The Dark Doesn't Scare Me! Creating A Safe Place To Rest.

Is your child afraid of the dark? In this meditation, they'll learn how to engage their mind and body in order to ease their fear. Depending on the needs of your little one, you can use this meditation as a part of a bedtime routine or as a stand-alone practice. They'll learn breathing techniques, be introduced to body relaxation, and practice visualization to engage their imagination to create peace and calm. They'll feel empowered, relaxed, and ready to sleep- which means you can rest, too!

Transcript

Hello.

Welcome to this relaxing session that can help you feel more comfortable in the dark.

After all,

The dark helps our body get ready for sleep.

It's okay to be scared.

There are lots of people of all ages that are afraid of the dark.

Together we will learn that there is nothing to fear.

You are so brave for being here and I'm so glad that we will have a chance to relax together.

Before we begin,

If you need to turn on the lights for a few seconds,

Do that now.

Go ahead.

Take a look around the room.

See the things that are there.

All the things around you are ready to rest as well.

Everything will stay as it is as we turn the lights off.

If they aren't off already,

Go ahead and turn the lights off now.

Great job.

And if you aren't already,

Get into your comfortable bed.

Now that you are in bed,

Take a look around.

Go ahead.

You may notice that the room looks a little different in the dark,

But it is all the same.

It is just as you left it,

I promise.

Go ahead and get nice and comfortable and take a nice big stretch as you lay in your bed.

You've had a long day and your body wants to lay here and rest.

You're still probably wondering why we turn the lights off before we go to bed.

That's a good question.

It's so our mind can rest with no distractions.

When the light has gone away,

Our body gets the message that it can shut down and go to sleep.

We need a good night's sleep so that we can focus,

Learn,

And have energy to play tomorrow.

Our body has a really great system.

That system keeps us healthy.

And now that you know why,

It'll help you not be so afraid.

By the way,

You're doing great.

Are you comfortable settling in beneath the blankets?

Good.

Go ahead and make yourself even more comfortable.

You are safe and surrounded by love and deserve to sleep peacefully.

There is nothing to worry about as we welcome the peacefulness of night to help our body rest.

If you start to feel nervous,

I want you to think back to how we started by looking around the room.

Stay comfy in your bed as you let yourself remember how you looked around the room with the lights on.

Remember we saw all of your things.

Go ahead with your eyes closed and let yourself think about that now.

What did you see?

Yes,

That is still there.

And so are all the other things.

Things you love.

Things that bring you joy.

They too are looking forward to your rest so you can play with them again tomorrow.

You are still in the same safe place as before.

And now you are feeling more at ease.

You feel your head resting on your pillow.

Feel the comfort of your pillow and how soft it is.

Like a cloud.

Breathe in.

One,

Two,

Three.

And out.

One,

Two,

Three.

Great job.

Do you know that you have a superpower?

Oh,

I must have forgotten to tell you.

But it's true.

Each of us has a very special power within us.

We take it with us wherever we go.

It's called our imagination.

Your imagination can take you to wonderful places.

And at night,

Before you go off to sleep,

You can really use this superpower.

Let's test out the power of your imagination.

Ready?

Okay.

Close your eyes.

Take a deep breath in and breathe it out.

Ready to try it out?

Great.

With your eyes closed,

I want you to imagine a hat.

See it in your mind?

Now picture yourself picking up the hat and putting it on your head.

Can you imagine yourself wearing the hat?

Yep.

A hat.

You see the color of it?

The size?

Is it really big and floppy or super tiny?

You can feel it resting on top of your head.

Take a deep breath in and out.

See?

I told you.

You are powerful.

You created that image out of nowhere.

Your brain did that.

And it can do so many other magical things.

We are going to use this superpower to travel together.

But first,

Let's focus on breathing.

Getting nice and relaxed helps the imagination.

Thinking just about your breathing and focusing on my voice,

We can get to a nice place of rest.

Go ahead and breathe in like you are smelling a flower.

And slowly let it out your mouth.

Great job.

Our breathing fuels our imagination.

Take a big breath in and breathe out.

One more time.

Take a breath in and out.

As you keep breathing slowly and deeply,

You feel yourself starting to relax.

It feels good to breathe slowly and deeply.

There is nothing you need to do right now except relax.

Let your body be calm and still.

Sometimes our body can use a little help getting calm.

