Biohacked Sleep Meditation: Breathing The Body

Welcome to your Biohacked Sleep Practice. This practice serves as a gentle sleep meditation to transform your body and mind for deep relaxation. Using breathing, muscle tensioning techniques, and vagal stimulation, settle into ease, and well-being.

Transcript

Let's begin by stimulating that sensory deprivation.

So lightly cover your ear lobes so you can still hear my voice.

Cover your eyelids with your fingertips.

Take a deep breath and lightly hum on the exhale.

And again,

Breath in and out with a hum.

And one more breath.

Inhale,

Exhale with a hum.

Begin by affirming that you are now entering a state of deep relaxation.

Become aware of the environment around you,

The sounds around you,

The sensation of air touching your skin,

The sensation of the surface holding your body beneath you.

Become aware of your body breathing itself.

Reflect on everything that came before this moment and set your mind free for a moment or two to review your morning up to this moment in time.

Perhaps you may like to imagine it like a screen in the mind,

Replaying moment by moment,

Recreating each moment of this day in full detail.

Observe and welcome every thought,

Details of sight,

Smell,

And touch as you create do so from the position of a watchful observer,

Not engaging in emotion,

Simply watching everything pass through your field of awareness.

Now,

Center your attention on how you've arrived into this present moment.

Notice how you feel now and inquire within on how you might like to feel at the end of this practice.

Perhaps you would like to feel more rested,

To catch up on quality rest,

Or perhaps you would like to feel energized and revitalized.

Take a moment to check in with yourself and listen to what comes up for you.

Perhaps a desired feeling arose or a word or a symbol or a memory.

Make this desire your intention for your practice and let its essence infuse this practice throughout.

Open yourself up to this experience and make a gentle commitment to stay aware and connected to my guidance.

If there are any adjustments that need to be made to be just 10% more comfortable,

Perhaps an adjustment of your clothes,

Blanket,

Or props,

Please feel free to adjust right now.

Perhaps you enter this practice becoming curious about what stillness may bring,

Perhaps moving a little bit until the body feels so comfortable that stillness welcomes you home to yourself.

And if at any point the body needs to be adjusted again,

Allow the body to first watch and it is likely the urge may pass.

But if it persists,

Perhaps it is best to mind that urge and adjust as needed as comfort will allow a gratal settling into stillness from there.

Now settle and allow the eyelids to feel heavy.

Notice the breath.

Passively observe the breath without trying to change it.

Notice the sit bones and let the sit bones and legs feel a release to the gentle pull of gravity.

Gravity pulling you down towards the earth.

Feel held in this embrace.

Let go of the whole body's weight.

Even release the abdominal muscles.

Tune into the internal world that's governed by breath and energy.

Notice the subtle hum of experience pulsing just beneath the skin.

You might notice it in the lips,

The eyes,

The collarbones,

Or the very tips of the fingers.

It might feel like an effervescent bubble,

A blossoming,

Or a subtle flow like a steady,

Slow-moving river from within.

Allow the belly to be soft as you continue to breathe as an observer of your internal experience.

Make a gentle commitment to remain aware in your practice.

Mentally affirm,

I will remain aware in my practice.

Repeat this mentality once more.

Become curious to the effect the breath had on the body and the mind.

Let the quality of the breath soften with every exhalation.

Connect with a deeper feeling of release in the belly area with each slow,

Outgoing breath.

Notice the effect of the breath permeating every cell of the body.

Feel the belly soften and hollow out ever so slightly as you gently lengthen the breath and continue to breathe in and out.

It may be helpful to focus on the gentle expansion of the belly and as you inhale,

Repeat,

I am inhaling breath.

And as you breathe out,

Mentally repeat,

I am exhaling.

Continue for a full more breath cycle,

Slow,

Steady,

And rhythmic,

The breath becoming softer and more effortless.

Continue on breathing naturally,

Following and staying connected to my guidance.

Let any sound be welcome and let any mental or physical distraction be welcome such that it signals you as a gentle reminder to come back to the practice and follow along with full awareness.

