Love Yourself To Sleep

This is a simple body scan meditation to help you love yourself to sleep. You will slowly go from the tips of your toes to the top of your head and reflect on your relationship with each part of your body. Then, using the energy from your heart, you will fill the body with love and light. This meditation will help ground you in self-love for a deeply relaxing journey into sleep.

Transcript

This is a self-love meditation to help you love yourself to sleep.

Self-love is a powerful practice.

It helps us accept our failures and mistakes as part of our journey.

It helps us set clear boundaries with those we love and those we could see a little bit less of.

And maybe most importantly of all,

It helps us choose self-care practices.

When to relax,

What to eat,

When to go to bed,

When to wake up,

When to exercise,

When to meditate.

Self-love helps with all of these things and more.

And so in this practice we're going to focus our love on our physical body with a short body scan that will help you relax and accept all the parts of your body from the tips of your toes to the top of your head.

So go ahead and find a comfortable position.

If you're going to sleep,

Lie down in your bed.

Keep the arms and legs uncrossed and open.

And take a few moments to really get yourself comfortable.

Take any final little wiggles with your fingers,

Your toes,

Your feet.

Open and close the mouth to relax your jaw and all the tiny muscles of your face.

And then gently close your eyes.

And we'll begin by noticing the breath in the body.

Feel your body breathing as you inhale softly and exhale softly.

Not changing the rhythm of your breath,

Just noticing how it is right now.

Does your breath stop in the chest?

Or can you feel your belly rise and fall with each inhale and exhale?

Notice if your inhale is longer or shorter than your exhale.

Our inhale is meant to bring energy into the body.

And then the exhale helps the body to relax.

So in order to more deeply relax the body,

We're going to take an inhale and then take a nice long exhale out.

Normal length inhale.

And then extra long exhale.

Continue with this breath.

And on each exhale,

See if you can relax just a little bit more into your seat or into your bed.

Allowing all the muscles in your body to let go.

In this moment,

You are completely safe to relax and breathe.

Then begin to bring your attention to your heart.

Maybe you get a sense of the heart's energy.

Maybe you can feel your heart beating.

And I want you to imagine the heart's energy as a glowing ball of light.

It can be any color,

Texture.

It can be sparkly,

Flowing,

Pulsing with your breath.

Just bringing to mind what your heart's energy looks like.

And then allow this ball of energy to grow with your breath.

Each inhale increasing the intensity.

And with each exhale,

Feeling that heart's energy grow with your breath.

And with each exhale,

Feeling that heart's energy infuse your body with light.

Take a few breaths.

Becoming aware of this heart's energy and allowing it to infuse your body with light.

And now bring your attention to your feet and toes.

Take a moment to reflect on what you think about your feet.

Maybe you have some common gripes with your feet.

You don't like the length of your toes or your toenails.

Maybe you're annoyed that you got injured in your foot.

Maybe you just love your feet.

Just taking a moment to visit any thoughts you might have around your feet.

And then,

Either in your head or out loud,

Say,

I love my feet.

I love my toes.

And then imagine that energy,

That pulsing energy from your heart,

Flowing down your body and filling your feet with light.

I love my feet.

I love my toes.

From here,

We'll move to your calves,

Your knees,

Your shins.

Take a moment to visit any thoughts you might have.

Any thoughts that may not be the most loving,

But that you can share with others.

Any thoughts that may not be the most loving,

But they're there,

So we acknowledge that they exist.

And then,

Take that beautiful heart energy.

Infuse your calves,

Knees,

And shins with light from your heart.

And tell them that you love them.

I love my calves.

I love my knees.

I love my shins.

Moving up the body to your thighs,

Your hips,

Your glutes.

Take a moment to visit any thoughts about these areas of your body that may not be the most loving.

Allow them.

Thank them.

And then,

Pull that energy from your heart into your thighs,

Glutes,

And hips.

And tell them that you love them.

I love my glutes.

I love my thighs.

I love my hamstrings and my hips.

Now,

Coming to your belly.

What do you think about your belly,

Your low back,

Your chest?

Visiting any thoughts or opinions or beliefs you have about this part of your body,

Your belly,

Your chest,

Your back.

The heart's energy is close now.

So,

Whenever you're ready,

Pull that energy from your heart and allow it to fill your torso with light.

As you say,

I love my belly.

I love my chest.

I love my back.

I love my chest.

I love my back.

From here,

Bring your attention to your fingers,

Hands,

Wrists,

Forearms.

Think about your fingernails.

Bring to mind any not-so-loving thoughts you have about this lower part of your arm.

And then,

As you pull that heart's energy into your lower arm,

Tell your hands,

Your fingers,

Your fingernails,

Your wrists,

That you love them.

Make your way up to the upper arm,

Shoulders,

And neck.

Think any not-so-loving thoughts.

What do you think about these areas of your body?

What are some common ways that you criticize these parts?

And then,

As you feel ready,

Pull the heart's energy into your arms,

Into your shoulders,

And into your neck,

Filling it with that deep,

Bright heart's energy.

And thinking to yourself,

I love my arms.

I love my neck.

I love my shoulders.

And then,

Finally,

Coming to your face,

Your jaw,

Lips,

Nose,

Eyes,

Eyebrows,

Hair,

Lips,

Nose,

Eyes,

Eyebrows,

Hair.

Take a moment to visit any non-loving criticisms or thoughts you have about your appearance.

And then,

Whenever you're ready,

Draw that heart's energy up and allow it to infuse your upper body,

Your face,

Your neck,

Your jaw,

Your hair with light.

And say,

I love my face.

I love my lips,

My nose,

My eyes,

My ears.

I love my hair.

I love everything about myself.

I deeply love and accept who I am right here,

Right now.

And even though I don't always speak to myself in the most loving way,

I know deep down that I am worthy.

Deep down that I am worthy.

I am loved.

I am accepted.

And as we finish our practice,

Feel how your whole body is filled with this bright,

Loving energy from your heart,

From the tips of your toes to the top of your head.

And once more,

Feel your body breathing.

And recognize that you are a miracle.

And your body is just your greatest teacher in this life,

Teaching you how to love yourself better.

Spend some time resting here in the light of your own love.

Namaste means the light in me sees and honors the light in you.

So namaste.