Tonight.
You get to stop.
Not paws.
Not catch your breath before the next thing,
Actually stop.
Whatever's been running in the background all day.
The Thinking.
The Managing.
The holding things together.
It doesn't have to come to bed with you.
Tonight.
The night can carry it.
And your only job.
Is to let it.
Hey,
I'm Chubzo Kereke and welcome to this Vagus Nerve sleep meditation for those nights when you're completely drained.
Tonight we're going to work with the body's own off switch.
A simple breathing technique that sends a direct signal to the nervous system.
Not a vague sense of calm.
But an actual physiological shift.
One the body already knows how to make.
From there,
We'll move through the body slowly,
Piece by piece.
Releasing the places where the effort of today is still being held.
And then we'll let warmth and weight do the rest.
There's nothing to get right here.
Nothing to achieve.
You don't have to listen to every word.
You can simply let my voice be here while you soften in your own time.
And if sleep arrives before we're done.
That's not a problem.
That's the point.
And if you wake up in the night.
Just press play again and let the meditation carry you back.
Okay.
Taking a moment now to settle in.
Maybe the pillow needs adjusting.
Maybe a small shift in position.
Maybe the covers need pulling a little closer.
Or pushing a little away.
And if you're comfortable.
Just letting yourself be exactly where you are.
And now.
.
.
Noticing what's supporting you.
The mattress beneath the back.
The pillow beneath the head.
The weight of the covers.
Not something to concentrate on.
Just a quiet fact.
That right now.
Something is holding all of this.
And it isn't you.
Now,
Let's use the breath to slow us down a little more.
Here's something worth knowing.
On every inhale.
The heart rate rises very slightly.
On every exhale,
It drops back down.
So the exhale is actually where the body starts to power off.
Every out-breath is a small recovery.
And when we make that exhale a little longer than the inhale,
We're leaning into that signal.
Giving the nervous system a little more of what it already wants to do.
So let's try it now.
Breathing in through the nose and breathing out through the nose or the mouth.
Just a little longer than the breath came in.
Breathing in.
.
.
And the longer breath out.
Breathing in.
.
.
Endow.
A little longer.
A little softer.
And continuing like that.
At whatever pace feels easy.
Each time we do this we're activating the vagus nerve.
Sending a calm signal down through the chest and into the belly.
A genuine rest and digest message.
The body doesn't need convincing.
It just needs the signal.
And we've been sending it.
If it feels good.
Allowing the exhale to be the part we lean into most.
A little longer each time.
A little softer.
And if the mind wanders.
.
.
That's fine.
We can come back to the feeling of breathing out.
Without telling ourselves off.
Now.
As things begin to slow a little.
Let's take a quiet look at what's actually here tonight.
Not to fix it.
Not to understand it.
Just to acknowledge it.
When we're completely drained.
It doesn't always arrive as one clear feeling.
Sometimes it's a low flatness.
Sometimes a restlessness that doesn't make sense given how tired the body is.
Sometimes a kind of hollow feeling.
Like something's been used up.
And sometimes it's just the word.
Drained.
Whatever it is for you tonight.
You don't have to change it.
And you don't have to shift it before we can begin.
So I invite you to gently ask yourself.
What's most present right now?
If anything.
And if a word comes,
We can quietly name it.
Just one word is enough.
And if nothing comes.
We can simply notice that.
And leave it there.
Seeing if we can allow whatever is here to have a little space.
We're not pushing it away.
But we're not turning towards it either.
We're just letting it sit.
Like something in the background.
And we might quietly say to ourselves.
Of course this is here.
I've been carrying a lot.
If it feels right.
Maybe laying a hand on the chest.
Or the belly.
Or the hands resting just as they are.
And giving one simple message to the body.
You don't have to hold it all tonight.
And now.
Moving into the body.
Slowly.
No rush.
And if sleep comes before we finish.
That's not a problem.
That's the whole idea.
Starting at the top of the head.
And just noticing the forehead.
When we're trained.
The forehead often still carries a kind of held concentration.
Like it's still reading something.
So seeing if we can let that ease.
Not by doing anything.
