This is Dan Guerra.
Welcome to this recording,
Guided Imagery for Sleep.
So many of us have such difficulty with sleep.
I'd like to be able to help you improve the quantity and the quality of your sleep.
The methods in this recording have been taken from time-tested and evidence-based practices,
So I hope that you benefit from them.
This practice is designed to allow you to drift off to sleep eventually,
And therefore it'll end at some point without any announcement or warning.
And that's okay.
I invite you to let yourself be unconcerned with the ending.
Good sleep can sometimes be elusive.
With this practice,
We'll learn how to shut off an active mind and invite sleep to come to us rather than seeking it out or trying too hard.
In fact,
In this practice,
You don't have to try at all.
I just invite you to be receptive and to listen,
To shut off trying mind.
Take this time now to get as comfortable as you can.
Simply allow your body to let go,
Let go into the bed or whatever surface you're lying on.
And take your time now to make any adjustments that you feel you need in order to feel comfortable,
Relaxed.
Make sure you're not too hot or too cold.
And feel free to adjust your body in whatever position that feels the most comfortable.
If you're able to do so,
Do your best now to move into stillness.
Sometimes our mind just needs permission to let go of the stuff it's holding onto from the day,
Like an invitation to have a relaxed focus on something else.
For the time being,
You can allow your focus to rest on the good feelings of the body and to also focus on the sound of my voice.
It's not so important that you follow precisely what I'm suggesting,
But more like a restful focus and inviting attention on the sound of my voice,
The imagery,
And the process of just letting sleep come.
Very good.
Let's spend some time with the breath.
Let's take a nice,
Full inhalation.
And when you reach the top of your inhale,
Just let that breath go into an exhalation.
Let it all go.
That's it.
And then once again,
Inhale.
And when you reach the fullness of your inhale,
Pause for a moment.
And then with intention,
Let that go.
And exhale.
One more time,
Consciously.
Inhale,
And this time,
Before you exhale,
Imagine all the tensions and worries and negativity of the day just washing out and far away from you as you exhale.
Now exhale.
Good.
Now bring your attention to the space between your eyebrows,
Just a gentle escorting of your attention to that space right between your eyebrows.
And if you notice,
You can go a little deeper into that space by dropping down to the space just behind the forehead.
This is a safe and dark and comfortable space.
Rest your attention there.
And in this dark space,
You'll find a container.
That container may be of any type.
It may be of any size,
Shape,
Color,
Texture,
And dimension.
See that container emerge.
Or just know that it's there energetically.
You can now put all of your active thoughts,
Perhaps the thoughts that are unwanted right now,
Busy mind thoughts,
Tensions,
Worries,
Unfinished business.
Put all those now into the safe,
Stable container.
This container can be sealed and stowed away.
Only you have access to it.
It is safe and can be stowed away.
See your thoughts and your worries and tensions being placed into the container.
Maybe that happens visually,
Or maybe it happens just energetically.
Doesn't matter.
Just see it or feel it or sense it.
Mind becoming clearer and emptying for now.
You can return to any of those needed items at a later time.
Let's store that container away now.
Put it away in the back of your mind.
Or perhaps you might allow it to float away down a stream or a river of your choosing.
Or even see it being stored safely away up,
Up high on a shelf.
As you return your focus to just lying there now,
Comfortable,
Relaxed,
Focused on comfort and peace and the sound of my voice.
As you inhale now with a clear mind,
Feel comfortable and relaxed,
Beginning to slow down and melt into rest.
And as you exhale,
Enjoy the experience of letting go now even further.
Letting go of tensions and distractions.
Understanding on a deep level that it's safe to rest and to sleep.
That's it.
Just repeating this process with the breath and the letting go.
Almost automatic now.
You're moving into rest and comfort.
And as you do,
We'll take just a little trip through the body.
I'll name the body part and your job is to simply hear and just allow your mind to move with the sound of my voice from body part to body part.
Beginning with the back of the head,
Forehead,
Left temple,
Right temple,
Left eye,
Right eye,
The eyebrow center,
Left ear,
Right ear,
Nose and the tip of your nose,
Upper lip,
Lower lip,
Teeth,
Jaw,
Chin,
Neck,
The whole of the head,
The whole of the head,
Left arm,
Right arm,
Left side of the chest,
Right side of the chest,
The center of the chest,
Upper belly,
Lower belly,
Right shoulder,
Left shoulder,
The middle of the back,
The lower back,
The whole torso,
The whole torso,
Pelvis,
Buttocks,
Groin area,
Left leg,
Right leg,
Left knee,
Right knee,
The back of the knees,
Left foot,
Right foot,
Including toes,
Both of the legs,
Pelvis and hips and buttocks together,
Both of the legs,
Pelvis,
Hips and buttocks together.
Now the whole body,
The whole body together,
Whole of the body all together.
You can allow yourself to rest and to feel safe,
Comfortable and cozy.
And if you like now,
Continue to enjoy this experience right here,
Or you may bring your attention to that space behind the forehead again.
In this safe space,
You can see a black dot on a white board.
As you inhale,
The dot begins to expand and get bigger.
And as you exhale,
The dot shrinks just a bit.
As you inhale,
The dot gets even a bit bigger.
And as you exhale,
The dot shrinks just a little.
Your breath appears to control the size and movement of the dot.
In tune,
Each breath,
Dot expanding and contracting.
The dot expands and contracts until it fills the whole space.
Slowly but surely,
The whole space,
Your breath,
The expanding and shrinking dot and the space getting filled up with a comfortable,
Safe,
Secure darkness,
A healing darkness of inner peace and rest.
