A nervous system meditation for deep rest.
Tonight we aren't going to force sleep.
We're not going to try to empty your mind and you don't need to make yourself relax.
Instead,
We're going to work with your body because sometimes when you're exhausted but still cannot fully switch off,
The problem isn't that you don't want to rest.
Your body simply hasn't received enough signals that a day is over.
Your nervous system may still be listening,
Still processing,
Still anticipating,
Still preparing for something that is no longer happening.
So tonight,
We're going to slowly change those signals from alertness to softness,
From doing to receiving.
From holding to letting go.
Until your body understands there's nothing left for me to do tonight.
You don't need to follow every word.
You don't need to stay awake until the end.
In fact,
I hope you don't.
Allow my voice to slowly become something happening somewhere in the background as your body begins its own journey towards sleep.
Find the most comfortable position you can.
And once you've found it,
Give yourself permission to stop adjusting.
Feel the weight of your body against the mattress.
Notice all the places where the bad is already supporting you.
The back of your head.
Your shoulders.
Your spine.
Your hips.
Relax.
Your heels.
You don't have to hold yourself here.
The mattress is doing that for you.
Take a slow breath in through your nose.
And breathe out through your mouth.
And slowly breathing in And a little longer out.
One more time in.
.
.
And out.
Now allow your mouth to close and continue breathing gently through your nose.
No huge breath,
No effort.
Just quiet breathing.
Let the inhale come naturally.
Allow the exhale to become slightly longer.
Perhaps breathing in for 4,
3,
2,
1 and breathing out for 6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1 again in 3,
2,
1 and out 5,
4,
3,
2,
1 continue at your own pace Nothing needs to be exact.
The numbers are only there to guide you.
Slightly longer exhale is enough.
Because every slow exhalation is a message,
A message traveling through your body,
Telling it that it can begin reducing its state of alertness.
You're not preparing to respond.
You're preparing to rest.
Breathing in.
.
.
And slowly out.
I imagine that somewhere inside your body there's a switch.
Not an on and off switch,
More like a dimmer.
And throughout the day,
That dimmer has been turned upward.
Conversations.
Decisions.
Messages.
Responsibilities.
Movement,
Noise.
Thoughts?
Planning.
Problem Solving all of it asking something from your nervous system.
And now we begin turning the dimmer down just slightly.
You don't need to go from 100 to 0,
Only one level lower.
And then another.
And another Imagine the brightness inside you becoming softer.
And the internal noise becoming quieter.
The speed becoming slower.
Your body no longer needs the same amount of energy it needed during the day.
You are finished with the day.
Whatever wasn't completed.
Can remain incomplete.
Whatever was in Solve.
Can remain unsolved.
Whatever conversation is still playing in your mind.
Does not need an ending tonight.
Tomorrow can hold tomorrow.
Tonight only needs to hold you.
Take another slow breath in.
And exhale let the day move further away Bring your attention to your forehead.
Without trying too hard.
Notice whether there's any tension there.
And instead of telling it to relax.
Imagine warmth spreading underneath the skin.
Warm heavy Soften.
Let that warmth move around your eyes.
Tiny muscles around the eyes have worked all day.
Watching.
.
.
Reading.
.
.
Searching.
Focusing Now they have nothing left to look for.
Let your eyes become heavy inside their sockets.
Your eyelids soft.
The space between your eyebrows smooth.
And let the warmth travel into your jaw.
Notice your teeth.
If they're touching,
Allow a tiny space between them.
Let your tongue become heavy.
Let it rest.
You don't need to speak.
You don't need to explain.
You don't need to respond.
Your face can become completely neutral.
Nothing to communicate Nothing to perform.
Nothing to prove.
Now allow that softness to move into your neck.
Across your shoulders.
Imagine the muscles slowly spreading outward.
Melting toward the mattress.
Your shoulders don't need to carry today anymore.
Let them drop.
Just one millimeter.
And another.
Feel your arms becoming heavier.
Upper arms,
Elbows,
Forearms,
Wrists.
Hands.
Every finger Perhaps you can imagine that your hands are slightly warmer than they were before.
How me.
Aurium still.
There's nothing they need to hold.
Nothing they need to fix.
Nothing they need to create.
Not now.
Bring your attention to your chest.
Feel the gentle movement created by your breathing.
Rising falling I think.
Holy.
You don't have to control your heart.
You don't have to control your lungs.
You don't have to consciously manage the thousands of processes happening inside your body right now.
Your body already knows.
