A Gentle Way Into Relaxation And Sleep

In this episode Alli shares some simple and practical approaches to support when frustration sets in when you are unable to find a restful sleep at night. 

Within this episode you will find a gentle, kinder way of relaxing into the deep rest of rejuvenation.

Transcript

Welcome to this episode. The recording that I'm doing at the moment has been a request and I have often shared this visualization over the years whether it be in class or retreat or with with members or patients one-on-one and it helps us when we become frustrated. I'm sure that you can relate to times in your life where you've been in a deep sleep and you've been awoken and all you want to do is go back to sleep but the frustration of the mind annoys you more or perhaps you are tired physically mentally exhausted and you go to bed and all it seems to happen is you toss and turn and your body's unable to relax or your mind is is too active. This is a beautiful way of just letting go of the frustration which we're all aware that you know when we can't go to sleep and we're constantly thinking oh all I want to do is go to sleep that that's not going to serve as well. A couple of things that I often share with people is to if you're finding that you're feeling really frustrated about it, It often helps to get out of bed and actually walk outside and if you can if it's easy for you to place your feet bare feet on soft grass. Now I know for some of our listeners depending where you are in the world and depending what season you're in that may not be practical. Also depending on where you live you may not easily be able to just walk outside with your feet on the ground but if you can change the temperature in which your body's in it will help you allow yourself to walk outside and simply be able to look at the sky and stretch out and breathe and as you breathe out just relax through that feeling and just stay there till you feel a sense of a calmness wash through you and then when you are ready return to your bed. You don't always need to go outside sometimes you may find that there's no need to go out at all but it can help if you're finding that that frustration is building and the tossing and turning is getting more intense and then once you find yourself back in your bed just laying there begin to feel where your body touches the sheets or the mattress whatever it is that you're laying on breathe in and as you breathe out really feel those points where your body and whatever it is that you're laying on is connecting and just breathe and follow the breath in and follow the breath out and follow the breath in and follow the breath out now your body may want to move around and release some tension and that's fine your mind may want to take you somewhere else just gently bring it back gently bring it back to this moment this breath the textures you can feel the pressure points between your body and where you lay and just begin to fill your mind with right where you are in this moment every little detail that will help your mind to become present in the now the temperature or the texture of your sheets and coverings the place where your body connects with what you lay on the areas of space that you can feel between yourself and where you lay perhaps the lower back the back of the neck the back of the knees and then drift down through your body to your feet and as you breathe in imagine what your toes look like perhaps you want to move your toes wiggle them move your feet a little bit and then when you're ready bring them back into stillness and just breathe and imagine what your feet look like the shape of your toes your toenails and you're breathing in and out breathing in and out and imagining your feet your mind may want to become frustrated with the fact that you're not asleep but you're not listening you're not going to listen to that frustration because you're so incredibly connected and aware of your feet and your breath wherever your mind takes you to just call it back to your feet call it back to your breath in and out the ebb and flow of life within you feel your natural rhythm returning to feel yourself drifting into a deeper more relaxed state breathing in breathing out and as you breathe in breathing in breathing out you feel your body heavier in your bed mind following the breath calm and serenity flowing through you you're aware of the deep resting space that your body is in whether you are awake or asleep there is rest there is calm there is unison of the life force that's flowing through you often when we wake if we can remain in the space that our body is reflecting something to us it's not working against us it can help us to embrace a deeper aspect of ourselves for myself personally when i am woken through the night the first thing i do is i listen i listen perhaps to guidance messages from the world often when we are woken it is a sense of us connecting deeper with something that is much larger than ourselves in our sleeping state when our mind is at rest we are able to move through the ebb and flow on the web of creation it is a time of great listening a time of great interaction my prayer to you through what i'm sharing with you here is that we do learn to listen more that if we are woken in those deep sleeping states that we do listen listen feel acknowledge and connect on a side note the practice i have just shared with you often you will drift off to sleep but you may wake again and just repeat the process if you find that your mind is filled with things to do it often helps to actually write down what your mind is thinking about to allow yourself to get rid of all of that information flowing around some of my greatest inspiration comes in the middle of the night i'm accustomed to being able to connect with it but for yourself if this is something that is new please take the time to listen please take the time to rest to be in a waking state but allow yourself the grace of connecting with your breath and of allowing your physical body to rest feeling grounded connected and at unison with all aspects of yourself there is a deep sense of serenity within and around you thank you for sharing space with me and may your inner light shine brightly you