Just settling into our breath.
Closing your eyes when you're ready.
Making yourself cozy.
This is your time to get ready for bed.
You might want to stretch and yawn.
Breathe deeply,
Inhale and exhale with the word selah.
An ancient breath word we find in scripture,
Selah.
A pause word,
A word of exhale,
A word of shared breathing.
A word whose origins are mysterious.
We're laying down,
Letting the day close out.
Letting go of expectations and anxieties.
Preparing for a joyful tomorrow with a good night's rest.
And as always,
You can't make sleep.
You can't force yourself to fall asleep.
Your body will do it when it's ready.
What you can do now is just get out of the way.
Put your brain on ice.
Slow the thoughts down,
Slow the motion down.
Turn the volume down.
Listen.
Listen to sounds external and internal.
And even metaphoric.
Where you are and who you are.
All of it wondrous.
And blessed.
Enjoying the moment.
Enjoying the rest you are offering yourself with no conditions.
You don't have to fall asleep.
You don't have to solve any problems.
You don't have to figure out the past or plan for the future.
Just time to rest.
No demands,
No necessary expectations.
Just being kind to yourself.
Maybe you want to pause and offer yourself a little praise.
A gratitude.
A noticing.
A pride.
Something you did well.
I exercised with vigor.
I made myself a healthy meal.
I like to read.
I listen to beautiful music.
Whatever I'm doing.
Whatever it was today that you are grateful for,
Or proud that you did,
Or invested in.
Say something nice to yourself.
Give yourself a little cheering up.
Maybe you want to stretch and wiggle.
And extend and also get slower.
Go deeper.
Just relaxing.
Just falling in.
Heavy in your resting place.
A chair or a bed.
Letting gravity do the work.
So that your mind can float away.
Just drift.
You are the sky and everything else is just weather.
And your thoughts will come and go.
Because brains move and synapses fire.
You just keep coming back to this moment.
Your resting place.
The beauty of your body.
And the depth and slowness of your breath.
Getting lost in fantasies or regrets or anxieties and then just coming back.
It's all you have to do.
You can't turn it off.
You can just keep coming back.
Embracing this moment.
And then this moment.
And so on.
Until the last moment.
And we're going to start by letting go of all the things that cheesed us today.
All the things that triggered us.
Little problems.
Big problems.
People who made us angry.
People who made us sad.
Things that tripped us up or frustrated us.
Disappointed.
Just gently consider forgiving.
Maybe you can imagine forgiving those who have injured you.
Whether they did it on purpose or by accident.
Just elbows and boo-boos.
Maybe you can let go.
And take a deep breath.
Deep in.
Slow out.
Maybe a yawn.
Maybe exhaling.
Salah.
Whatever you need.
This meditation is yours.
And maybe because people have hurt you,
You know you hurt people.
And it's just part of being human.
Maybe you're ready to ask forgiveness.
Maybe not just yet,
But you could imagine it.
Wonder about the possibility of forgiveness.
Consider the possibility of the possibility of forgiveness.
Maybe that's enough.
Maybe so.
The light's starting to fade.
Your eyes are getting heavy.
Your pupils go dim.
Evening takes over and rest draws in.
The edges of sleep.
Lights go down.
Let me take a moment to acknowledge the vastness and wonder of the universe that it all comes from a shared experience.
The same ingredients.
The same atoms and molecules.
The same bang.
All one.
And wondrous.
And maybe you can imagine forgiving those who have hurt you.
Maybe as you go about your evening and your sleep and when you wake up,
You can think about that.
And it will fill you with loving reverence and reverent love.
All those moments,
Each precious.
May that be so.
You're sheltered and gathered up.
Protected.
Covered by wings and a shield.
Unafraid.
In a secure refuge,
A safe dwelling.
Healthy.
Strong.
With great and good forces.
Measuring your welfare.
And you're sated and full.
You can lay down and sleep.
Lying down with peace.
So that when you're ready,
You get up with peace.
Sheltered with peace,
Fullness and goodness.
Shielded and shadowed and sheltered.
And so that you can go out from the day and when the time comes,
You'll come back into a new day.
And all has unity.
Eternity.
Great and good forces preceded us,
Watching those who preceded us.
And they gather over us.
And they continue to safeguard the world beyond us.
Just breathing.
Inhale deeply.
Exhale slowly.
Take your time.
Try not to fall asleep.
So that you can enjoy this meditation and this time with yourself.
Hold on to consciousness a little more.
Embrace this moment.
Don't let it go just yet.
The world blesses you and guards you.
Absorb that.
The world turns toward you with grace.
Take it in.
And the world turns itself to face you and offer you peace.
And while you sleep,
The world is cared for.
You don't have anything to do.
Goes on without you.
And you're not missing anything.
Great and good forces surround you as you sleep.
During the day,
You wrestle and grapple.
At night,
You just drop all your energy and vigor to your right side.
The great and good force responsible for strength.
And at your left side,
All the questions,
All the doubts,
All the wonderment,
And worry.
Just set it down to your left side with a great and good force that can handle all of your doubts.
And the great and good force holds a lamp before you through the darkness.
And behind you,
Another.
That's healing seep into you through sleep.
And above you,
Most wondrous of all.
May you have a long and peaceful life.
Maybe you take some time to stretch,
Scratch,
And extend.
Breathe in deeply and exhale with Sela.
And the world is going on.
You don't have to do anything to keep it spinning.
It works with and without you.
You can let go.
Because the world was,
And it is,
And it will be.
Beginning,
No end.
Right now,
You can step off the stage.
Letting the heaviness take over.
Letting your mind and spirit drift into realms of sleep and dream.
Entrusting your body and your spirit in the palm of a loving universe.
Nothing to fear.