Your heart knows how to beat.
Your lungs know how to breathe.
Your cells know what to do.
And tonight,
You can stop supervising.
Your breathing become automatic again.
Let your body breathe you.
Bring your awareness into your belly.
This is a place where many of us unconsciously hold ourselves.
Pulling in.
Praising.
Tacting.
So notice whether your abdomen can become just a little softer.
You'll need to push it outward.
Simply stop pulling it inward.
Let the belly move naturally with your breathing.
In soft expansion.
Out,
Release Your body doesn't need to arm or in this spot.
Let the muscles around your stomach soften.
Let the muscles around your ribs soften.
Let the muscles around your spine soften.
Imagine the entire center of your body becoming heavier.
So gravity has increased slightly.
Pulling you deeper into the mattress.
Deeper.
Heavier.
More supported.
Bring your awareness into your hips,
Your pelvis,
Your glutes.
These large muscles that have carried you through the entire day.
Let them become heavy.
Imagine the weight of your pelvis sinking downward.
You don't need to hold yourself together.
The bed is holding you.
Let the heaviness move into your thighs.
Front of the thighs back of the thighs inner thighs,
All releasing.
Down into your knees.
Your coughs,
Your ankles.
Your feet.
And finally,
Your toes.
Your entire body is here now.
Nothing needs to go anywhere.
Now imagine your nervous system is a guard that has been standing at the door all day.
Watching.
Listening,
Checking.
Making sure you're okay.
Maybe that guard has been working all the time.
Maybe it has become so used to being alert that it has forgotten when it shifts in.
So instead of fighting it.
Rethink it You have done enough today.
You can rest now.
Nothing needs your attention.
Nothing needs to be anticipated.
Nothing needs to be prevented.
Your shift is over.
Imagine that guard slowly sitting down.
His shoulders drop.
The eyes soften.
The muscles release.
There's nothing approaching.
Nothing you need to prepare for.
I'm going to cover up some more deep inside your body.
You notice the smallest change.
Sigh Swallow.
The twitch.
A deeper breath.
A wave of warmth a feeling of heaviness These tiny changes matter.
Your body is moving away from vigilance and toward restoration.
Imagine now that every thought has a volume.
Some thoughts are loud.
Some urchin.
Some repetitive Some whispering in the background.
Instead of trying to stop them,
Imagine reaching for the volume control.
And slowly turning it down.
The thoughts can continue,
But quieter.
Planning quieter.
Remembering.
Quieter Analyzing quieter.
What if quieter?
Tomorrow quieter.
You don't need silence.
You only need distance.
Let the thoughts move further away.
As though they are coming from another room.
You can hear something happening but you don't need to listen.
You don't need to follow.
You don't need to answer.
And every time another thought appears,
You can simply think,
Tomorrow.
Not now.
Tomorrow Not now.
Tomorrow Not now.
Feel your body again.
Heavy.
Warm.
Support it.
Notice how little effort is required to lie here.
You don't need to hold your head.
You don't need to hold your arms.
You don't need to hold your legs.
You don't even need to hold your attention.
Let that go.
Your awareness can become softer around the edges.
Less focused less precise Almost dreamy Perhaps you notice that my words are becoming harder to follow.
That's okay.
You don't need to understand everything anymore.
You're thinking mind has done enough.
Let the words pass through you.
Heavy.
Warm Quiet.
Slow nothing to solve.
Nothing to remember.
Nothing to prepare.
The day is finished.
Your body can repair.
Your nervous system can settle.
Your muscles can release.
Your heartbeat can slow.
You're breathing and softened.
You can disappear into the quiet space between one thought and the next.
Imagine darkness surrounding you now.
Not empty darkness,
Comforting darkness.
Like being wrapped in something soft.
The outside world becoming further away.
The room disappearing.
The walls disappearing.
The day it is appearing.
There's only warmth.
Breathing.
Hairiness and darkness.
Your body knows this place.
And knows how to sleep.
Let go of the meditation.
Let go of my voice.
Let go of the next breath Your body will take it.
The day is over.
You have done enough.
For these next hours,
Nothing is required from you.
Rest Repair.
Restore.
Let the night take care of you.
Breathing in.
And slowly out.
Heavier quieter further away.
Your thoughts becoming fragments Your awareness drifting.
Your body sinking.
Deeper.
And deeper.
And deeper.
And to rest You can stop listening now.
You can sleep.
Your body can do what it has always known how to do.
Rest Restore.
Heal Sleep.
