Coming in with a yawn,
And a stretch and a fidget,
Starting to discharge some of the energy of a frenetic day or week,
A chaotic household,
An agitated mind.
Those are all real and normal and difficult and funny and frustrating.
Just be kind enough to yourself to be honest that it's hard.
Days are hard and it's hard to let them go,
And there are a lot of things that keep us away from sleep.
Some avoidable,
Some less avoidable.
You can't make yourself sleep,
You can just remove obstacles.
So that's all we're going to do,
Is remove obstacles to sleep.
And when sleep comes,
You'll be ready.
Let's take a moment to acknowledge distractions,
Crickets,
Or a white noise machine,
Or sound of children and family pacing the halls,
Indigestion,
Too much caffeine,
Anxiety about what's coming,
Regret about what was.
Those are all legitimate and credible obstacles to sleep.
Maybe you'll only get as far tonight as acknowledging them,
Or you could play a little game of trying to stay awake.
You can stay awake the longest,
Or you can play a game of noticing which breath will be your last conscious breath tonight.
Might it be an inhale or an exhale that you fall asleep on?
Just be a little playful with yourself,
Forgiving,
And patient,
And generous.
Look around your body,
What needs to be adjusted,
Where do you need to shift,
Or maybe you just need to breathe in to some stiff corners,
Letting things release.
And then with each moment,
Getting a little slower,
A little more quiet,
And a little more still.
And you may not fall asleep,
But you can at least give yourself this time of stillness and relaxation.
That in itself is a gift and a kindness to give yourself,
And you can be proud that you do.
At some points tonight,
You might want to try exhaling with the biblical word of selah,
Which may have been an ancient mantra for the Israelites.
Selah.
Just settling in.
Noticing your breath.
Is your chest tight or constricted?
Can you open it up by breathing in more deeply?
Your mind may be racing.
Maybe you could exhale slowly to invite your mind to slow down.
Whatever works.
Or just be and do nothing.
You could carry grudges into sleep.
Probably won't help you sleep,
So you might want to think about forgiving any of the many injustices and indignities you probably have felt today or recently.
Try letting go.
And since other people have injured you,
You have probably injured other people.
Said dumb things,
Bumped into people,
Cut them off in traffic.
May you be forgiven and do fewer mistakes.
Not none.
That's not possible.
Then you might,
As you proceed to forgive and ask forgiveness,
Notice the light fading,
Darkness closing in,
The edge of dreams settling,
Consciousness drifting,
And sweet dreams prepared for the night.
Real joyful adventures beyond the conscious world.
Take a moment to take stock of the unity of the entire created world.
That everything came from one point and everything shares a destiny in a universe without end.
All made of the same essential stuff.
Rocks and humans and dogs and planets and stars.
All of it one,
Some mysterious way.
It might fill you with love and gratitude and a kind of pride to be a part of it all.
Maybe you feel it when you go to sleep or when you wake up,
When you walk,
When you read.
You might sense this oneness,
This coherence,
And you're sheltered,
Protected,
And beloved.
Great wings over you and a shield in front of you.
Nothing to fear.
Safe from harm.
Supported and carried by great and mysterious good forces.
Sated,
Your desires fulfilled just for tonight.
Supported.
Delivered.
Sela.
Breathing.
Just continuing to go slowly.
Let your mind wander and drift.
Your body get heavy and sink and your spirit float.
Heavy and light,
Light and heavy.
You lie down in peace so that you can wake up in peace.
Sheltered in peace.
Go out of conscious living peacefully into the dream world and eventually to return to the conscious day peacefully at the right time.
And you are spirited off by great and good forces.
Great and good forces that existed before you and watched over those who preceded us.
Gathering you up while you sleep.
Mysterious forces,
These same forces.
Look over those who follow us.
Ensuring their dignity.
Breathing.
Settling,
Getting slow and more still.
And more quiet.
And just absorbing the world and letting yourself be absorbed into it.
And the world blesses you and guards you.
Take that.
The world shines light upon you with grace.
Take it all in.
And the world looks toward you expectantly to offer you peace.
You sleep,
But the world goes on protecting you.
And sweet mysterious forces gather about you while you sleep to watch over you.
So many questions and doubts and wonderments during the day.
Confusion.
You can pile all those up to the right of you with the great and good force that will safeguard all your questions.
During the day you swim against the current.
You walk up the hill,
Grapple with others physically or metaphorically.
You struggle.
And at night you can let all that muscular energy desist.
And place that vigor to your left side with a great and good force responsible for vigor and courage.
Another great and good force holds a light ahead of you through the dreamland.
And behind you a force of healing massages your temples and your body and your brain with the healing power of rest and sleep.
And suffusing it all is a glorious feeling of protection and security.
You are blessed all the days of your life.
You might want to take a few more moments to breathe.
Fidget to let go of any last wishes.
Breathing in and then exhaling Sela.
Sela.
Like a yawn.
Settling in.
Feeling so heavy,
So slow,
So still.
And the world is vast and united and broad and eternal.
You float as though in a bassinet amid the glory of the universe.
Endless and wise and loved.
You are in the palm of a loving universe.
He is protected and you have nothing to fear.
