Alright,
It's time to go to sleep.
At the very least,
It's time to relax.
Or perhaps just a few moments to yourself.
Nothing else to do.
Close your eyes when you're ready.
And lower your expectations.
Don't push yourself to sleep,
You couldn't do that.
You might be able to try to stay awake and that might trick you into falling asleep.
The data set is murky on that one.
Just enjoy this time.
And be grateful to yourself that you are meditating,
That you're giving yourself time to meditate.
Time to relax,
Time to lie down.
A break from action and doing an achievement.
That's all this needs to be.
And if in that time,
It's your time to fall asleep.
That's very good.
But it doesn't have to be.
This could just be a nice time to yourself,
By yourself,
With yourself.
In the dark and quiet.
You let yourself sink into that.
Feel the tire that's probably already there.
Most modern people are tired all the time.
You probably are too.
Let that just be part of the equation.
Just thinking in.
Letting go and becoming heavy.
Letting gravity do the work.
Your work for the day is over.
Becoming more quiet.
More still.
Not silent,
Not like a stone.
Just steady.
And when your mind wanders,
Because it will wander,
That is the nature of mind and the health of brain.
Let's come back.
Just invite your thoughts back to this moment,
To your resting place,
Your bed.
And take a deep breath.
And deeply out slowly.
Drawing the mind back to the breath,
Maybe to my words,
Maybe to your body and its weight and gravity.
Keep coming back.
And eventually the distractions will be the edge of dream creeping in.
Then you won't come back.
You'll go with that when it's time.
Drawing in more deeply and just settling.
Enjoying your own presence.
Enjoying spending time with yourself.
That's all you need to do.
Yawning,
Maybe?
Ectailing with the word cella.
The ancient biblical breath word cella.
Stretching when you want.
Coming in,
Coming down.
Feeling good.
Letting go.
Nothing to do.
Nothing to undo.
You start by forgiving.
You'll make us angry,
People.
Flip us off,
People.
Upbraid us,
People.
Wake us up.
Set us on fire.
And let go.
You could hold on to that anger.
Let it ferment inside of you.
I don't think it does any good.
I don't think it's gonna make you happier or help you to rest.
Just breathing.
Letting go of all the slights,
Deliberate or accidental.
That no one is punished on your account.
You don't punish yourself.
Holding on to it.
And you know that since people make mistakes,
You probably did too.
Hurt someone's feelings on purpose,
By accident,
Who knows?
Maybe you want to say,
I'm sorry.
Maybe you're not ready,
But maybe you could imagine being ready.
Or maybe you could joke about imagining being ready.
May it be acceptable.
And you rest,
And you're so heavy.
And all the weight of the world is just drawing you in and down and sliding off of you,
But letting you rest.
Fall in.
Your eyes get heavy,
The light gets dim,
Your pupils dilate.
And we take a moment just to acknowledge the grandeur of the world,
That it is so diverse yet comes from the same principles,
All of it,
Cats and dogs and humans and stars and quasars.
All from the same stuff,
With the same physics and chemistry and biology.
All one.
Give pause for that.
An acknowledgement of the unity and uniqueness of this experience.
Maybe that awakens in you,
A moment by moment,
Love.
Or creation.
And you feel that love and compassion as you fall asleep,
When you will wake up,
When you walk,
When you lie down.
May it be established for you.
You're breathing,
You're just resting.
You can't make yourself sleep,
You don't need to.
When your body wants to sleep,
It will.
So for now,
Just know that you are cherished and you are sheltered.
And protected.
Saved and supported.
You have a shield.
Hovered by wings.
And great and good forces lift you up and support you.
Carrying you.
Then you will be protected and safeguarded.
Taking in a deep breath,
Maybe you exhale with the word.
Oh,
That ancient word of comfort and breath.
So that you can lie down with peace and wholeness,
And when the time comes,
Wake up in wholeness and peace.
Sheltered and shielded.
And protected.
Even rescued.
So that you can go out of this time of consciousness in peace.
And return to consciousness peacefully when the time comes.
And great and good forces look over you.
Then look over.
Our ancestors,
They look over our descendants.
They watch over us all,
At all times.
And the universe blesses you and guards you.
Take that in.
Breathing in deep.
And slow.
In the universe.
Looks toward you and gives you grace.
Take it in,
Just breathe it so deep,
In deeply,
Out slowly with all that grace and guardianship and blessing.
And the universe looks for you to give you peace.
A wholeness that passes understanding.
Completeness.
Breathing it in,
Taking it all together.
And surrounding us when we sleep,
Great and good forces.
During the day,
You grapple with questions,
Doubts,
You put those questions down at your right side with a great and good force for questions.
And in the day,
You strengthen muscle.
Vigor.
Energy,
Even heroism.
You can put that down at your left side while you're asleep.
The great and good force that is heroic.
Another force holds out a light before you,
Like a nightlight through the sleep.
And behind you.
A force of healing.
Giving you healing while you sleep.
And above you,
Presence and mystery and grandeur all around.
All around.
You shake,
You shift,
And you shimmy,
Adjust,
And stretch.
It's any last words of kindness to yourself.
Breathe in deeply and exhale with the word cella.
Ella.
.
.
And a yawn and a stretch.
And the world goes on.
It was,
It is,
It will be.
You don't need to do anything to make that happen.
No beginning and no end,
The world continues and you rest amid it,
Right in its bosom.
No effort required.
And you can rest your spirit and body in the hand of the loving universe with nothing to fear.
Continuing to breathe.
Breathing yourself away in deeply.
Out slowly.
.
.
Maybe with that word cella when you need it as a reminder.
Maybe the dreams are already coming.
Svaha.
Sela.
Sama.