We'll start with a progressive muscular relaxation for the facial muscles.

Scrunch and release the facial muscles.

Start by scrunching the nose,

The eyes,

And the lips.

Scrunch everything on the face tightly and then release completely.

Feel the muscles soften and do this once or twice more.

Nose,

Eyes,

Lips,

Scrunch everything tight,

The whole face,

And exhale,

Releasing the entire face.

Breathe naturally and one more time on your own now.

Release and let go completely.

Feel the whole face become soft.

Every muscle around the mouth,

The nose,

The eyes softens and releases.

Completely soften the whole face as if a smooth fabric was to glide across the cheeks and forehead,

Taking away any residual tension with it.

And as it sweeps across the face,

You can imagine the softest of clothes or a smooth feather gently sweeping across the skin boundary of the face.

Release everything and notice the breath once more.

Now,

The rest of the body.

We will take body tension on the right side and release.

Right hand in a fist,

Right arm tightens,

The right side of the abdomen and the right leg and foot tenses.

Leave the left region of the body loose,

Right side tense and hold.

Tighten,

Hold and release.

Exhale the breath and let go.

Notice the difference between the right and the left side of the body.

What are sensations communicating to you?

Go inward and listen.

Now make a fist with the left hand and tense the whole of the left arm,

The left side of the chest and the whole left leg.

Tense even the toes.

Let the right side of the right side of the body be loose and limp.

Tighten and flex.

Hold even more and release with an exhale.

Feel the reverberation of the tension and release now echoing both sides of the body and notice the effect.

Now tense the whole body.

Tighten and hold but breathe normally as you tense.

Hold,

Hold and exhale.

Release all tension.

Feel the body spread out and release.

Notice the feeling of release.

Wash through every cell of your being.

Feel softness overcome the whole body.

The weight releases downward and the muscles become smooth as they release.

All holding.

Let the muscles become smooth and limp.

Feel the whole body's tensions unwind and release even more.

Feel the backside of the body and all its contact points release into the surface supporting you.

In the mind's eye with the eyes closed,

Visualize the room around you,

The walls,

Ceiling and floor,

All of the details of the objects and sensing the space of air around you from a bird's eye perspective visualizing the whole body resting in its unique position in the room.

Zoom into the body with your awareness and notice the facial expression.

Perhaps it may even feel good to visualize what the face looks like when the edges and corners of the lips lift upward to form a smile.

Perhaps you might feel the felt sensation of the smile in the area around your heart.

A radiant open-hearted smile glowing from within you.

Notice its effect on the body,

On the body,

Mind and heart.

Noticing the inner vision behind closed eyelids.

Noticing light or dark colors or images but do not make any effort to see anything in the mind's eye.

Just be curious and notice what's there.

Everything coming and going,

Arising and dissolving in the field of awareness.

Recognize that you are the one who is aware and abide in restful awareness itself.

Rest attention on the tongue,

The tip of the tongue,

The top side of the tongue,

The bottom side and floor of the mouth.

Visualize the symmetry of the tongue.

Sense and feel the left side,

The right side and all the tiny taste buds dancing in the mouth as vibrant sensation.

Feel the taste of the buds open gently as you focus on the tongue,

Teeth and gums.

Attention on the whole of the mouth,

Even the spaces of air pockets in the mouth that yield the path to the throat,

To the lungs.

Notice the pathway from the nasal passages all the way down to the lungs as you breathe.

Give attention to the breath and the air,

Welcoming sensations that accompany the breath in the chest or belly.

Welcome your inner resource into the felt sensation of the breath breathing itself.

Notice where the breath travels to internally,

Lungs,

Chest or belly.

Let breath bring peace into every internal place it touches.

Noticing as the body inhales,

The navel rises.

As the body exhales,

The navel falls.

Become aware of this.

Focus your undivided attention on the navel movements as you begin to count the breath backwards now from 10 like this.

