This guided mindfulness meditation is going to help you to drift off to a deep and dreamy night's sleep.
So let's start to get ready for bed.
Just take a few moments to really check everything is how it should be in your bedroom.
Perhaps you want to draw the curtains or adjust the lighting or temperature.
Just make everything exactly as you like it.
Ensure that all the lights are turned off or dimmed.
And then come to rest in your bed in a comfortable lying down position.
And shuffle around a little bit until you find the most comfortable spot for your whole body.
Maybe you want to adjust the sheets and pillows.
Just find that perfect place.
Then ask yourself,
If you were to become just 5% more comfortable,
What would you need to do?
And go ahead and make those changes now.
Notice the texture and feel of the sheets against your skin.
And then shift your awareness to your contact points.
To all the areas of your body that are touching the bed beneath you.
Feel the sensation of weight in these areas as your whole body sinks deeper down.
Feel yourself fully supported and held by the bed beneath you.
Then allow yourself to become even heavier.
Your whole body is heavy.
And your eyelids become heavy too as you allow them to slowly close.
As we embark on a peaceful journey to sleep,
Begin to place your awareness onto your breath as you breathe naturally in and out through your nose.
And without changing anything,
Just begin to notice your natural breath signature.
Observe the quality of your breath.
Is it deep or shallow?
Smooth or disjointed?
Just witness the breath exactly as it is as you continue to breathe in and out.
Now see if you can gently begin to lengthen and deepen the breath in an easy,
Relaxed and effortless way.
Let each nourishing in-breath fill your lungs with air.
And let each releasing exhale carry away anything you want to release and let go of.
And just release the watching of the breath as you begin to imagine a beautiful ball of light hovering just below the soles of your feet.
And I invite you to give this ball of light a colour.
Any colour you like.
And the first colour that came to mind is the perfect colour for you.
And you realise that this ball of light has the ability to relax and release any part of the body that it comes into contact with.
As you feel this coloured ball of light tingling the soles of your feet.
Relaxing all your toes.
Tops of the feet.
And ankles.
And this beautiful wave of relaxation continues to roll up your body.
Gently relaxing your shins,
Calf muscles and thighs.
Feel both legs as heavy and relaxed.
And this light travels up swirling around your hips.
Relaxing your lower back,
Mid-back,
Upper back and whole spine.
It continues up the front of your body.
Relaxing your stomach,
Chest,
Shoulders and shoulder blades sink deeper down.
And this wave of softness and relaxation rolls down your arms,
Wrists.
Relaxing every muscle in your hands and fingers.
And as the wave of relaxation flows upwards it relaxes your neck,
Jaw,
Tip of the tongue,
The root of the tongue,
The whole mouth,
Ears,
Your right eye,
Your left eye.
Both eyes are relaxed.
Right eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
The space between your eyebrows.
Forehead.
Your whole head.
As you feel this wave of relaxation flow through every inch of your body.
Through every muscle and bone and ligament.
Every inch of your body is utterly and completely relaxed.
And just take a moment to rest in this deep feeling of peace and tranquility.
Knowing that there is nothing you have to do.
There is nowhere you have to be.
Just relax.
Then begin to move your awareness to rest on your heartbeat.
As you listen to the rhythm of your heartbeat notice how the relaxation of your body leads to a gentle slowing down of your heartbeat.
Just listen and be still.
Then glide your awareness up to your mind.
And notice the calm and relaxed state here too.
You may notice a more spacious,
Peaceful state of mind.
As I repeat some statements I invite you to lightly repeat them in your own mind.
I give myself permission to deeply relax.
I surrender to sleep.
My body is relaxed and my mind is peaceful.
I feel sleepy and drowsy.
I am ready for sleep.
Maybe you begin to notice colours or shapes behind your eyelids.
Or just a deep darkness like the night sky.
Continue to drift,
Drift away.
There is no need to try to sleep.
Just let go.
Allow your body to fully relax.
And sleep will arrive naturally.
Soak up this feeling of deep full body relaxation.
This place of quiet stillness and peace.
Letting everything float through your experience as you drift off to sleep.
Just being here now.
Exactly as you are.
Imagine yourself floating up.
Sitting on the moon.
Floating amongst the stars.
Rest well.