Let's help it feel calm together.

Laying in your bed,

Go ahead and squeeze your hand tightly as if you are smushing Play-Doh.

We squeeze the hand tight like we're trying to make the Play-Doh squeeze out through our fingers.

Then let go as if we're dropping it to the floor.

Splat.

Think for a moment.

What's your favorite color of Play-Doh?

Great.

Let's take that Play-Doh and put it in our hands and squeeze it again.

Let's squeeze it tightly as I count.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And open your hand and let it go.

Splat.

Do you feel the difference when your hand is tight compared to when it is loose and open?

When it's loose and open,

It feels good and relaxed.

Now let's try it again,

This time with both hands.

Squeeze your hands tight.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And let go,

Dropping that Play-Doh to the floor.

Now our hands and our arms are feeling nice and relaxed.

Let's let that feeling travel all through our body,

Making us feel nice and relaxed.

Your shoulders feel calm.

Your arms are resting.

In a moment,

We will take a nice,

Deep breath,

And as we breathe out,

Let that calm go all through our body.

Ready?

Breathe in.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And out.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Great job.

We sent that nice feeling all the way down our legs through to the bottom of our feet.

If you notice anywhere that is not relaxed,

Just think about that area for a moment and take a nice,

Deep breath,

And as you let it out,

You let out any tension in that spot,

And now it feels relaxed too.

Great work.

Your whole body is relaxed.

You feel so good and so comfortable.

Our imagination is definitely ready for us.

Let's test it out.

In a tree,

A big,

Tall tree with its leaves reaching up to the sky,

We see the green leaves and the brown bark.

We can see the leaves moving gently as the wind blows.

As we look around,

We realize there is not just one tree,

But a whole forest.

It is a beautiful place,

And we can hear the chirping of birds.

How lovely this place is.

You walk down a path and see there is a tree stump.

You sit there for a moment as you look around at all the different shades of green,

Dark green grass,

Light green leaves.

In a moment,

Let's take a deep breath in and smell the yellow flowers that are blooming around us.

Oh,

I see one.

Let's breathe.

In one,

Two,

Three,

And out one,

Two,

Three.

There's a little baby bunny hopping along the path.

We are so quiet to not disturb him.

He sees us and then scurries off to play in the grass.

Take a look around this safe,

Calm place and see what other things you can see.

And don't forget the big blue sky above us.

It has so many fluffy clouds.

One of them looks just like the bunny's tail.

This forest is a warm,

Peaceful place.

You can visit this place in your imagination anytime you want to feel relaxed and safe.

If you start to feel afraid,

Just imagine your happy,

Peaceful place again.

Think about the bunny's tail as it hopped away or how you saw the tail in the clouds.

You can imagine this place whenever you need to.

Remember,

There is nothing to fear in the dark.

You are safe here.

Remember that the room you are in is just the same as it was with the lights on.

You can feel calm and happy in the dark.

Nighttime is the time to sleep.

The darkness is nice because it helps you sleep so you can feel awake and rested in the morning.

Being in the dark is peaceful.

You can close your eyes and imagine being anywhere you want to be,

Like our peaceful forest with a big,

Tall tree.

See how easy it is to imagine safe,

Calm places when you are in the dark?

See how you can imagine happy things?

Notice that you are feeling less afraid of the dark than you were before.

You are probably feeling quite relaxed because you know that there is nothing to worry about and nothing to fear.

Remember how happy you felt as you imagined what it would be like to look up at the sky with the sun shining down and the clouds floating by?

Most of all,

Remember your superpower,

Your imagination.

It's very powerful and you can use it to picture all sorts of fun things.

Just keep relaxing now,

Becoming sleepy.

Go back to the forest as you look up at the sky.

You watch the clouds pass by.

Allow yourself to feel completely comfortable and happy in this place in your imagination.

Resting,

Relaxing.

You are feeling very calm,

Sleepy,

Happy.

It feels so nice to relax,

Letting yourself fall asleep.

So safe and pleasant,

Watching the clouds drift by in the big blue sky.

Nothing to worry about.

Just resting,

So comfortable,

Relaxed,

Sleepy,

Drifting off,

Drifting off to sleep.

Sleep well and when you wake,

You will feel refreshed and ready for your day.

You can do great things.

You are powerful.

Sweet dreams.