Welcome to our soften to sleep practice.
Likely practicing this from bed.
I'll invite you to do this practice laying on your back.
You could have a pillow under the head,
Maybe one under the knees as well to help release the low back.
Of course,
If laying on your back isn't comfortable,
Take whatever position you need to be comfy and know that you can move at any point.
Take any last few movements you'd like here.
Sometimes a big stretch or walking the shoulder blades in underneath you feels good.
Letting ourselves rest.
And I'll invite you to look around your space.
So even if it's dark in the room,
Let your eyes be open for a moment and notice what you can see.
Notice where you are.
And that in this moment,
We're safe and settled in our beds.
When you're ready,
Let the eyes close or gently rest on one point.
Invite a softness into the face.
No need for expression.
Maybe taking one full and generous inhale through the nose.
And a long sigh out through the mouth,
Maybe.
Let the breath return to its natural pace and rhythm.
Trusting the body to breathe for you.
Notice how it feels to breathe.
We'll slowly curl the fingertips in towards the palms making a fist.
Squeeze tight,
Tight,
Tight,
Slowly,
Steady squeeze.
Tightest fist you can make and then release,
Letting your fingers uncurl your hands.
Let's do that again.
We'll make fists so slowly curling the fingers in.
Squeezing tight,
Tight,
Tight.
Hold that squeeze for a moment and then let go.
Feel as the hands soften,
Uncurling on their own even.
Feel that difference between tensing and relaxing.
So let's do that again with the hands making fists.
And this time we'll squeeze the face too.
So squeeze the eyes really closed.
Squeeze the mouth like you ate something sour.
Tense every muscle in your face.
Squeeze your hands.
Hold this squeeze for a moment and let go.
Face softens,
Hands soften.
You might even feel that release some muscles in the arms and shoulders.
We'll do one more.
So squeezing the hands,
Squeezing the face and this time squeeze your toes too,
Like you're making foot fists.
Squeeze it tight.
And in doing this you might feel muscles tighten in the legs,
The arms,
Even the center of the body.
Hold it for three,
Two,
One.
Let it all go.
Feel as the body softens,
Releases,
Maybe even more than before.
Kind of feels like a sigh for the body.
Give yourself a few breaths here.
Just linger in this relaxation spreading throughout the body.
You might imagine the body getting a little heavier.
Sinking into the support underneath you.
Notice the texture of whatever you're laying on.
The softness,
The support.
The texture and temperature of blankets,
Pillows,
Anything around the body.
Let yourself feel supported,
Cozy,
Cushy here.
Imagining the forehead smoothing out.
Releasing the space between the eyebrows,
The temples.
Smoothing the skin around the eyes even.
Imagining the eyelids as heavy,
So heavy that they could close on their own.
Noticing where upper lash and lower lash line meet.
Noticing how the eyelids feel,
Are they fluttery,
Heavy?
Simply being aware.
You could let your eyeball soften into the sockets.
Letting cheeks be heavy.
Jaw releases.
The tongue might rest just behind the teeth on the roof of the mouth or any place it feels comfortable.
Feeling gravity resting on your shoulders.
Your arms.
Noticing how palms feel.
As we relax,
The fingers might be slightly curled in.
They do it on their own.
Noticing how the hands feel.
Without changing anything.
Is there space between the fingers?
Do certain fingers touch?
What do we feel in the palms?
A temperature,
Texture.
Back of the hand.
Aware of the hands.
The heavy arms and shoulders.
Bringing your awareness to your collarbones.
Chest and belly.
Could you feel the breath here?
Can we let the chest and belly be so soft that the breath isn't restricted?
Letting go of any hardening that might happen in these areas from the demands of the day.
It might take a few breaths to soften these areas.
Chest,
Ribs and belly hold a lot for us.
Let the breath really expand you here.
As you breathe out it might let you soften a little more.
You could spend as much time here as you'd like.
Or you could continue on.
Noticing hips and pelvis.
Maybe imagining this area widening,
Sinking slightly.
Softening the hips,
The seat.
Let this area melt and release.
Let the thighs soften.
Letting the bone,
The femur of your thighs sink heavy into the hip sockets.
Let the knees be as they are.
Releasing,
Softening here.
Letting the calves relax.
Spacious.
Softening the ankles.
Soles of the feet.
Toes.
Letting both feet,
Both legs soften and relax.
Feel as the whole body releases.
You might feel the whole body breathing here.
How breath moves in through the nose,
Down the throat,
Expanding the lungs,
The belly.
Breathing out it softens back into centre.
And as we breathe and the belly and ribs expand,
This kind of ripples out.
It gently moves the shoulders,
The hips.
And these in turn gently move the arms and legs.
You might even ever so slightly feel the breath moving the hands,
The feet.
No need to change the breath here.
Just feeling as it ripples through the body,
Like the ripples of a raindrop in water.
Releasing this for about three more rounds of breath here.
See if you can feel yourself sinking even heavier into the support beneath you.
And you feel gravity resting on the whole body,
Gently pulling you in.
Feeling support,
Warmth and comfort.
Lastly,
See if you can feel your heartbeat.
It might be subtle.
Once you've found the beat of your heart,
Send gratitude to your heart for beating,
Your lungs for breathing,
Your body for all the hard work it does day in and day out.
And send gratitude to yourself for taking this time to rest.
Thank you.
Take care and stay well.