Just by stopping.
And the eyes.
Allowing the muscles around the eyes to soften.
The eyes themselves resting back.
Like they've finally been given permission to look at nothing.
The jaw tends to be the last to hear the news.
Long after the rest of us has stopped for the night.
The jaw is still holding something.
It was handed hours ago.
So allowing the jaw to receive a quiet message now.
We're done.
Whatever it was holding.
It doesn't need to hold it anymore tonight.
If the teeth are touching.
A little space between them.
The tongue resting heavy.
Laying low in the mouth.
Moving down into the neck now.
The neck spends the whole day holding the head up.
Seeing if the net can be told.
The pillow has this now.
You don't need to.
And if it doesn't release straight away.
That's fine.
We're inviting it.
Not pushing.
The shoulder's now.
Noticing whether they're lifted at all.
Even slightly.
Most of us carry the shoulders a little higher than they need to be.
They went up sometime during the day.
And nobody told them that the day was over.
So allowing them to drop now.
Even if it's just a few millimetres.
That's enough.
Moving into the arms now the upper arms feeling heavy.
The elbows softening.
The forearms resting.
And now moving into the hands just noticing what the hands are doing.
Maybe they're loosely curled.
Maybe they're open.
Hands that have been doing things all day.
We're letting them have nothing to do now.
And bringing our awareness to the chest.
There's no need to change the breath.
Just noticing the rise and fall of the chest.
And if there's any tightness here.
Seeing if we can make a little space around it.
Not by pushing it out.
But just by not gripping back.
Bringing our awareness to the upper back now.
This is where a lot of effort gets quietly stored.
The muscles that keep us upright and presentable all day.
Allowing the back to spread a little against the mattress.
As if the bed is slowly accepting more of the weight.
Moving to the belly now.
Lot of us hold the belly tight without even realizing.
When we're getting through something.
The belly braces.
When we're trying to keep things together.
It tightens.
So seeing if the belly can be easy now.
Not because everything is resolved.
Just because this moment doesn't need it to brace.
Breathing into the belly gently on the inhale.
And on the exhale.
Allowing it to soften.
Just a little.
Moving to the hips now.
Allowing the hips to feel wide and heavy.
The pelvis settling into the mattress.
As if gravity is doing the work.
So we don't have to.
And now the spine.
Just noticing the full line of it.
From the base of the skull.
Through the neck,
Down behind the chest.
And into the lower back.
The vagus nerve runs alongside the spine.
And every longer exhale that we've taken tonight.
Has been sending a signal down through it.
Quiet.
Continuous message.
The kind of message the body knows exactly what to do with.
Imagine that signal settling now.
Not as something dramatic.
Just as a gradual quietening.
Like a room going still.
Moving to the legs now.
Allowing the thighs to feel heavy.
Fully supported from beneath.
The knees soft.
The cogs resting.
Coming all the way down to the feet.
The ankles loose.
The soles of the feet.
Whatever is there.
Or isn't there?
That's fine.
We don't need to find anything in particular.
Just letting the body know.
That we've reached the end of the day.
Nothing more is needed from it tonight.
Taking a moment now to sense the whole body.
Not in detail.
Just the overall feeling of it.
A body that has been working.
That has been holding things.
That has been showing up.
And that can now.
.
.
For a while.
Do none of those things.
And even as the body settles.
The mind might still be moving.
That's not unusual.
Sometimes it keeps going out of habit.
So we're not gonna fight it.
We're just going to help it put things down.
The responding and deciding and managing and being on.
All of that has been carried.
Right now.
We don't need to process any of it.
We just need to stop carrying it through the night.
So if it helps.
.
.
Picture tomorrow you.
Just you.
After a bit more rest.
That version of you can hold whatever didn't get finished.
That version of you can pick up whatever got left behind.
Tonight you.
Just needs to get sleep.
So quietly.
Handing it over.
Tomorrow can have it.
And if there's an emotional weight sitting alongside all of this.
That can be set down too.
Not solved.
Not dismissed.
Just.
.
.
Not carried through the night as well.
If there's worry.
It doesn't need solving tonight.
