Hey,
I'm Chibs Okarake and welcome to tonight's sleep meditation for menopause and perimenopause.
If you're listening at bedtime,
This meditation can help you settle and ease into sleep.
And if you're here after waking in the night,
This meditation is especially for that moment.
When you're tired,
But the system still feels switched on.
Maybe after a hot flush,
A bathroom trip,
Pain,
Itchiness,
Restless legs,
All that sudden jolt of alertness that seems to come from nowhere.
And I invite you to get as comfortable as you can.
Maybe adjusting the covers,
Turning over the pillow to the cool side,
Turning on the fan,
Taking a sip of water,
Switching sides or propping yourself up a little.
Now,
If sleep comes quickly,
Feel free to drift off.
You don't need to stay with every word.
You're welcome to follow along,
Or you can simply use my voice as background as you drift.
And if anything I say doesn't feel right for you tonight,
You can skip the instruction,
Change the instruction,
Or ignore it completely.
You're in charge here.
And in a moment,
We'll help the body cool a little,
We'll soften the breath,
And we'll gently ease back towards rest.
Now,
Whether you're here at bedtime or you're here after a night wake,
Either way,
We're not forcing sleep,
We're simply setting up the conditions where sleep has a better chance of arriving all on its own.
There's nothing we need to solve,
We're just resting and easing towards sleep,
One gentle moment at a time.
Now,
It might help to start with a small check-in,
Noticing how the body is right now,
Noticing any heat,
Coolness,
Tightness,
Itchiness,
Soreness,
Or restlessness.
And noticing if there's that wired,
Buzzy feeling,
That feeling that can sometimes show up around this time.
Or if the heart feels a little bit louder than you'd like,
Or if there's that sudden surge of alertness.
And if there's a hot flush,
Or that prickly warmth,
As we move through,
We can try treating it like a wave.
Not a problem to solve,
Just a sensation to ride.
Let's invite the breath to slow down slightly now.
We're not forcing the breath,
We're not controlling the breath,
We're just guiding the breath,
Like turning the volume down a little.
Now,
If at any point this way of breathing feels irritating,
We can always go back to our natural breathing,
And simply listen.
And we can breathe in through the nose,
And breathing out through the nose or the mouth a little longer.
Breathing in,
And longer out.
Breathing in,
And longer out.
And you can keep breathing like that,
At a pace that feels easy.
Each longer out breath is a quiet signal to the body.
A signal that says,
For this moment,
It's safe enough to soften.
We don't need to believe that perfectly.
We don't need to convince ourselves.
We're simply offering the signal,
And letting our nervous systems do what they do.
Allowing the jaw to unclench a little.
Allowing the tongue to rest heavy in the mouth.
Allowing the eyes to soften.
Allowing the shoulders to drop.
Even by one percent.
And if the mind is trying to get us into planning,
Or analyzing,
Or checking what time it is,
That's okay.
That's just the brain doing.
What the brain does.
We can give the mind a simple job,
And that's following the feeling of the out breath.
The part of the breath where the body naturally settles on the exhale.
And if we lose the breath,
We simply come back.
There's no point system here.
We're just returning.
As many times as we need to.
And now let's see if we can start turning down the temperature.
Just a little.
Not perfectly.
Just taking the edge off.
Where we can.
Not by force.
More like,
Giving the body permission to cool.
If it feels right,
It might help to imagine a calm evening breeze,
Moving through the room.
Not a cold wind.
Just that perfect,
Fresh,
Night air.
And if visualizing isn't your thing,
That's no problem.
We can just stay with simple sensations.
Noticing the forehead,
As if the skin across the brow is smoothing out.
Noticing the temples.
Noticing the cheeks.
Noticing the back of the neck.
And we might imagine a cool cloth there.
On the back of the neck.
Resting gently.
Taking the edge off.
Nothing dramatic.
Just relief.
And if there's heat in the chest,
Or the upper back,
We can soften around it.
Breathing out.
And allowing the body to do what it needs to do.
And if a wave of heat rises,
We're not arguing with it.
We're not chasing it either.
We're just staying steady,
While it passes through.
We're always welcome to make a small adjustment,
If it feels good.
Perhaps finding a cooler patch of pillow.
Perhaps lowering the covers.
Sticking a leg out of the covers.
Or finding the cooler side of the bed.
Or even just turning to the other side.
So the body feels a little more settled.
Whatever helps the body feel more comfortable.
And if you notice the mind going,
Is this working?
Am I going to sleep?
What if I'm awake for hours?
Or if you notice the heart racing.
Or the body doing that adrenaline thing.
We don't need to solve that right now.
Right now,
We're simply resting.
Right now,
We're simply helping the body settle.
And that's already a good direction.
If we're here in the middle of the night,
It can often help to have a plan.
And if we're here in the middle of the night,
It can often help to have a plan.
Because sometimes,
Menopause or perimenopause can come with that sudden surge.
Like the system has pressed the alert button for no real reason.
A false alarm.
So we can make a plan to guide it back down.
Gently.
Not a complicated plan.
Just a small pathway.
That stops the mind from negotiating with sleep.
First,
We can begin by orienting.
Noticing the bed beneath us.
Noticing the room around us.
Even with our eyes closed.
We can still have the sense.
That we're safe.
It's night time.
There's nothing we need to do.
Second,
We can ease any stimulation.
No problem solving right now.
No life admin.
No replaying conversations.
And if the brain offers a thought.
We can say,
Thank you.
And choose not to pick it up.
Third,
We can choose one simple focus.
It can be the breath.
It can be the heaviness of the body.
Or my favourite.
A quiet phrase.
Gently said in the background.
You can choose any phrase you like.
It could be something as simple as.
Soft.
Easy.
Rest.
Soft.
