Welcome to this body scan practice,
Which is designed to relax every muscle in your body and help you fall slowly,
Gently and deeply asleep.
If you are lying in bed,
See if you can find a position that is 5 or 10% more comfortable.
Snuggle under the duvet,
Get your pillows just right,
Adjust your pyjamas or t-shirt so they feel super comfortable and let your body find its natural position of comfort and ease.
As we move through the practice,
You may find your mind is busy,
Full of plans,
Worries,
Thoughts about your day.
If so,
This is perfectly normal and not a problem at all.
Minds are busy,
That's just how they are.
But this is a time for your mind to rest,
Thoughts to ebb away,
Nowhere to be and nothing to do,
Except relax and drift off into sleep.
So if you find yourself distracted at any point,
Just notice your thinking and gently bring your attention back to the practice,
Back to the body,
Back to your intention right now,
Which is to relax.
One time,
Ten times,
A hundred times,
The process is always the same.
Simply notice that you are thinking and gently escort your attention back to the bodily sensations of relaxation and ease.
Let's start by focusing on your breath.
You don't need to do anything with the breath,
Just allow your body to breathe in its natural rhythm.
This might change over the course of the practice,
Which is fine,
Or it may not,
Which is fine too.
Bring your awareness to the physical sensations of breath travelling into and out of your body.
Try and track one whole breath cycle,
Entering the nostrils,
Travelling down the throat,
Chest,
Upper back and abdomen expanding.
Then a short pause before the process is reversed,
Abdomen,
Chest and back contracting,
Breath travelling from your lungs up into your throat,
Then leaving the body through your mouth and nostrils.
A short,
Simple,
Life-sustaining miracle that happens over 20,
000 times a day,
Every day of your life.
Now shift your awareness and bring it into the body,
Starting with your right foot.
You probably don't pay much attention to your feet on an average day,
So just notice what's happening here.
Let the spotlight of your attention shine on your toes,
Sole of the foot,
Heel.
As you move your attention through your body,
You may notice heat,
Cold,
Tingling,
Tightness,
Softness,
Skin-on-fabric sensations,
Or sometimes nothing much happening at all.
It's all good.
Just notice whatever's happening in the somewhat neglected part of your body.
And if you can,
Allow any muscles that feel a little tight or tense to relax.
Let your foot be sleepy,
Moving up into your right ankle,
Then the calf muscle,
Which can often get tired and hold little knots or zones of tension.
See if you can let your calf be relaxed.
Give it a break from its 24-7 job of carrying your body around and let it be soft and heavy.
Then travelling through the right shin,
The knee,
Up into the large leg muscles,
Quadriceps at the front and hamstrings at the back.
Again,
These are big,
Strong,
Hard-working muscles,
So can you give them a little vacation?
Let your upper leg be kind of loose and squashy,
Travelling up the leg into your groin,
Right hip and buttock,
Another big,
Strong,
Powerful muscle that might be holding lots of tension.
See if you can let that tension go a little.
Let your buttock sink down into the mattress.
Give it up to gravity.
Then up into your abdomen,
Ribcage,
Pectoral muscles,
The whole of the front of your torso.
Just take a moment to notice what's here.
There might be some energy moving around or perhaps a sense of tightness or holding on.
Release that,
If you can,
Letting this part of your body be at ease.
Up into the right armpit,
The shoulder,
Then travelling down again,
The upper right arm,
Elbow,
Wrist and down into your hand,
Palm of the hand,
Top of the hand,
Fingers and thumb.
Let your arm be heavy,
If you can.
Nothing for it to lift or hold on to right now,
So it can simply relax.
Now back up the arm and shoulder into the neck and throat,
The jaw,
Cheeks,
Nose,
Eyelids.
Let your tongue be soft and eyes rest in their sockets.
Release all the tension in your face,
Your ears,
Around the eyes,
Your forehead and scalp.
Sense your whole neck,
Face and head being heavy,
Resting on the pillow.
We hold so much tension in these parts of the body,
So try to let that tension go.
Your face smooth,
Peaceful and at ease.
Now travelling down the left shoulder,
Upper arm,
Elbow,
Wrist,
Hand,
Fingers and thumb.
Again,
Letting the whole arm and hand be heavy,
No need to fight gravity.
Just let it do its thing and allow your arm to sink into the mattress.
Then moving that spotlight of attention back from the hand and arm into the left shoulder.
And now the back,
Upper back.
Then travelling right down the length of your spine,
Feeling each vertebra in turn.
This strong,
Flexible column that supports you for every waking moment.
Why not give it a break?
Letting those vertebrae relax into the long muscles of the lower back.
Hold back now resting,
Still,
At peace.
Then into the hip and left buttock,
Which might be a little tense.
So allow it to take a break,
Letting the tension flow out like warm water.
Now down into the upper thigh,
Hamstrings and quadriceps.
Letting those be heavy and soft.
They work so hard for you,
So they need a break too from time to time.
Down,
Down,
Into the left knee,
The shin and calf.
Again paying particular attention to this large,
Hard-working muscle.
Letting it be for a few richly deserved seconds.
Now travelling through the left ankle,
The heel,
Sole of the foot,
Upper foot,
Toes.
Letting the foot relax,
Be soft.
And then let go of paying attention to your foot and have a sense of the whole body lying here.
Calm and relaxed,
Feeling the whole body breathing,
Still,
At peace.
Take a few moments just to enjoy that stillness.
Let yourself luxuriate in it.
Now let yourself drift off into a peaceful,
Restful and restorative sleep.
Good night my friend.
Sweet dreams.
