This meditation is designed specifically for you if you've woken up in the middle of the night and you long to get back to sleep,
Or if you've woken up too early in the morning and you want to invite your body back into sleep.
And at the beginning here,
I want to remind you that you don't need to force anything or make anything happen.
This is really counterproductive,
That the invitation here is to just simply let your body rest,
You don't need to sleep,
You can just follow the instructions and the sound of my voice and let your body rest.
Rest is almost as restorative as sleep.
So if your eyes want to close,
Let them,
And let's just take a few slow,
Smooth breaths here at the beginning,
Letting go of an expectation,
Letting go of an agenda to get anywhere or get back to sleep,
As this is,
Like I said,
Counterproductive,
And just feel your inhale and your exhale,
Taking one more smooth,
Slow inhale,
And releasing expectations on your exhale,
And then letting your breath return to its soft,
Natural,
Easy rhythm,
And feel the weight of your body resting on the bed,
And feel all the points of contact that your whole body is making with the bed,
Completely supported by the surface underneath you.
And start to feel all the places you feel warmth in your body,
Notice all the places you feel warmth in your body,
And let your attention rest here in this sensation,
Or sensations of warmth.
Thoughts will come and go,
And let them,
Like clouds that just drift across the night sky,
Let them come and go as you focus in on where you feel warmth in your body right now.
And perhaps as you're sensing warmth,
It begins to spread throughout your body,
Maybe you can feel warmth across your feet,
Maybe you can feel warmth across the soles of your feet,
Perhaps there's the sensations of warmth throughout your legs,
And perhaps a heaviness here too.
Maybe there's a sense of warmth across the palms of your hands,
Maybe a heaviness here also.
Sense any warmth and heaviness across your arms,
And sense your arms and your hands,
Your legs and your feet,
All at the same time,
Sensing the warmth and the heaviness here in your arms and hands,
Legs and feet,
Warm,
Heavy,
And at ease.
Letting your body rest as you sense your arms,
Your hands,
Your legs and your feet,
Warm,
Heavy,
And at ease.
If your mind is busy,
You can silently repeat the phrase to yourself,
I am at ease.
I am as your breath comes in,
And at ease as your breath goes out.
And letting go of the words when it feels right to you,
And letting your attention rest on where you feel warmth,
Where you feel heaviness and comfort in your body,
Letting your whole body settle and sink into the support of the bed as you stay with the sensations of warmth and comfort throughout your body.
Nothing to make happen,
Just simply enjoying the sensations of warmth that are already here as your body rests.
