As we settle in for a good night's sleep,
We can begin by feeling the support of the bed beneath us.
We allow the body to relax and sink into the bed,
And we can imagine that we're melting into the earth itself,
Feeling all that support beneath us.
Next,
We'll take three deep breaths,
Imagining the energy of the in-breath flowing all the way down into the center of the abdomen,
Soothing and calming the body.
Now we let the breath return to its usual rhythm.
We'll focus on the out-breath for a while,
Imagining that we're releasing any stress,
Any tension from the day,
Breathing it out in the form of dark smoke or whatever feels appropriate.
We imagine it flying off into the distance and dissolving far away into space.
So let's take a little while and allow that breathing to siphon off any tension or stress from the day.
As we use this imagination with the breath,
Maybe we can feel our body relaxing a little more deeply.
We can feel the weight of the body resting in the bed.
We continue to allow that out-breath to naturally release any stress left over from the day.
Now we bring the attention down to the feet and legs.
First,
We'll take a moment and tighten all the muscles of the feet and legs,
Tensing them as tight as possible.
Hold for a moment and now relax.
And as we relax each region of the body,
Maybe we actually feel that those parts of the body are more open than they were before.
We can imagine them getting heavy and melting into the mattress.
Next,
We bring the attention to the hips and buttocks and the lower abdomen.
And again,
We tighten all the muscles in those areas.
Hold and relax.
And this area is open,
Relaxed,
Heavy.
Now we bring our attention to the upper abdomen and the chest,
The back,
Our entire upper trunk area.
We tighten all the muscles in the area.
Hold and release.
This area is relaxed and heavy.
We bring our attention to both arms and both hands.
We tighten all the muscles in that area.
Hold and release,
Relaxed and heavy.
We bring our attention to the neck and shoulders,
Tightening all the muscles in that area.
Hold and release,
Relaxed and heavy.
We bring our attention to the face.
We tighten all the muscles in the face,
Especially around the eyes and in the jaws and mouth.
We hold and release,
Relaxed and heavy.
We bring our attention now in particular to the head.
Feeling the sensations of the head resting on the pillow,
Sensations in the scalp,
Sensations in the face.
Do you feel anything against the skin of the face?
Any warmth or coolness or any contact?
We can even feel into the brain with our imagination.
We can invite the brain to relax,
Letting the parasympathetic nervous system take the lead and ease the body into a resting mode.
We bring our attention to the entire head,
Feeling a sense of gratitude for the head.
Brain,
Face,
Skull,
Thank you head.
Our attention flows down now into the neck and throat and the shoulder region.
Can you feel the contact between the skin and the clothes or the bed?
Can you feel any warmth or coolness on the skin of the neck,
The throat,
The shoulders?
Feel once again into the muscles of that area.
And if we find there's any excess tension,
We invite that to relax.
We may even feel our shoulders sink a little more deeply into the bed.
We let our attention flow now into both arms and both hands,
Feeling any contact with the skin.
Feeling a sense of pressure where our arms and hands connect with the mattress.
Feeling any warmth or coolness,
Any breeze.
If we feel any remaining tightness in the muscles of the arms and hands,
We invite that to relax.
We have a simple sense of gratitude for the arms and hands,
For the neck and throat and shoulders.
We bring our attention to the chest and the upper back area,
Feeling the contact between the body and the mattress.
Feeling the clothes against the skin,
Feeling the expansion and contraction of the chest as we breathe.
Can you feel the heart beating in the chest?
If you find that there's any tension or any tightness left in the muscles of the chest and upper back,
You can invite that area to relax.
We can have a simple sense of gratitude to this area,
And especially to our heart and our lungs.
Such amazing organs.
Now our attention flows down into the abdomen and the lower back.
Again,
We can feel the expansion and contraction of this area as we breathe.
We may feel the pressure as this area rests on the mattress,
Or we might feel the slight touch of the clothes,
Or some sensation of warmth or coolness,
Some slight breeze against the skin.
We invite this area to relax deeply.
We can take a moment and feel some gratitude for this area where our digestive organs live.
Thank you,
Abdomen.
Thank you,
Back.
Our attention flows now into the hips and the buttocks,
The pelvic region.
We feel the pressure of this area resting against the mattress.
We might feel it shift slightly as we breathe.
We might feel the clothes against this area.
We just take a moment and feel any sensations there.
And then we invite this area to relax deeply.
We bring some gratitude to this area of the body.
Thank you,
Lower back and pelvic region.
We bring our attention now into both legs and both feet,
Feeling the weight of our big,
Strong legs resting against the mattress.
We can feel any sensations on the skin,
Like the touch of clothes,
Any heat or coolness.
We invite these big,
Powerful muscles of the legs and all the little muscles of the feet to relax deeply and be held by the mattress.
We feel gratitude for our legs and our feet,
For allowing us to move,
Giving us a place to stand.
Now we widen our attention out to the entire body.
We invite our entire body to relax deeply.
We feel this incredible human body supported by the bed and ultimately by the earth itself,
Able to relax,
Able to rest.
We'll take a moment and hold the entire body in our attention.
Finally,
We finish this meditation.
