Good evening and welcome to this sleep meditation Over the next 20 minutes or so,
I hope you'll find yourself more relaxed,
More comfortable and closer to sleep Whatever it is that's keeping you awake,
We'll quieten it and slow it down together Assuming you're already in a position to sleep,
Wherever and however that may look to you If you haven't done so already,
Allow your eyelids to gently close Let's just spend some time arriving in this moment And by that I mean recognising where you are and paying attention to how your body is occupying the space that you're in So however you're lying right now,
Let your attention move to all those points of your body that are making contact with the bed Or the sofa,
Or the couch,
Wherever you are Start with your head,
Really feeling the material of the pillow or the cushion against your skin Or your hair or the side of your face And move down from your head to your neck,
Your shoulders,
Whatever it is that's making contact with the surface below you Really feel those points,
Feel the weight of your body and feel it being supported by the surface underneath you It's going to support you all night long until you wake in the morning You can relax now,
Knowing that you're going to be warm and comfortable all through the night Move your attention down through your back to your hips,
Your pelvis,
The next points of contact with the bed or the sofa,
Your legs,
Your thighs The backs or the sides of your knees and your ankles Feel the weight of your feet as they gently press into the surface below you,
Feel how you're supported Feel the covers,
The duvet or the blankets on top of you,
Keeping you warm,
Giving you comfort,
Keeping you safe Now let your focus rest gently on your breath There's no need to change anything with your breath right now or force anything different,
Just watch Pay attention to what it's currently doing in its natural rhythm You may find yourself distracted,
That's okay,
It's perfectly normal When it happens,
Recognise it as just a distraction and come back to your breath Do it slowly and with kindness,
Don't beat yourself up about being distracted Don't add any judgement or narrative to the distraction itself,
Just recognise it for what it is,
A distraction and come back to your breath Sometimes you might find it difficult to come back to your breath when you're distracted Try and imagine a great oak tree In the autumn months,
The leaves are turning brown before they fall slowly from the branches Picture just one of those leaves as it drifts down to the ground,
Floating almost in slow motion,
Descending in the gentle breeze Your attention can be just like that leaf and the ground is your breath When you feel distracted,
Watch as the leaf floats gently down to rest on the ground And imagine your attention doing the same,
Coming to rest on your breath Keeping your attention there on your breath,
Notice how calm the rhythm has become Feel your body,
Your chest as it moves or rises when you inhale and falls when you exhale Rising on the inhale,
Falling on the exhale Let's spend the next few minutes just staying with that rising and falling Again you might have become distracted by thoughts of the day's events or what's happened this past week And that's absolutely fine,
But let's go back to that feeling of your body being supported in your bed or wherever it is that you're resting right now Feel the support,
Feel the comfort of the blanket over you and know that you are safe You're here in this moment,
Any worries from the day or week,
Let them disappear You don't need them anymore,
They're not serving you You're here to rest,
To sleep,
To be safe and sound Spend the next couple of minutes paying attention to those points of your body that are making contact with the surface below you Where is your attention right now?
Wherever it is,
Is absolutely fine Let's bring it back to the breath Take a moment to watch what your breath is doing Pay particular attention to the inhale and the exhale Take note of the length of the exhale Can you make it longer than the inhale?
There's no need to count anything,
Just rest your attention on your breath and as you exhale,
Make it a little bit longer than the inhale The more you do this,
You should start to feel even more relaxed So let's spend a few minutes making that exhale ever so slightly longer than the inhale If you've become distracted,
That's okay You can return to your breath or your body or the surface that you're lying on There's no right or wrong with this,
This is your time to sleep This is your space for you to relax Let all of the thoughts go Tomorrow is a brand new day It's time to sleep Feel how light your breath is as you inhale and you exhale There's no weight at all in your breath And there's no weight on you There's no burden,
There's nothing for you to be carrying You can let everything go Just watch your breath and relax further and further into sleep I hope you're ready to sleep if you haven't already drifted off Please just continue when the recording ends to watch your breath Watch your body,
Feel those points of contact Make your exhale slightly longer than your inhale Take care,
Enjoy your peaceful rest and I'll see you again soon