If there's sadness or flatness.
It doesn't need shifting tonight.
If there's guilt.
Don't need to earn our rest.
We can let those feelings simply be there.
Without giving them the microphone.
So perhaps we could imagine a small surface beside the bed.
Could be a shelf.
Or a table.
And placing whatever is here.
Not to get rid of it.
Just to give the nervous system a rest from holding it.
Because sleep is not where we do the work.
Sleep is where we recover.
So we can do the work later.
Coming back to something simple now.
The weight of the body being held.
The breath.
Moving on its own.
If thoughts are still passing through.
That's fine.
We don't need to follow them.
They can move through like weather.
Here for a moment.
And then gone.
And each time we notice we've gone with one.
We can simply come back.
From here.
We can let the words thin out.
Less to follow now.
More space.
The body already knows what to do from here.
The mind growing quieter.
Running out of things to push against.
The body heavier.
Softer.
Less to hold.
Less to manage.
Less to be.
The mind can wander.
And wonder.
And wonder.
And each time we realise we are thinking.
We can let the thought trail off.
Like a sentence that doesn't need an ending.
Just this weight.
Just this breath.
Just this night.
And now.
.
.
A few gentle phrases can drift softly in the background.
You don't have to repeat them.
You don't have to remember them.
They can simply be there.
Quietly.
While you sleep.
My body is allowed to rest.
I don't have to earn sleep tonight.
Doing less right now is enough.
My nervous system can soften.
I don't have to hold it all together tonight.
Rest is restorative even when it doesn't feel perfect.
My body knows how to recover while I sleep.
I don't have to solve anything before I rest.
It's safe to let the night take some of this weight.
One breath at a time.
I can soften a little more.
I've done enough today.
Sleep can come in its own time.
Tomorrow can have what tonight doesn't need.
My body is repairing and restoring as I rest.
I am held.
Supported.
And allowed to let go.
I don't have to be on right now.
Whatever is here.
It can wait.
I can rest now.
My body is allowed to rest.
I don't have to earn sleep tonight.
Doing less right now is enough.
My nervous system can soften.
I don't have to hold it all together tonight.
Rest is restorative even when it doesn't feel perfect.
My body knows how to recover while I sleep.
I don't have to solve anything before I rest.
It's safe to let the night take some of this weight.
One breath at a time.
I can soften a little more.
I've done enough today.
Sleep can come in its own time.
Tomorrow can have what tonight doesn't need.
My body is repairing and restoring as I rest.
I am held.
Supported.
And allowed to let go.
I don't have to be on right now.
Whatever is here.
It can wait.
I can rest now.
My body is allowed to rest.
I don't have to earn sleep tonight.
Doing less right now is enough.
My nervous system can soften.
I don't have to hold it all together tonight.
Rest is restorative even when it doesn't feel perfect.
My body knows how to recover while I sleep.
I don't have to solve anything before I rest.
It's safe to let the night take some of this weight.
One breath at a time.
I can soften a little more.
I've done enough today.
Sleep can come in its own time.
Tomorrow can have what tonight doesn't need.
My body is repairing and restoring as I rest.
I am held.
Supported.
And allowed to let go.
I don't have to be on right now.
Whatever is here.
It can wait.
I can rest now.
My body is allowed to rest.
I don't have to earn sleep tonight.
Doing less right now is enough.
My nervous system can soften.
I don't have to hold it all together tonight.
Rest is restorative even when it doesn't feel perfect.
My body knows how to recover while I sleep.
I don't have to solve anything before I rest.
It's safe to let the night take some of this weight.
One breath at a time.
I can soften a little more.
I've done enough today.
Sleep can come in its own time.
Tomorrow can have what tonight doesn't need.
My body is repairing and restoring as I rest.
I am held.
Supported.
And allowed to let go.
I don't have to be on right now.
Whatever is here.
It can wait.
I can rest now.
My body is allowed to rest.
I don't have to earn sleep tonight.
Doing less right now is enough.
My nervous system can soften.
I don't have to hold it all together tonight.
Rest is restorative even when it doesn't feel perfect.
