I'm glad you're here and get yourself settled.
Just coming into this moment of stillness.
These preparatory moments so that you can rest or sleep.
Finding your way to deeper calm.
Stillness,
Quiet,
And a good listening.
Noticing the noise and the world around you as sounds fade before bed.
Going inward.
Feeling your weight in your bed or other lying place and your spirit becoming light as the responsibilities of the day depart.
Or you allow them to go.
Maybe they're not just going of their own free will but you can wave them goodbye.
Taking a deep breath in.
Maybe you exhale with a yawn.
Or maybe you use the ancient biblical word selah which was perhaps a breath meditation.
Just letting go.
Calming down.
Settling in.
Quitting on the world.
Quitting on the day and the week.
Bye-bye.
As you breathe,
You might orient your breath towards any spaces of stiffness or holding,
Tightness,
Clenching.
Just using a generous awareness and the attention of your breathing to give your body some space to open.
Let go and surrender.
Bye-bye.
Letting go of yourself and all of its demands and all of its grasping.
Enjoying a little time just to settle and relax.
Maybe again you breathe and yawn or you say selah.
Selah.
Letting go.
Feeling all the tiredness you held at bay because of the demands of the world.
Maybe you had a paper due,
A spreadsheet you needed to fill,
Some time with your kids,
Errands,
Whatever it was that kept you going.
Kept the energy buzzing.
It's hopefully over now and you can just let the tired take in and take over.
Pull you down,
Pull you in.
Let the heaviness take over.
You're breathing.
You're enjoying yourself.
Enjoying this moment.
As a gift.
And maybe you could try to forgive all the lousy things that have happened.
The hustle and bustle,
The rude comment from a clerk.
Someone getting in your way,
Cutting in line,
Shortchanging you emotionally or in your wallet.
People not delivering what they promised,
People being rude.
You could hold on to all those resentments and irritations but it probably won't let you or help you sleep.
So maybe you experiment with forgiving.
Letting go.
Releasing what was.
You can be angry about it tomorrow,
You can tell them to go to heck tomorrow if you have to.
But for now,
Let go.
And since you have experienced frustration and disappointment and been cheated or lost,
You can be sure you've done things like that too.
So maybe you seek forgiveness,
Even just from yourself.
Can you be forgiven?
Give yourself grace to get better,
Not be perfect.
Because perfect isn't real.
Perfect isn't possible.
It's not even a meaningful word.
And as you forgive and let forgiveness in,
Maybe you notice that things are getting darker.
Not scary,
Just dim.
And a peace is settling in all around you.
And whatever you are afraid of seems very distant and very small.
And only good dreams are coming,
All the sweetness you need.
May you be blessed.
I'm going to take a little time,
Just a moment,
A few words to acknowledge that the world is magnificent.
And it is all together incredible and all shares a common origin and a destiny and structure.
There is a unity in all of its diversity.
And that's incredible.
Maybe you notice it as you go to sleep.
Maybe you'll notice it when you wake up,
When you walk,
When you lie down.
You might notice that the world is special and coherent.
And you have a part to play.
And that's all that you need.
May it be so.
And you breathe,
And maybe you're yawning or stretching,
Or you feel your shoulders or your muscles just letting go.
Letting go.
All that you were holding on to doesn't seem so big anymore.
And barely seems worth grasping.
And you're sheltered.
You are protected.
Safe and saved.
Covered beneath wings and behind a shield.
Healthy and unafraid.
And great and good forces guard you and lift you up,
Carry you forward.
You can be strong and protected and delivered and sated.
May it be so.
See if you can feel the skin around your brow and your eyes getting soft.
Losing tone and texture,
Just giving yourself some natural Botox.
Letting all that holding,
All that muscle loose.
Maybe your jaw too,
Drops.
You're lying down peacefully.
So that when the time comes,
You'll get up peacefully.
Sheltered with peace and wholeness.
And you can go out of consciousness and then come in and out and in and out.
In wholeness and peace and harmony,
Most of all.
Giving over your spirit to the care of a loving universe.
And there are great and good forces that preceded us,
That took care of all the ones before us.
Knew all of their names,
All of our ancestors and those we can't name.
Knew them all by heart.
And those great and good majesties and forces know your name.
They'll look after those who come after us.
And the universe is looking after you,
Giving you blessing and guarding you.
Take that in,
Breathe it in deeply.
Exhale it slowly,
Hold on to it.
Blessing and safety.
The universe is shining on you.
Looking at you for grace to give you all that you need and more.
Breathe it in.
And exhale.
And the universe looks toward you so gently and expectantly to hand you peace.
The peace of wholeness and harmony and tranquility.
Undisturbed.
You're ready.
Maybe you stretch,
Maybe you breathe deeply,
Maybe you exhale with a yawn.
Or just that ancient word,
SELA.
And you are gathered up by great and good forces.
And during the day,
All the questions,
All the doubts,
All the wonderments,
Uncertainty.
At night,
You just put that to your right side.
Let it be gathered up by a great and good force responsible for questions.
And during the day,
During the waking time,
You exercise,
You lift,
You struggle.
Physically,
Emotionally,
Spiritually,
You make effort.
But now you can subside,
Now you can let go,
Surrender.
And you can put all that effort down on your left side with the grace of God.
And that great and good force will attend with vigor.
A great and good force holds out a light,
A nightlight,
Through the world of dreams.
And behind you,
Another offers healing,
Massaging it into your body.
Entering every pore,
And muscle,
And sinew,
And bone,
And organ,
Just healing you with the value of sleep.
And above you and around you,
Mystery that passes understanding.
And it's so wonderful that you don't even need to ask questions,
Just take it in.
Maybe you stretch,
Maybe you fidget,
Maybe you adjust,
Turn over,
Rub your pillow,
Whatever you need,
Pull up the covers and stretch.
Shake and shimmy,
And then exhale with the word SELAH.
And the world is continuous,
The world goes on and on,
And you are carried within it.
The universe knows your name and cares for you.
It was,
It is,
It will be,
And you are among it,
And within it,
Without beginning or end,
All and all.
And you can let yourself rest in the palm of this loving universe,
For you have nothing to fear.
