That's it,
The day is done.
You can surrender,
You can give up,
You could quit.
Letting go.
Falling into the quiet,
Falling into the end of the day.
Falling into the dark and the still,
And the easy and the heavy,
And the light.
Just letting yourself go.
Letting go of what was,
And putting aside what could be or will be,
Or might be or won't be.
All those reveries and anxieties and fantasies and histories,
They're not going to help you in sleep.
They're not material to this moment.
But you can't force it either,
You just have to let it go.
Let it slide.
Get lazy.
Become unproductive.
Become a bad employee to life.
You're not here to do anything,
You're not here to serve anyone.
You're not here to answer any messages or to-do lists.
Just rest,
And enjoy yourself.
You can't force yourself to sleep,
You just have to get out of the way as much as possible.
And be okay with any result.
Even if it's just relaxing all night long without sleep.
That would serve a purpose too.
Maybe you want to give thanks for the day that was.
Congratulate yourself on something that went right.
Give gratitude for something special that you received.
Have pride in work.
Or maybe the day was terrible and you just want to crumple it up and throw it in the garbage and start again tomorrow.
That's a totally valid option.
And you're just breathing,
Taking deep breaths,
Exhaling slowly.
Slowly,
Maybe you exhale with the ancient breath word SELA.
You start to lose yourself in a little dreaminess.
You can start by forgiving.
Letting go of anyone who bumped into you,
Anyone who forgot to take care of something.
Your cat who wouldn't sit in your lap.
A friend or parent who didn't call back.
Deeper injuries.
You can definitely hold on to your sense of victimhood,
But I'm not sure it does you any good right now.
So you can put it aside,
If you're not ready to forgive.
Test it out.
Breathing,
Just getting so heavy.
Letting it all fall away.
And you kind of know that if people have done you wrong,
You've done other people wrong.
You've made mistakes,
Sometimes on purpose.
Maybe you're not ready to apologize or even acknowledge the error,
But you could open yourself up to the possibility of seeking forgiveness.
May it be acceptable.
And your eyes just start to get heavy.
Your body sinks in.
Your breath slows down and the world gets a little quieter.
And a little quieter.
And a little more quiet.
And then you get distracted,
You come back.
You get distracted,
You settle in,
Maybe even the beginning of a dream starts to creep in,
And that's its own kind of distraction.
Just keep letting yourself go.
And take a moment to acknowledge how wonderful the world we exist in is,
And what a joy it is,
What a grace just to exist.
And all of this,
You,
Me,
Everything,
Came out of a unity,
Came out of the Big Bang,
Came out of a single experience that some people would call God.
And we're all part of it,
Floating in the same matter.
Seemingly different,
But all united at the same time.
Maybe you take a moment to acknowledge that and feel the power of that thought.
Maybe it'll fill you with a love and gratitude or grace,
As you sleep,
When you wake up,
As your day goes on.
All the moments.
So pleasant,
So right.
You sink into your bed,
Your eyes get so heavy,
Your head gets heavy,
Your mind gets loose and woozy,
And you are protected.
You are sheltered,
You are gathered up,
Held close in a loving universe.
Nothing wicked is coming,
No pain,
No unusual distress,
Just sleep,
Just rest,
Comfort.
You're protected by great and good forces,
Who listen for you and support you and lift you up and protect you.
You breathe in deeply,
Out slowly,
Maybe you exhale with the word,
Allah.
Stretch,
Wiggle,
Get steady,
Get heavy,
Feel light.
Let gravity do the work and let your body let go.
Lie down in peace,
And when the time comes,
You'll get up peacefully,
Sheltered,
Protected,
As you go in and out of consciousness,
All through the night,
Till the morning comes.
Giving your soul to a loving universe.
Great and good forces look over you,
Look over our ancestors,
And will look over our descendants.
Take it all in,
Just breathe deeply,
Exhale slowly,
Feel that presence,
Feel that calm,
Feel the loving universe,
Steady presence.
And the universe is blessing you,
And guarding you,
Shepherding you through the night.
Take it in,
Hold it close.
And the universe is looking down on you with grace,
Just extending itself toward you.
Love and grace and support and merit.
Breathe that in,
Absorb what the universe can offer.
And the universe is looking towards you with an offering of peace,
Wholeness,
Tranquility,
Harmony.
All for you,
And for everyone else at the same time.
Just yours.
You may sleep,
But the universe will guard you.
The world will go on without your presence for this moment.
Nothing active to do,
No steps to take.
Just rest.
Let rest solve the problem.
And around you great and good forces.
During the day you wonder,
You have so many questions and anxieties,
And at night you can just put them down on your right,
With a great and good force who gathers up all your questions.
And during the day you struggle,
Do mighty effort,
Grapple.
You can put all that energy down at your left side,
With a great and good force responsible for vigor and strength.
And out there ahead of you a light shines,
And behind you a force of healing,
Supporting you,
Stilling you,
Reaffirming you as you sleep,
Giving you strength and healing and courage through the night.
All through the night.
Maybe you fidget,
Maybe you have a few words of prayer you want to say.
Maybe you yawn and exhale with the word.
Maybe that's all you need.
And the world goes on.
The world is full,
And deep,
And eternal.
And it was,
And it is,
And it will be.
And it is whole and unique.
You are held within it.
Uniquely special and free.
And you drift.
You come back and you drift.
You let go again and again as long as you need to rest,
To meditate,
Perhaps to sleep and dream.
And you can entrust your body and spirit into the palm of the loving universe with nothing to fear.