I am inhaling 10 I am exhaling 10 I am inhaling 9 I am exhaling 9 I am inhaling 8 I am exhaling 8.

Continue breathing like this.

If you lose your place or make a mistake,

Simply return to 10 and start again.

Continue on breathing and counting.

Now release the counting and let the breath be natural.

Feel the breath as a current of energy flowing through the body,

Inhaling as if directly in and out of the navel area.

Imagine a reservoir of energy there,

Breathing in and out,

Feeling that every breath provides a vitalizing effect on the reservoir of energy in the navel area.

Take a few more breaths directly in and out of the navel area.

Now inhale inhale through the navel and at the top of the breath,

Feel sensation pulsing in the right leg.

Once you feel sensation there,

Exhale and feel rippling energy course through the right leg.

Feel the flow of energy from the right hip to the toes.

Now inhale from the tips of the toes up the right leg and at the top of the breath,

Hold attention at the navel as you ever so slightly retain the breath there and begin to shift attention to feel sensation in the left leg.

Once you feel it,

Exhale and feel a cascading flow of energy down the left leg from the hip from the hip to the tips of the toes.

Then inhale attention from the tip of the left toes all the way up to the left hip.

Return again to the right leg and shift attention as you exhale.

Feel the breath and energy traveling down the right leg,

Pure sensation,

And inhale attention up as it travels across the pelvis.

Exhale sensation as you move down the left leg.

Inhale up again,

Holding the breath ever so slightly at the pelvic bowl through the belly and chest and bring attention to the right arm.

Exhale and feel a flood of energy travel from the shoulder to the fingertips.

Inhale from the fingertips up to the shoulder.

Hold the breath as attention moves across the heart center and once you feel sensation in the left arm,

Exhale the breath and follow the sensation from left shoulder down to the left fingertips.

Inhale from the fingertips to the shoulder.

Lungs are full as attention is carried across the center of the heart and exhaled as pure sensation down the right arm from shoulder to fingertips.

Inhale from fingers to shoulder,

Holding the breath momentarily from the heart center.

Once you feel the left arm ready to receive the breath,

Exhale and feel the rippling flow of sensation down the left arm from the shoulder to the fingertips.

Inhale left fingertips to shoulder and rest attention around the area of your heart.

Now imagine breathing directly in and out of the heart.

Feel the heart as a field of energetic vibratory sensation.

Perhaps there is a color or glow.

You may feel energy like light glowing outwards as you inhale and as you exhale you may feel a gentle contracting towards the center.

Breathe into this gentle and natural expansion of contraction,

Focusing full attention on the energetic feeling of your heart center.

Now breathe as if the whole body was one unit,

One large lung.

Breathing in and breathing out,

Breathing in and breathing out,

Feeling the electric pulse radiant and expansive,

A field of energy expanding in all directions,

Forward,

Back,

Side to side.

Feel the whole body suspended in a vast spacious field of sensation,

A field of awareness.

Notice what sensations,

Emotions,

Feelings are present.

Become curious about the body's innate intelligence communicating to you.

Notice any area of the body that may feel warm and can you notice by finding warmth you naturally also find coolness.

Go back and forth exploring the opposite feeling of temperature,

Warmness,

And coolness.

Notice how when you let the awareness diffuse into a non-local experience,

You can also experience both opposites at once.

Feel both warmth and coolness simultaneously in the non-local experience that is your field of awareness.

Here in the inner realm of being and non-doing is a vast spaciousness of stillness welcoming you home.

Nourish and welcome that sense of being at ease and at home within yourself.

Release all effort and drop into an inner state of being presence,

Wholeness,

Just being in the bliss of being.

Rest here in an effortless state of being.

Bring your attention back to the breath.

Re-emerge into the present moment,

Wakeful and alert.

Roll onto one side in fetal position.

Feel held,

Nurtured,

And renewed as you awaken,

Fresh and new.

Rise with an inner calm and quiet,

An expansive sense of gratitude for taking time spent connecting with yourself.

Your practice is now complete.