and your legs.
You do not have to hold yourself up right now.
Just notice that something is supporting you.
And without changing your breathing,
Notice one breath arriving… and leaving.
Than another nothing to perform.
Nothing to get right just breath moving on its own.
Now quietly say to yourself The day is ending.
Again.
The day is ending.
Not everything is finished,
But the day is ending.
Not every question is answered.
But the day is ending.
Not every problem is resolved.
But the day is ending.
And for now.
.
.
That is enough.
Imagine that you are standing at the doorway between today and sleep.
Behind you is everything that happened.
The conversations,
The responsibilities.
The things you handled well.
The things you wish had gone differently.
The things still unfinished.
You do not have to drag all of it through this doorway with you.
Begin with one thing that can wait until tomorrow.
Just one.
A task.
A decision.
A message a problem.
Something your mind keeps trying to carry forward.
Notice it.
And quietly say.
.
.
Not tonight.
You're not ignoring it.
You're not pretending it doesn't matter.
You're simply allowing it to remain unfinished while you rest.
Not tonight.
Now notice where there's a conversation you're still holding.
Maybe something someone said or something you wish you had said.
You do not have to finish that conversation in your mind tonight.
You do not have to keep rehearsing it to make it come out differently.
Let it sit outside the doorway.
Not tonight.
And if there's something heavier.
.
.
Something you cannot simply put down.
Do not force it away Just acknowledge it.
Say quietly.
This matters to me.
And then add and I do not have to solve it while I sleep.
This matters to me.
And I do not need to solve it while I sleep.
Bring your attention now to your forehead.
Notice if you are still concentrating.
Still thinking.
Still working.
No need to make anything disappear.
Just imagine the muscles around your eyes becoming less involved.
Less effort.
Less watching.
Less scanning.
Notice your jaw.
If it is tight,
Let it loosen up a bit.
Let your tongue rest.
Let your face become heavier Now your shoulders Think of everything they carried today.
Expectations task.
Other people's needs your own standards and imagine your shoulders hearing this You do not need to carry anything to bed.
Let your arms become heavier.
Your hands,
Your fingers.
Everything that reached,
Held,
Typed,
Carried,
Or fixed Nothing to hold now Notice your chest.
You do not have to stop feeling in order to rest.
You can be disappointed and rest You can be uncertain and rest.
You can miss someone and rest.
You can still be healing and rest.
Bring your awareness down through your abdomen.
Your hips,
Your thighs,
Your knees.
Your calves,
Your ankles,
Your feet.
Every part of you that moved throughout the day has arrived here.
You made it to this moment.
That is enough.
As you continue resting here.
You may begin to notice that you do not have to know exactly when relaxation happens.
Sometimes the body softens first Sometimes the thoughts become quieter first Sometimes you simply notice that you have stopped trying quite so hard.
Whatever happens first is fine Imagine now that you are moving down a quiet staircase 10 gentle steps.
With each step.
There is less to do.
Less to hold.
Less to follow.
I'll count from 10 down to 1.
You do not need to make anything happen.
Simply let each number become permission to settle a little more deeply into the support beneath you.
10.
Letting the day move farther away.
9 your body becoming heavier.
Eight.
Less interested in the thoughts that pass through.
Seven.
More aware of the bed beneath you.
6.
Releasing the need to keep track.
Five.
Halfway down now.
Nothing to solve.
4.
Thoughts becoming softer around the edges.
3.
.
Your body knowing what to do without your help.
Too.
Drifting toward rest.
1.
Arriving nowhere you need to understand.
Just deeper into stillness.
Now imagine the lights of the day turning off.
One at a time.
Work.
Off.
Responsibilities conversations.
Planning.
Uh.
.
.
Even the part of you that has been trying so hard to keep everything together.
You can turn the light off now.
There is nothing to prove here.
Nothing to achieve.
Nothing to understand.
Nothing you have to become before you are allowed to rest.
And perhaps your thoughts can become like lights in distant windows.
Some are still on.
Some have already gone dark You do not have to walk toward any of them.
You do not have to check what is happening inside You can let them stay far away.
A thought may appear and you can notice it.
Then return to the bed.
Return to the weight of your body.
Return to the sound of the music.
And every time you notice the music you can settle.
Every time you notice the weight of your body you can settle Every time a thought comes and passes without being followed,
You can settle a little more.
Perhaps you begin to notice the spaces between thoughts.
You don't need to make those spaces longer.
Just notice when they happen.
A thought.
Than space.
Another thought.
Than space.
And inside that space,
Nothing is being asked of you.
Let your body become pleasantly heavy.
Heavy in the way a warm blanket settles.
Heavy in the way the ground receives you.
Heavy enough that you no longer need to keep checking whether you are resting yet.
Your mind may continue making thoughts and that is okay.
You do not have to follow each one.
You can become less available to them.
Less available to the rehearsal.
To the problem.
Or to tomorrow.
Become more available to the surface beneath you.
More available to the darkness.
More available to rest.
Now imagine a soft boundary forming around this knife.
Everything outside of it can wait.
Everything unresolved can remain unresolved.
For a few hours.
Everything unfinished can remain unfinished.
You are allowed to close the door on the day without completing it.
You have done enough for today.
You have done enough for today.
You are allowed to rest before everything is resolved.
You have done enough for today.
Let those words settle without needing to believe them perfectly Your body can simply hear them.
And if sleep comes before I finish speaking You do not need to stay with me You do not need to hear the ending.
You can let the words become sound.
And the sound become background.
And the background become quiet.
There's nothing more you need to do.
You do not need to listen more closely anymore.
Let my voice move farther away Don't lose track of the words.
You can drift.
The day has ended.
You are allowed to stop.
You are allowed to be unfinished.
You are allowed to rest.
Whatever tomorrow requires.
Tomorrow can meet you then.
Not now.
Not tonight.
Tonight,
You rest.
