Welcome to your sleep practice where we will connect and cultivate your heart's deepest desires Begin as comfortable as possible and as you rest into a position of comfort Release muscular and mental tensions Begin with an inhale and as you exhale,
Feel the body unwind Take another inhale and focus on the feeling of release that comes with the exhale As you continue to breathe,
Affirm to yourself I welcome the feeling of security and ease in my body and mind And mentally,
Say this once more I welcome feeling secure and at ease in my body and mind Release the grip of thoughts and feel the body Notice the body,
Feel the ground beneath you and the body in contact with the support it is positioned on Place a hand on the body,
The heart,
The belly and feel more connected to the body As you connect with the body,
Notice the natural stream of breath coming and going in and out of the nostrils Notice the effect of the hands resting on the body as you breathe Rest your attention on your stream of breath but make no effort to change it Welcome the senses to open Center the attention on the ears as if they were welcoming Sounds open for the first time Notice the most obvious sounds in the far off distance Notice sounds coming from the right side,
Not analyzing or judging,
Just noticing And notice the sounds received by the left ear Imagine if you can peel away any meaning assigned to those sounds And just let them be Welcome all sounds to be here in this practice,
Knowing that they come and go And if one grabs your attention or if anything seeks your attention Allow it to be a signal to turn your attention inward and return to your practice Allow your attention to open to sounds closer in the environment you're resting in Not seeking sounds,
But rather imagining the ears as an instrument and the vibration of sound coming in and moving through the outer ear Being received into the eardrum Sensing now any subtle sounds of the body,
The heart beating in the chest,
The air passing through the nostrils and the lungs Notice the backdrop of silence between each sound,
Like the gentle breath of a soothing breeze It may be helpful to welcome your inner resource,
Deepening into it with every breath in and every breath out Soothing and welcoming the body to settle Feel with every breath the quality of the air you breathe in Notice the air in contact with the skin Notice the air as it touches the inner nostrils temperature And as you exhale,
Notice if there is a change in temperature as the air leaves the body As you breathe,
Feel the gentle rise and fall of the navel area Focus all of your attention here as you begin to count your breaths backwards From 7 to 1 Counting like this I am inhaling 7 I am exhaling 7 I am inhaling 6 I am exhaling 6 With each breath,
Feel a deeper settling of the body as you ground beneath the support holding you Let the breath be as natural as possible as you feel the points where the body makes direct contact with the support beneath you Perhaps you feel this in the heels,
The back of the legs,
The sit bones,
The spine,
The arms,
The head Notice all at once,
Feel the body being held Nothing to do,
Nothing to achieve Just feel held Rest your hands on the ground next to you And move your attention to the tip of the tongue Notice any taste present in the mouth Notice any dryness or saliva present Notice the tip of the tongue And notice all of the teeth in the upper mouth Notice where the gums meet the teeth Sense all the teeth in the lower mouth Sense the right side of the mouth The left side The walls of the mouth The ceiling and floor of the mouth Sensing into the whole of the mouth Now bring your attention to the dark space behind closed eyelids And then bring your attention to the space between the eyebrows Take a few moments,
Imagine the breath flowing in and out of your eyebrow center And now imagine a twinkling,
Dazzling star in the center of the eyebrow And place that star on each body part I name Eyebrow center,
Pit of the throat,
Right shoulder,
Right elbow Center of the wrist,
Tip of the right thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger Right wrist,
Elbow,
Shoulder,
Pit of the throat Left shoulder,
Left elbow,
Center of the left wrist Tip of the thumb,
Left index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Pinky finger Left wrist,
Elbow,
Left shoulder,
Pit of the throat Center of the chest,
Right side of the chest Center of the chest,
Left side of the chest Center of the chest,
Navel center,
Pelvis Right hip,
Right thigh,
Right knee,
Right calf,
Right ankle Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe Right ankle,
Right calf,
Right knee,
Right thigh Right hip,
Pelvis,
Left hip,
Left thigh,
Left knee,
Left calf Left ankle,
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe Ankle,
Left calf,
Left knee,
Left thigh Left hip,
Pelvis,
Navel center,
Center of the chest,
Right side of the chest Center of the chest,
Left side of the chest Center of the chest,
Pit of the throat And back to the eyebrow center See the body as a radiant constellation of twinkling stars amidst a vast night sky Feel the body being touched by starlight An inner radiant luminance emerges as you receive your attention on the heart center Feel the heart glow with every breath The body breathing,
Activating the heart's inner radiance like a moonbeam Feel the space directly beyond the heart in front of you To the left side and the right side,
Above the crown and beyond the soles of the feet Feel an expansive radiance from the center of your being into all directions Expansive awareness Imagine a shimmering full moon in the pit of the throat From there,
Feel the body being nourished by the sweet nectar of moonlight Healing and revitalizing every cell of your being Rest your attention between the eyebrows See the twinkling star awakening,
The center of your intuition and deep rest Return to the heart center and feel how nourished and at ease the heart is in the body Return to the whole body,
Sensing the body resting in its position in this room And sense the room around you,
Feel the support beneath you Take a moment to stretch your arms and your legs as you reawaken from your practice Roll onto your right side and as you find yourself in this position,
Feel cradled and held by the earth Take a moment to reflect with gratitude on the journey of deep rest your body has just experienced Your practice is now complete
