Welcome.
Might you now let yourself imagine not falling asleep,
But what it feels like to wake up after a wonderful restful night of sleep.
In one moment you are asleep,
Perhaps in a dream,
And the next.
Imagine that moment of awakening,
That exquisite liminal space between unawareness and awareness.
One moment asleep,
The next awake.
You might take a moment now to imagine what a perfect awakening is like.
Perhaps you wake up to another person,
Perhaps to the song of birds,
Perhaps to a luxurious warmth suffusing every part of your body.
Then imagine that from that perfect moment of awakening you choose to re-enter sleep.
You might fall easily back into a deep and dreamless sleep,
Or you might fall into the same dream you were having before you woke,
Or you might gently ride waves of sleep,
Either awake or fully asleep,
Dozing.
Let yourself remember what that feels like.
Right now conjure up those feelings.
Take your time.
There is no rush to get anywhere or to get anything done.
You are free to linger in this peaceful state.
The rigors and obligations of the day to come have yet to flood your mind.
There are no cares.
The detritus of dreams disappears like mist before the morning sun.
You are suspended between sleep and wakefulness,
With no obligation to move towards either.
There are no obligations of any kind to interrupt you,
No lists,
No commitments,
No duties.
Maybe as you imagine this state between sleep and wakefulness,
You also find a feeling of warmth.
Maybe the warmth of your bedclothes,
Maybe the warmth of a person beside you,
Maybe an animal curled beside your legs.
Let that warmth suffuse your entire body,
Spread over you like the softest blanket ever to exist.
As you imagine this state between sleeping and not sleeping,
Let you realize how similar it is to the state you are in now.
The spaces between sleeping and being awake and between being awake and sleeping are nearly the same.
They share the same physical space.
They share both quiet minds and relaxed bodies.
Right now,
Perhaps you lie in a comforting darkness,
Perhaps with a person beside you,
Perhaps an animal curled,
Perhaps with those most wonderful things,
Soft pillows and blankets.
Now is the time to put cares aside,
To lay down responsibilities,
To care for yourself.
You are moving from one state to the other,
Not from sleep to awakened,
But in the transition from the waking world to the world of sleep,
From day world to night world.
Let your journey now be one of moving towards the world of sleep.
Let's find our way there.
For a moment,
Allow your attention to be drawn somewhere.
It might be to your breath.
It might be to how you feel lying in your bed.
Perhaps the darkness of your room is comforting,
Safe,
Secure.
Wherever your attention is drawn,
Allow it to be to something pleasant.
You might begin to notice a feeling of calmness,
Perhaps a slow withdrawal from this world,
Perhaps an opening to yourself.
Something might pop into your mind,
Something you forgot to do today,
Something left unfinished that you had hoped to be done with.
It's all right.
No day is perfect,
And often the bright shiny plans we make in the morning don't survive the realities of how our days evolve.
You can forgive yourself in this moment for not getting done what you had hoped.
You can reassure yourself that after a night's rest,
You will return to the waiting tasks.
In this way,
You can build trust in yourself to follow up on your nighttime promises when a new day dawns.
You might notice that having this trust in yourself allows things to drop away from your consciousness.
You might notice how this trust allows a more profound sense of calmness and peace to wash over you as you continue to settle into yourself.
Just notice how the journey is going.
Maybe the going is smooth and you glide closer and closer to rest.
Maybe something that weighs upon your heart interrupts your journey.
If so,
Don't seek to push it away,
But allow some of your attention to rest in that place,
To rest on that weight.
You might allow compassion to settle upon that wounded spot.
Allow your compassion for yourself and everything you have experienced to soothe anything that is stopping your journey to rest.
As you move deeper,
You might bear in mind that there is an unbeaten and unwounded place in your heart.
There is a place in your heart where you are whole.
There is a place of tranquility,
Of repose,
And of harmony.
That place is waiting for your presence.
It wants you to come in,
To settle in.
It wants you to experience peace and serenity.
Give yourself to this place,
This unbeaten and unwounded spot within you.
Allow a heartfelt feeling of peace to come upon you,
Perhaps beginning in your heart and radiating outward in all directions,
Radiating throughout your entire body,
From your very center to the tips of your fingers and toes.
As it radiates,
Your muscles will continue to relax,
Continue to let go.
You might feel as if you were sinking deeper into your bed,
As the gravity of earth holds you fast.
You might find that things that seemed important just a moment ago fade now,
Not gone,
But put aside for another time.
Put aside for a time when you are rested and can take them up again.
You might now be fully in that place in your heart that is unwound.
But don't worry if you're not quite there yet.
This wonderful place lies right in front of you.
It will always wait for you.
Let the beat of your heart,
The gentle rhythm of your breath,
Carry you ever and ever closer to rest.
When you arrive at that unbeaten and unwounded place,
Put down everything you are still carrying.
Lay down everything in this perfect spot.
Take rest.
