If you wake up at night and you have a hard time falling back asleep,
Try this.
Lie on your back with your legs close together.
And then we're going to tense up and relax the body by pushing the heels away so you can feel the calves tense up.
Also tighten your knees,
Your thighs,
Your buttocks.
Pull in your belly,
Tighten your chest,
Tense up your back muscles,
Your shoulders,
Your arms.
Clench your fists.
Make it so that you really feel those tensions clearly,
But don't make it too intense.
Don't cause a cramp to happen or something like that.
Just feel clearly those tensions and add your throat.
Make a face so you tense up your facial muscles.
You can pout your lips.
And while you feel all those tensions all over your body,
Keep breathing.
I usually do this for about three breaths.
Really feel those tensions.
And then on the third out-breath,
Relax your face,
Your jaw,
Your throat,
Shoulders,
Arms.
Unclench your fists,
Relax your chest,
Your belly,
Your back,
Your buttocks,
Thighs,
Knees,
Calves,
And feet.
Relax everything and feel the difference.
Pay attention to how different the physical sensations are right now.
Now we're going to breathe deeply for three times.
So breathing in,
First let your belly rise.
Maybe put a hand on your belly if that's helpful.
And feel your flanks expand and finally your chest go up.
And when your lungs are completely full,
Keep them that way for a little while and feel that fullness.
And then breathe out,
First let your chest collapse,
Then your flanks,
And then your belly.
And also here when fully empty,
When you breathe out completely,
Feel that emptiness for a little while.
Then the second round,
Breathe in,
Belly rises,
Flanks expand,
Chest expands.
Pause when full,
Feel the fullness.
Then breathe out,
Chest drops,
Flanks contract,
Belly drops.
And feel the emptiness.
And then the last time,
Breathe in,
Belly,
Flanks,
Chest.
Hold,
Feel,
Breathe out.
Chest,
Flanks,
Belly.
Hold,
Feel the emptiness.
And then let your breathing happen all by itself again.
So we're going to repeat that twice more.
First the tensing and relaxing of the whole body,
Followed by the deep breathing.
So once again,
Your legs together,
Press your heels away,
Tense up the calves,
The knees,
The thighs,
The buttocks.
Pull in your belly,
Tense up your chest and back muscles,
Your shoulders,
Your arms,
Clench your fists.
Tense up your neck and your throat.
Make a face,
Tense up all the facial muscles,
Spout your lips.
Keep on breathing and feeling all those tensions for three breaths.
And on the final exhale,
The third one,
Relax from your face down to your feet.
Step by step,
Relaxing all muscles.
And feel the difference.
Feel the physical sensations.
Enjoy the physical relaxation.
And then again,
The deep breathing for three rounds.
Breathing in,
Belly,
Flanks,
Chest.
Hold when full.
Breathe out,
Chest,
Flanks,
Belly.
Hold when empty.
Second time,
Breathe in.
Hold full.
Breathe out.
Hold empty.
Third time,
Breathe in.
Hold completely full.
Breathe out.
And hold completely empty.
And let the breathing happen by itself.
Feel the difference there.
And once more,
Tense up.
Push your heels further away.
Tense up the calves,
The knees,
The thighs,
Buttocks,
Belly,
Chest,
Back muscles,
Shoulders,
Arms,
Fists,
Throat,
Neck,
Face.
Keep breathing.
Feel all those tensions.
Not too soft,
Not too intense,
But clear tensions all over your body.
And on the third out-breath,
Relax your face,
Your throat,
Your neck,
Your shoulders,
Arms,
Hands,
Chest,
Belly,
Back,
Buttocks,
Thighs,
Knees,
Calves,
And feet.
Relax everything.
Feel.
And then three times more,
Deep breathing.
Breathe in.
Hold when full.
Breathe out.
Hold when empty.
Second time,
Breathe in.
Full for a little while.
Out.
Empty for a little while.
And feel the relaxation in your body.
Now you can breathe naturally again.
Maybe you feel ready to fall back asleep by now.
And if you don't,
You can add a body scan.
For this,
Put your legs a little bit further apart.
Still lying on your back,
Relaxed in a resting position.
I'm going to name parts of the body,
And you can repeat them in your mind and really place your attention there.
So for example,
I will say left foot.
You repeat mentally left foot.
And you put your attention there on your left foot.
What can you feel in that left foot?
Or maybe you don't feel much.
That's okay too.
Just keep your attention there for a little while.
Okay,
Let's begin with the left foot.
Really feel it or try to feel it.
Then the big toe of your left foot.
Second toe.
Third toe,
Repeat in your mind.
Try to feel it as good as possible.
Fourth toe.
Big toe.
Feel the sole of your left foot.
Feel the heel.
Top of your left foot.
Left ankle.
Shin.
Scar.
Knee.
Back of the left knee.
Left eye completely.
Front,
Back,
Left,
Right.
Complete eye.
Feel it.
Left buttock.
Hip.
And arm.
Arm bit.
And maybe you have trouble following the guidelines.
And this might mean that you're ready to fall asleep.
So feel free to reposition yourself and actually fall asleep.
Or else you can keep going.
Feel your left shoulder.
Upper arm.
Elbow.
Lower arm.
Left wrist.
The palm of your left hand.
The back of the hand.
Thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
Pink finger.
Or whatever you call that in English.
Put your attention on your right foot now.
Big toe of your right foot.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Pinky toe.
Feel the sole of your right foot.
The heel.
Top of the foot.
Ankle.
Shim.
Garf.
Knee.
Back of the knee.
Right thigh.
Right buttocks.
Hip.
Flank.
Arm tits.
Shoulder.
Upper arm.
Elbow.
Lower arm.
Your right wrist.
Palm of the hand.
Back of the hand.
Thumb.
Index finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
Pinky finger.
Move your attention to your lower back.
Upper back.
Shoulder blades.
Neck.
Back of the head.
Top of the head.
Forehead.
Left temple.
Left ear.
Right temple.
Right ear.
Feel your eyebrows.
Eyelids.
Feel your nose.
Cheeks.
Feel the lips.
Tongue.
Feel both jaws.
Relax your jaw.
Feel your chin.
Throat.
Feel how your chest moves up and down.
Feel your belly rise and fall.
And then feel your body as a whole from top to feet.
And if you're still not drifting off,
Count your out breaths.
Count your out breaths from one to ten.
And when you reach ten,
Start again with one.
Keep repeating that.
