Welcome to this relaxing meditation to help you prepare for sleep.
I'm your guide,
Dorsey Standish.
In this meditation,
We will use the tools of gentle breath and body awareness to help you drift peacefully off to sleep.
Before we begin,
Make sure that your phone is on do not disturb and your alarm is set if needed so that you can stay off your phone and relaxed and asleep after this meditation.
Take a few luxurious stretches as you recline on your bed.
You might even take a moment to thank your body for carrying you through another day.
As you begin to settle in,
Close down your eyes and bring your attention inward.
Invite in a few deeper breaths,
Inhaling into the belly and exhaling out through an open mouth to let go of your day.
Breathing in to calm the body,
Exhaling to calm the mind.
Breathing in to calm the body,
Exhaling to calm the mind.
Breathing in to calm the body,
Exhaling to calm the mind.
Know that you can always come back to these gentle breaths to help you relax into a calm,
Peaceful state to prepare you for sleep.
We'll move our awareness now from the waves of our breath to the sensations within the body.
Begin by noticing how your body feels in this moment.
Maybe there are areas of strong sensation within the physical body.
Maybe there are areas where there's no sensation at all.
There's no right or wrong.
We're simply feeling into the present moment using the sensations in our body as an anchor for our attention.
We'll begin to move into a body scan relaxation practice where I'll mention different parts of the body and you'll bring your attention to that area of the physical body,
Noticing any sensations or feelings in that part.
We'll begin with the area of the left foot.
Feeling into the left foot,
Starting with the left toes.
Feeling into the big toe,
Noticing any sensations here.
Feeling into the second toe,
The third toe,
The fourth,
And the fifth.
Getting curious about any sensations in the sole of the left foot,
Noticing any feelings in this area.
Scanning the top of the left foot now,
Noticing anything that's present and allowing it to soften.
Moving upwards to the left ankle joint,
There are strong sensations in any part of the body.
You can always direct your breath into the sensations to help them soften.
Feeling the awareness upward over the left shin,
The left calf,
Noticing anything that's here.
Maybe where this part of your leg makes contact with the bed,
The sheets.
Feeling into the area of the left kneecap,
The back of the left knee.
Scanning upwards over the left thigh,
Front and back.
Feeling anything that's present in this left leg and allowing it to soften with each gentle cycle of breath.
Feeling the left frontal hip point,
Feeling into any sensation in the left glute.
Letting the whole left leg be relaxed and heavy.
You might take a moment here to notice how the left side leg feels in comparison to the right leg.
Has your awareness practice made any difference between right and left?
Now we'll gently direct our attention into the right side of the lower body,
Starting with the right foot.
Feeling into the right side toes,
Beginning with the big toe,
The second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth,
And fifth.
Moving the awareness into the sole of the right foot,
Any sensation here.
Feeling over the top of the right foot,
Again noticing anything that's present in this area.
Feeling into the right ankle joint.
Continuing to move upward,
Scanning the area of the calf and the shin.
Feeling anything that's present in the lower right side leg.
As always,
If there are strong sensations,
You can let them be and simply direct your breath into that area to allow them to soften.
Feeling upward to scan the area of the right kneecap,
The back of the right knee.
Feeling into the right side thigh,
Front and back.
Feeling the right frontal hip point and any sensation in the right side glute.
Setting the whole right side leg,
Be heavy and soft.
As we continue to scan through the body,
Remember that it's difficult to think and feel at the same time.
So if you notice yourself caught up in thinking,
You can always redirect your attention to feeling into the body,
Moving your awareness into the body part that we're on at that point of the meditation.
We'll bring our awareness now to the backside of the torso,
Starting with the area of the sacrum and the low back.
Feeling any sensation here.
Perhaps there's sensation where this part of the body meets the bed,
The bedding.
Feeling upwards through the mid back and the upper back,
Directing your breath into these areas as you notice sensation.
Feel into the front side of the torso,
Starting with the abdomen,
The area around the navel.
This part of the body might be rising and falling with the breath.
Feeling anything that's present here.
Scanning upwards around the area of the chest and the sternum.
Noticing any sensation present here.
Perhaps there's nothing at all,
And that's okay too.
Now we'll feel into the left shoulder joint.
Feeling anything that's present here.
Move down the length of that left arm,
Feeling into the upper arm,
Inner and outer elbow.
Left forearm.
And wrist joint.
Feeling the back of the left hand,
Any sensation here.
Feeling the palm of the left hand as well.
Bring our awareness into the five fingers,
Starting with the left thumb,
Pointer finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
And pinky finger.
Letting the whole left arm be heavy and relaxed,
Supported entirely by the bed beneath you.
Feel gently move to the right side arm,
Starting with the area of the right shoulder.
Noticing any sensation here,
And using your breath to allow it to soften.
Feeling the right upper arm,
Bicep and tricep.
Inner and outer elbow.
Right forearm.
Right side wrist joint.
The back of the hand.
The palm of the hand.
And all five fingers.
Feeling the right thumb,
Pointer finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
And pinky finger.
Letting the whole right side arm be supported by the bed beneath you,
Soft and relaxed.
Scanning upwards still,
Noting the area around the collarbones.
Feeling any sensation present in the area of the neck.
Moving the attention upwards into the head,
Feeling what's here.
Softening the area of the chin,
The jaw.
Softening the insides of the cheeks,
The mouth.
Feeling into the nose,
The area around the eyes.
You might imagine the eyes sinking deeper into their sockets.
Feeling the ears,
The skin of the forehead,
And the surface of the scalp.
Moving your awareness out now so that you can hold your whole physical body in your awareness.
Let your body grow heavier and heavier,
Relaxing,
Getting heavier,
Letting go.
Good night and sweet dreams.
