Welcome to this gentle invitation to sleep.
To begin,
Lie on your back in the posture known as Shavasana.
Your spine is straight,
Your head is gently supported,
And your arms are effortlessly resting by your side.
The legs are extended slightly open with the feet gently turning outwards.
Now,
Making any adjustments to this position that you need to find every degree of comfort,
Making any adjustment that the body needs to feel as comfortable as possible,
Adjusting the blankets,
The pillows,
Or any other supports that you have for the body.
Now,
When you feel ready,
Closing the eyes,
And gently begin to scan the body from head to toe and toe to head,
Just simply noticing any sensations that are present here with you,
Temperature,
Points of contact between your body and the supports around you,
Any heaviness or lightness in the body,
Simply observing and welcoming all sensations.
All is welcome here.
Finally taking a full breath in through the nose,
Pause at the very top of that breath,
And open the mouth and release a gentle sigh,
A soft exhale through the mouth,
Releasing any tension that you're carrying out on the waves of that breath,
And allowing another full breath to follow in through the nose,
And then again,
Opening the mouth and gently release,
Allowing anything that you've carried with you from the day to ride the wave of that breath as it releases and moves out with the out breath.
Now,
One more breath in this way,
Full,
Gentle,
Steady breath in through the nose,
Followed by a full fluid and steady exhale through the mouth.
Now,
Allowing the breath to begin to flow at a natural rhythm,
A natural pace,
Each breath flowing fluidly one after the other,
Allowing each breath to be soft and long,
Fluid and steady.
Breathing deeply,
Smoothly,
Effortlessly.
With each inhale,
Bring the rib cage gently expand,
And with each exhale,
The body sinks a little deeper into the support beneath you.
The breath is soft and long,
Fluid and steady.
The body is soft,
Fully supported.
The whole body soft and fully supported.
Now,
Gently bringing your awareness to the space between the eyebrows,
Gently becoming aware of the space between the eyebrows,
Holding your attention at the space between the eyebrows and seeing or sensing a point of light here,
A soft point of light,
The space between the eyebrows,
And allow the awareness to move to the center of the throat,
Becoming aware of the right shoulder joint,
Right elbow,
Right wrist,
Tip of the right thumb,
Right index finger,
Right center finger,
Right ring finger,
Right little finger,
Now back up to the right wrist joint,
Right elbow,
Right shoulder.
Becoming aware of the center of your throat,
Moving awareness to the left shoulder joint,
Left elbow,
Left wrist,
Tip of the left thumb,
Left index finger,
Left center finger,
Left ring finger,
Left pinky finger,
Awareness traveling back to the left wrist,
Left elbow,
Left shoulder,
Throat center,
Bringing awareness now down to the center of the chest,
The heart center,
Center of the right chest,
Heart center,
Center of the left chest,
Heart center,
Navel center,
Right hip,
Right knee,
Right ankle,
Right big toe,
Right second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Right ankle,
Right knee,
Right hip,
Awareness traveling to the left hip,
Left knee,
Left ankle,
Left big toe,
Second toe,
Center toe,
Fourth toe,
Little toe,
Left ankle,
Left knee,
Left hip,
Awareness traveling to the navel center,
Heart center,
Throat center,
Awareness resting at the point between the eyebrows,
Awareness resting at the point between the eyebrows,
The breath is smooth,
Effortless,
The whole body,
The whole body soft and fully supported as you allow the body to release,
Allowing the mind to soften,
Drifting off into ease,
Drifting off into ease as you begin to count down backwards from 27 like so,
Inhale 27,
Exhale 27,
Inhale 26,
Exhale 37,
Exhale 38,
Exhale 39,
Exhale 26,
Exhale 26,
Inhale 25,
Exhale 25,
Exhale 29,
Exhale 30,
Exhale 31,
Exhale 32,
Exhale 35,
Exhale 35,
Exhale 37,
Exhale 25,
Inhale 24,
Exhale 24,
And so on,
Drifting off into ease,
Drifting off into sleep,
Drifting off into sleep,
Drifting.
