This meditation can be a preamble to rest or sleep.
I suppose you could use it just to relax between and among other events in your life.
Place yourself in the softest possible position.
If you're standing,
Sit down.
If you're seated,
Lie down.
And if you're lying down,
You could close your eyes and let your body slump into the couch or bed or floor,
However you find yourself.
Start giving it all away,
Letting go of all that was and all that still could be,
No time like the present.
You can notice any flittering thoughts that come across your conscious mind,
Any last anxieties or temptations before you allow yourself to give in.
There's probably even some childlike part of you that wants to stay up later.
Indulge that part a little,
Acknowledge it.
Acknowledge the joy of consciousness and the excitement,
Sometimes even fear of sleep,
Strange and profound and unknown.
And take a few longer breaths,
Deeper in,
Slower out.
Using your breath to cue the rest of your body and your mind to slow down.
You'll notice that I'm even speaking slower just as a way to cue us all into slowness,
Tranquility.
Rest and sleep is a way of healing.
It's a natural remedy for what ails us during the day,
Stiffness,
Soreness,
Emotional disquiet,
Perturbations,
When we let go,
The body can heal.
And tonight,
You're going to get distracted.
Your mind's going to wander and grasp.
That's the nature of brain cells,
Doing what they do best,
Part of our design.
When you get distracted,
As I will too,
Just breathe deep as a way of reminding yourself where you are,
What you're really here for.
And when you exhale,
You could use the ancient Hebrew word sela as a cue to return you to this place right on the precipice of sleep.
When you get distracted,
You could turn your distraction into a sleep-related curiosity and wonder,
Will I fall asleep on an exhale or an inhale?
That little question might help you break any anxieties.
We're breathing,
We're just settling into the quiet,
Noticing the stillness,
Being generous and loving with ourselves.
Say something kind and remarkable about yourself to yourself.
You're a good dad or a great flute player or a fundamentally decent person or something as simple as you made perfect toast today.
Just a small word of kindness to yourself at the end of the day.
The first action of ritual we take is to forgive,
To let go of that where we can.
Let resentments subside and drift.
And every single day,
Something unfortunate happens.
People injure us.
At the end of the day,
We forgive.
And if you're not completely ready to forgive,
You could incompletely forgive.
Just a maybe on that forgiveness is enough.
And people have hurt you,
You forgive.
You've probably hurt people.
Maybe they can forgive.
So ask for that.
Put out a hope that you will be forgiven for all the silly little mistakes you make,
Even the ones you keep making,
Even the times you kind of do it on purpose.
And forgive yourself too.
May it all be acceptable.
As the light dims and you let yourself wonder,
Which breath is the one I fall asleep on?
Would it be an exhale or an inhale?
Notice your eyes closing,
Your pupils dilating to the edges of dreams drifting in the frame,
Strange and not quite real.
Humors arrive.
You may even say a word of hope for good dreams,
Sweet dreams.
You're breathing.
Gravity is pulling you right to your bed,
Holding you down,
Covering you up,
Slowing you down.
Letting go of all of those childlike wishes to stay awake just a few minutes more.
We take a moment to acknowledge the wonder of the creation in which we live.
All existence,
Our own and every other one,
Is united and tied together in a web of origin and destiny,
Something sacred and profound,
Starting together and continuing eternally,
Filling us with continual love and awe for all that exists.
And you're protected with billowing wings,
Towering shields,
Great strength,
Lifting and covering you,
Safeguarding you in its canopy.
The universe knows your name and is carrying you buoyantly.
You are lifted.
And the peace that can't be understood is suffusing you and your bed or couch,
Wherever you are lying,
Embracing you,
Shielding you and carrying you off into the realms of sleep and dream so that you will return safely.
You will go out from the waking life in peace and security.
When the time comes,
You will reawaken blessed,
New vigor.
Your spirit will be safeguarded throughout all of it,
Breathing into the quiet,
Deeply in the stillness,
Surrounded by and pervaded by great and good forces that watch you as you sleep.
The same marvelous forces that watched and safeguarded those who preceded us and will watch and will guard those after.
This great,
Awesome universe is looking at you,
Knows you,
Knows your name and blesses you,
Blesses you and guards you.
This vast universe looks upon you with grace and illumines you with mercy.
Breathe it deep as this awesome universe looks towards you,
Filling you with wholeness.
You can surrender all your burdens as you sleep.
There are,
In some traditions,
Great and good forces safeguarding you in your sleep.
In the day,
You,
Perturbed by questions,
Might wonder,
Wander.
At night,
You can safeguard all of those questions at your right hand,
A great and good force who attends to wishes and questions.
In the day,
We exert,
Jump,
Ride,
Push,
Run,
Lift.
At night,
We don't need to use our vigor.
We can deposit it with the great and good force responsible for heroism resting at our left.
Before us is a great and good force with the night light,
Illumining the way through the lands of dreams and behind us,
The force of healing,
Salving our aches and pains,
Helping us to knit our wounds and release sore muscles and joints.
And above us,
An overwhelming majesty,
The awesomeness of all the universe.
Breathe it all in with safety and security and exhale,
Salah.
You may have a few last moments of fidgeting,
Adjusting,
Twitching,
Scratching,
Whatever you need to do.
Shake it all off,
All the remains of the day.
Breathe in and out with,
And you're contained,
You're held.
The universe is ongoing.
It'll be here when you wake up.
And as you sleep,
You are held in the palm of a deeply loving that will care for you all the way through the night with nothing to fear.