Easy.
Rest.
And if you notice yourself checking.
Am I sleeping?
Am I asleep yet?
That's the cue.
Coming back to that focus.
Again and again.
Nothing extra is required from you right now.
And if sleep is slow tonight.
That doesn't mean anything's gone wrong.
And if the heart is still beating a bit loud.
That's ok too.
We can let it be loud.
While the rest of the body softens.
Rest.
Rest is still restorative.
A calm body.
Still recovers.
So we can stop performing sleep.
And simply rest.
Now we can start a slow body scan.
Not as a task.
More like.
A gentle walk through the body.
Turning lights off as we go.
Beginning with the scalp.
Allowing the scalp to soften.
Allowing the forehead to smooth.
And perhaps imagining a little coolness across the forehead.
Allowing the muscles to relax.
Allowing the muscles around the eyes to loosen.
Unclenching the jaw.
And if the teeth are touching.
Allowing a little space.
Allowing the tongue to rest heavy.
Relaxing the neck.
Noticing the front of the throat.
Noticing the back of the neck.
Maybe imagining a little coolness there too.
Or a sense of relief.
A sense of relief at the back of the neck.
Allowing the shoulders to drop.
Not all the way.
Just a little.
And perhaps imagining a little coolness across the upper back.
And moving our awareness now to the arms.
Upper arms.
Soft.
Elbows.
Heavy.
Forearms.
Loose.
Resting.
Fingers.
Unclenching.
Moving now to the chest.
Noticing the rise and fall.
And if there is any heat or tension here.
Softening around it.
Allowing some space for coolness.
Allowing the breath to be natural.
Just a little.
And now moving our awareness to the belly.
Allowing the belly to be soft.
No bracing.
No holding.
Just softening.
Moving our awareness now to the lower back.
The hips.
Allowing the hips to feel wide.
Supported.
And if there is any restlessness here.
Discomfort.
We can meet it with patience.
And kindness.
And if there is that achy,
Stiff feeling.
We are not pushing through it.
And if there is pain here tonight.
We are not fighting that either.
Noticing where the body wants a little more support.
A pillow shifted.
A knee bent.
A hand resting somewhere soothing.
We are finding the most comfortable version of this moment.
Adjusting if we need.
Feeling into the legs.
The hips.
The thighs.
Heavy.
Soft.
Resting.
And if the legs need a small movement.
Or a repositioning.
That's ok too.
The ankles loose.
The feet.
All neutral.
Or simply however they are tonight.
And as the body settles.
We can imagine the mattress doing more of the work.
Holding you.
Carrying you.
So you don't have to.
For so many of us.
The body can be tired.
But the mind is still holding meetings.
Still writing lists.
Still having imaginary conversations.
So we are not going to fight it.
We are just going to change our relationship with it.
If thoughts come.
They come.
If they don't.
That's fine too.
Either way.
We can treat them like background noise.
Like a radio in another room.
You can hear it.
But you don't have to listen.
And if a thought shows up that feels urgent.
We can remind ourselves.
If it matters.
It will still matter tomorrow.
Because tonight is for rest.
And each time we notice we have been pulled into a thought.
We can come back.
To one simple place.
The feeling of the out breath.
Or the weight of the body.
Or that quiet phrase.
Soft.
Easy.
Nothing to perfect.
Just returning.
From here.
We can start moving into that heavier.
Sleepier space.
And it might not happen all at once.
It might come in waves.
A moment of drifting.
A moment of thinking.
And then drifting again.
And that's fine.
We can imagine the body sinking now.
By a millimetre at a time.
The head sinking into the pillow.
The shoulders sinking.
The back sinking.
The hips sinking.
The legs sinking.
As if gravity is getting heavier.
A little stronger.
Or as if the bed is getting a little softer.
And each breath out.
Is a small release.
A small letting go.
Not dramatic.
Just less effort.
More quiet.
More space.
More drift.
And if the mind wants something simple to follow.
We might choose the out-breath.
We might choose the moment that the air leaves.
And the body settles.
Again.
And again.
Until that part of the mind.
Loses interest.
And sleep does what it does.
Resting.
And if sleep is arriving.
You don't need to listen to any of this.
You can drift.
And if you wake again later.
That's ok.
Coming back to one simple thing.
Softening.
The out-breath.
And remembering.
We're not just breathing.
We're not forcing sleep.
We're allowing sleep.
And if we're still awake.
We stay kind to ourselves.
No need to check the time.
No need to judge ourselves.
Just resting.
As best we can.
The words can start getting fewer.
More space.
More quiet.
More permission to drift.
And if thoughts float through.
They can float.
If sensations shift.
They can shift.
We simply keep returning.
Returning.
Returning to heaviness.
Returning to softness.
Returning to coolness.
Returning to the feeling of being held.
Noticing the bed beneath us.
Holding us up.
Carrying our weight.
So we don't have to.
Breathing in.
Gently.
Breathing out.
Longer.
And as the out-breath leaves.
The body settling.
A little more each time.
Softening the forehead.
Softening the jaw.
Softening the shoulders.
The arms heavy.
The hands resting.
The belly soft.
The hips supported.
Legs heavy.
Feet loose.
And if there's any heat moving through.
We can meet it like a breeze.
Like a wave.
Steady.
Patient.
Letting it pass.
Across the forehead.
Across the neck.
A quiet exhale.
Like a sigh.
Quieter now.
Or maybe still busy.
Either is ok.
Because we're not asking for help.
We're not asking the mind to stop.
We're simply giving it less to hold.
Thoughts can be clouds.
Passing.
And underneath.
There's just resting.
Soft.
Easy.
Rest.
Sinking.
Drifting.
Nothing to solve.
Nothing to fix.
Just sleep.
Arriving when it's ready.
