We'll start with a body scan.
Slowing down and letting your attention wander around your body.
You might wanna go top to bottom,
Bottom to top,
Left to right.
Noticing what's sore or stiff or holds pain.
What feels great and vibrant and excited.
Where your muscles are weary or just well-used.
Start from one end and let your attention drift across your body.
Maybe you start from your right foot to your left shoulder.
From the top of your skull down to your heels.
Just traversing,
Noticing what's tight,
What's loose,
What's holding,
What's letting go.
Not forcing.
Maybe that induces a yawn or allows you to relax more deeply or to sink into your seat or begin to drift.
Whatever your body needs,
It probably can tell you.
So go there.
Allow yourself to relax.
Don't force it,
But get out of the way of the tiredness.
Let it permeate your body.
Seep into your muscles and sinews.
Letting your bones go limp and soft,
Unheld.
Stretch and fidget.
Maybe you yawn,
Maybe you take a deep breath and exhale with the ancient word sela.
Just letting go.
Noticing where there's pain in your body and giving it special attention.
And if that becomes too much,
Focusing on a part of your body that feels good,
That feels at ease,
Or a mix of the two.
Just loving yourself for a few moments.
Enjoying your embodied experience of existence.
It's quite a blessing.
Slowing down.
Being embraced by quiet and settling into stillness.
Maybe your brain is a little bored.
Isn't that interesting?
Using less energy,
Less muscular strength,
Less prowess.
You will inevitably become distracted.
Fears,
Anxieties,
Fantasies,
Worries about the past,
Regrets,
Desires to please others.
Those are all human and essential to human nature.
And it's essential that your neurons work,
Your brain be functioning.
But you don't have to live there.
Just keep returning to the physical and sensory experience.
Use my voice as a cue to steady yourself.
Go and come and go and come again and again without pressure or resolve.
Breathing with a yawn or exhaling with a sela or both,
Stretching,
Shifting,
Fidgeting,
Getting settled,
Cozy,
Comfy.
Whatever you need,
It's all open to you.
Let's start with a little forgiveness.
People anger you,
People damage you,
People trip you.
Bump into you,
Dishonor you.
It's in the nature of living and certainly in living in society that other people will injure you materially or emotionally.
You can hold on to that slight as long as you want.
But it's not gonna help you sleep.
It's probably not gonna make you happy.
You might be tempted to let go of it or at least explore that possibility.
And forgive.
Breathing forgiveness,
Breathing openness,
Breathing expansiveness,
Letting go.
And given that people elbowed you,
You can probably guess that.
Is it you elbowed a few people today?
Say you're sorry in your head or imagine one day getting to that point.
Maybe you're not there yet,
That's okay.
Gathering up the wherewithal to forgive and ask forgiveness.
May it be acceptable.
You might begin to feel things are getting darker.
The day seems like it's receding and dreams might curl in at the edges.
Odd and fun and fantastical.
Your eyesight starts to dim.
Your thoughts wander to good things.
Hopefully not bad,
Not fearful,
Just delirium.
And the whole world is filled with the secret illumination.
And you recognize that it's all part of a shared experience,
That you are part of the oneness of the universe.
No beginning,
No end,
No mistakes.
All shared,
All one,
All together.
Breathe into that unity,
That coherence.
And maybe that gives you love,
Compassion,
And warmth.
And you feel it when you wake up and when you go to bed.
You feel a sense of that oneness inside your house and outside your house,
Walking,
Sitting,
Standing.
Wherever you go,
You're a part of it all.
May it be so.
Releasing any parts of your body that are still holding tension,
Opening up and folding in.
And you are sheltered.
You can trust.
You are protected and covered with nothing to fear.
Your body is sound,
Just as it should be.
And you have safe space to dwell.
And spirit guardians all around,
Always.
The universe is looking out for you,
Lifting you up.
You are full and sated.
You have enough.
Breathe in.
Take it all in.
All of that joy and fulfillment is yours.
You can breathe in and exhale,
Salah.
You're gonna lie down peacefully because you're gonna get up peacefully.
When the time comes,
And you're gonna be sheltered with peace.
Shielded,
Safeguarded,
Protected,
Rescued if need be.
Breathing into your whole body,
Giving yourself so much love with your breath and attention.
Letting it all stretch out.
Let all the tight muscles just fall loose and extend,
Become more supple.
And there are great and good forces looking over us at all times.
Perhaps more so when we sleep and we can't look over ourselves.
And they looked over those who came before us and they attend to those who will come next.
Surrounding us with concern,
Defending us with peace.
Breathe into that capacity,
Those possibilities of wonder,
Like dreams,
Like dreams,
Like a dream.
Universe gives you blessing and the universe safeguards you.
Blessing and protection,
Breathe it in.
The universe shines on you,
Looking at you with grace,
Offering you exceptional charity and compassion.
Take that in,
Breathe it into every bone and muscle and blood cell.
All of that joy and grace and blessing and protection.
And the universe also looks towards you to offer you peace,
A peaceful sleep,
Peaceful bedtime.
Can you take it in?
Breathing the support of a loving universe that knows your name.
Surrounded by loving forces.
During the day,
You have these questions,
Questions and doubts and wonders and seeking explanations and confusions.
And in the evening,
Those things can be delayed or even resolved.
You can lay all of those doubts at your right side with the great and good force that holds all doubts and questions.
In the day,
You struggle,
You wrestle,
You grapple,
You use your prowess and vigor and your muscles are tired after exertion.
Literally or figuratively exerting.
You can lay all that vigor on your left side with a great and good force of power.
And a great and good force holds out a light ahead,
Illuminating your bedtime and behind you,
A great and good force.
A great and good force will heal you while you sleep,
Restoring your cells and organs and capacities.
And above you,
A presence of peace and wholeness and love and compassion,
Looking at you with awe.
And acceptance.
Maybe you need to shake or shimmy a little more.
Maybe you need to adjust something.
Shiver,
Scratch,
Whatever you need,
Last gestures.
And then inhale to exhale with cella.
Yawning,
Stretching,
Just relaxing.
Because the world is going on.
You don't need to control it anymore.
You don't need to be awake to steer it.
You don't have anything to do.
It's altogether wonderful and you are part of it.
A beginning,
No end.
And you are just in the palm of the universe's hand,
Held lovingly,
Drifting in and out of consciousness and nothing to fear.
