Welcome to this mental relaxation for sleep guided meditation.
You will be invited to develop a new relationship to your racing thoughts,
And by gaining a broader perspective on those thoughts and the feelings that flow through you,
We will initiate a deep sense of relaxation within the body.
Get into a very comfortable position now.
You can be sitting or laying down,
With your favorite pillow or a blanket under you if you wish.
Perhaps sometimes you may wish there was an off button for your mind.
An overly busy mind can halt us in many ways throughout our lives.
And one of the main things a busy mind interrupts,
For millions of people around the world,
Is a good night's sleep,
Every single night.
Why is this so?
To answer this,
Let's relax your mind just a little bit right now.
Imagine that your mind is represented by a river,
With waters that sometimes flow by slowly when there is a lack of rain,
Or sometimes very,
Very quickly,
Depending on the weather and the time of year.
Your mind is the river.
Your thoughts are the water.
How quickly is your river of the mind flowing right now?
How fast are the thoughts,
Represented by water,
Flowing in the river?
Just watch this flow as if you are sitting on the riverbank,
Enjoying it,
And just witnessing nature,
In its beauty and its creation.
Good.
Now just allow for the seasons to pass,
And the weather to change,
And watch your river change along with it.
The seasons represent your overall happiness in your life.
Are you achieving quarterly goals you set for yourself?
Seasons change,
But each one of them can be viewed as beautiful.
Seasons can be tough,
Or they can be mild,
Or they can be enjoyable,
Or they can be balanced,
Or they can feel still.
The only thing constant is that they are changing.
The waters of the river represent your thoughts.
When you focus your thoughts on your goals and desires,
Your river slows and becomes crystal clear.
The birds and the wildlife are able to see fish that they will catch to feed themselves and their offspring.
The fish can find sources of food because the waters have slowed enough to allow for bits of plants to settle on the water and soften,
And live bugs can land on the water for them to catch.
Now for a moment,
Imagine a storm of thoughts is coming for your river.
See the waters rise,
And the animals scurry.
Fish hide in safer areas,
And there are no bugs,
No butterflies flying around.
It is only rushing by a little faster now,
Yet the storm is building.
The more thoughts you let into your mind,
The more the waters rush by.
It becomes a threatening river so quickly that you cannot sit on the bank and watch your river any longer.
You cannot observe the beauty.
You must seek shelter from the storm.
The storm of thought has taken the ability to observe away from you.
It takes a while for the storm of thoughts to pass,
And even longer for the after effects of the storm to calm.
The waters continue to rush at high speeds for several days or so.
This is what happens when you allow a storm of thinking to enter your mind.
It disrupts you for some time,
Until the waters can naturally settle.
We want to always remain on the bank of our river,
Observing abundant nature,
And clear,
Calm waters.
We all know sleep is necessary and rejuvenating.
So why do so many people suffer to achieve restful sleep?
They do not take charge of their busy mind,
Moving it from worry to relaxation.
Allowing a busy mind to go free is like never tuning an amazing instrument.
A calmer state of mind allows for you to not only sleep better,
But it eliminates anxiety,
Increases focus,
It treats depression,
Stops circular thinking,
Improves your memory,
Betters your relationships,
Satisfies the body,
And increases your emotional intelligence.
It improves your state of being,
And your sense of peace and happiness within yourself.
The key to attaining all these things is actually very simple and natural for all of us.
We have just unlearned how to do it.
The key is to bring into your mind the awareness of all your physical sensations,
And bring into your mind your emotions,
Bring into your mind your thoughts,
Just notice them,
Become aware of them without being consumed by them,
By generating awareness.
You do not allow for any of the thoughts,
Or emotions,
Or physical sensations to have any power over you.
Your ability to feel things is much more powerful than a busy mind.
Your ability to create and ponder new ideas,
And a new self-image supersedes a noisy mind.
All a noisy mind is good at is distracting you from being here and now.
A busy mind does not achieve anything,
Does not serve you,
It does not build on new ideas,
It doesn't emotionally connect with others around you.
In fact,
An overloaded and out of control mind acts to disconnect you from all others,
And most importantly from yourself.
A bustling mind is tiring,
Yet it doesn't allow for you to rest.
Giving up control to your mind,
Letting your thoughts spiral,
Is like feeding a child nothing but breads and sugar and candy,
They're going to lose control because the unhealthy information they're taking into their body,
Into their system.
Let's put our mind now in the being mode,
By implementing positive affirmations.
Say to yourself in your mind now,
Thoughts are only thoughts,
I live in the present,
Not in the past or in the future.
I draw from my past when I need to plan for my future,
But I always live in the present moment.
I take notice of my body often throughout the day,
Easing and relaxing my body by doing so.
I take notice of my surroundings to ease my mind.
When thoughts begin to swirl in my mind I have compassion for them and acknowledge them,
Knowing they are simply thoughts.
My thoughts come and go,
Everyone else's thoughts also come and go,
I am no different.
When I watch my thoughts like the waters of a river,
I never get caught up in a thought,
I am just a witness.
Stopping my thoughts is impossible,
Instead I observe them arriving and leaving,
Coming and going.
Instead of jumping into thoughts emotionally,
I observe which thoughts I want to cultivate more of,
And which thoughts I want to let go.
I know that which thoughts I put my energy into,
Is what I create for myself.
By taking the time to practice these methods,
I really feel a difference.
I have the patience to retrain my mind.
I retrain my mind so that I can get rest when I need it.
I have patience when I am retraining my mind,
Just as I would have patience tuning the most magnificent instrument.
I am kind to myself with this new way of being.
I am kind to others,
And I never allow overthinking in the form of judgment to cloud my relationships.
I am persistent because I know the rewards are well worth it.
I see benefits right from the very start of my practice.
Now remember that each day you practice mindfulness techniques,
The more restful and deep sleep that you receive each night.
Thank you for taking this time for yourself.
All that's left to do is just relax down even more,
Letting your body make any last adjustments it needs,
So that you can get the most restful sleep tonight,
And every single night of your life.
