Welcome to this guided meditation for better sleep with Danny the Yogi Dog.
When considering any meditation related to sleep,
Recognize that there's nothing to force and nothing to make happen.
If striving makes sleep more challenging,
Set out to practice without specific expectations or goals.
We cannot make ourselves sleep,
But perhaps by aiming to stay settled and getting less caught up in our thoughts,
We will fall asleep anyway.
For this guided meditation,
There will be no ending bell or instruction.
At the end,
Continue to practice if you like,
Or hopefully enjoy a good night's rest instead.
So now let's start while laying down,
Allowing your legs to rest in a comfortable posture,
Perhaps hip width apart.
Basically placing your arms by your side,
Or perhaps placing your hands on your belly.
Begin by noticing your breath.
Taking a deep inhale,
And as you exhale,
Softly closing your eyes.
Paying attention as best as you're able to,
To the physical movement related to breathing,
Such as the belly rising and falling,
Or if you prefer,
Focusing your attention more closely on the air,
Moving in and out of your nose and your mouth.
Remembering it's normal expected even to have thoughts,
Lots of them.
Your mind rehashes the day or gets caught up in worrying about tomorrow.
Recognize those habits,
And then softly practice letting them be.
Label whatever grabs your attention,
And come back again to noticing the breath.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Softly begin to notice if you're finding yourself caught up in effort,
Or frustration,
Or fear,
Begin with compassion for yourself.
Catch thoughts of self-criticism or frustration,
And come back to just one breath one more time.
Reminding yourself that thoughts are only thoughts,
And that you are not your thoughts.
Breathing in and breathing out.
There's nothing you need to fix or change right now in this moment.
Coming back to the breath.
Now shifting your attention to any sensations in the body.
Start by moving your awareness to physical sensations in your feet.
From your feet,
Moving your attention into your lower legs.
Just noticing with a playful curiosity,
Whatever is there.
Getting go of a sense of effort or needing to make anything happen,
And returning to the breath.
And then moving from your lower legs through your knees and into your upper legs.
If you begin to feel any sense of stress or tension,
Aim to relax and let go.
Returning to your breath.
Breathing in and breathing out.
You might notice a sense of your breath moving up and down,
Or other physical sensations,
Or sometimes even a reflection of emotion.
As you move from your belly and now into your chest,
Continue to stay with your breath.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Moving around into your back,
Perhaps a place where you may hold tension.
Begin to relax these muscles as you lower your shoulders.
Breathing in calm and relaxed.
Breathing out any tension or stress.
Shifting your attention into your hands and lower arms.
Again,
Without actively needing to move or change anything.
Simply observing and letting go.
Begin moving through your neck and into the muscles of your face.
Perhaps noticing any locations of tightness or pinching.
And then with gentleness as best as you're able to,
Relax all of these muscles.
And now if you're so awake,
Bringing your attention back to the breath,
Being gentle and knowing that if the mind wanders into the past or into the future,
That's okay.
Just simply return to the breath as your anchor.
Maybe even counting breaths,
Breathing in one,
Breathing out one,
Breathing in two,
Breathing out two,
All the way until you reach 10.
And then starting over at one again.
If counting becomes a distraction,
Then simply stay with the sensation of your breath.
Wherever you feel the breath entering or leaving your body or the rising or falling of your belly and chest.
Continue on your own now,
Counting breaths up to 10,
Patiently returning your attention whenever you become distracted.
If you lose track of counting,
That's fine.
Just start over wherever you last remember.
