Hello,
I'm Rhys Jones and welcome to this sleep talkdown meditation.
Over the next 30 minutes I'll be guiding you through a visualization designed to relax your body and mind in preparation for sleep.
If at any point you start feeling drowsy and are struggling to follow along with my words,
Don't try to hold on.
Instead,
Allow yourself to let go and gently drift away.
There is no expectation for you to get to the end of this recording.
And so,
Now,
I'll give you a couple of minutes to get ready for bed.
Close your curtains,
Turn off your lights,
Slide under your covers,
Do whatever else you need to get comfortable,
And when my voice returns shortly,
The sleep talkdown will begin.
You come to,
Looking up at the moon,
Hanging big in the sky.
So big,
In fact,
That it takes up your entire vision.
It's all-consuming.
You can't see anything but the moon.
You're transfixed on it,
Fully present with it,
And completely at ease.
You've always loved the moon,
But on this particular evening,
You're in love with it more than ever.
And so,
As you continue to gaze,
Your heart lights up and your eyes soften.
As you continue gazing at the moon,
You now feel it gazing back,
Lovingly.
There is a presence there,
A wholeness,
An experience of observing and being observed.
And there is safety in this exchange,
A sort of mutual protection.
You're looking out for it,
And it is looking out for you.
Knowing this makes you feel even more at ease,
And even more relaxed.
And now,
You realize that you're observing the moon in its cycles.
It's not static in the sky like it usually is,
But in motion instead,
Time flowing faster than it should.
At first,
You question how this could be,
But as time goes on,
You let go and fall into the unusualness.
And there is peace in letting go.
No questions,
No thoughts,
Just observation.
From one cycle to the next,
You watch the moon change in the sky,
Being lit up from every possible angle by the sun,
Currently it's full and bright,
Which means that the Earth is directly in between the moon and the sun,
And consequently,
The entire disk is illuminated.
People call this phase the full moon.
As the universal dance continues,
However,
The lighting shifts and this movement lulls you into deeper relaxation.
Now,
The moon wanes in brightness,
And darkness creeps in from its edges.
People call this phase the waning gibbous,
And you take in every ticking increment as it goes.
Another sliver plunged into darkness,
Another sliver plunged into darkness,
And yet another sliver,
Another still.
The moon is fading,
Yet there is only beauty here,
And you smile at the sight of it.
And so,
The cycle continues,
And your breathing aligns with the universal rhythm.
A little less light,
A little less light,
A little less light,
Until only half of the moon is left hanging in the sky.
People call this phase the third quarter,
And soon there'll be nothing left at all.
The moon,
In its own little way,
Is dying,
But there is no sadness in this death,
Only acceptance and the knowledge of imminent rebirth.
And so,
The flow continues,
A little less light,
A little less light,
A little less light.
People call this phase the waning crescent,
And then mere moments later,
All light is gone.
The moon is between the Earth and the sun now.
People call this phase the new moon,
And for a moment,
There's nothing to see at all.
You sense that the moon's still there all the same,
But to you,
It doesn't appear that way.
To you,
There's a moment of total darkness,
And within that darkness,
Stillness,
And within that stillness,
A quiet preparation for what's to come.
The moment of darkness is short-lived,
And once more,
You witness the arrival of the light.
As quickly as the moon disappeared,
It now returns,
First a sliver,
And then a chunk.
People call this phase the waxing crescent,
And with time sped up like this,
You witness it in full flow,
Going from new to waxing crescent to its first quarter in what feels like mere minutes.
And so,
The march back towards a full moon continues,
From its first quarter into the waxing gibbous,
Then a little more light and a little more light and a little more still,
Before finally,
The entire disc is illuminated again,
Hanging in the sky,
Glorious and mighty and grand.
You soak in its essence,
Consumed by the vision.
In fact,
For a moment,
You forget you're looking at anything at all.
You become the sight,
And the sight becomes you.
As a full cycle completes,
Your vision now zooms out,
And you become aware of your surroundings once more.
You're sitting on a bed in a beautiful high-rise apartment building,
In the middle of a city at night.
The windows of your bedroom stretch from the floor to the ceiling.
Stars twinkle in the distant sky.
Your legs are tucked up towards you,
And your head is placed peacefully on your knee.
The moon is setting on the horizon,
And you feel deeply at peace,
Refreshed from your vision.
And now,
You feel ready for sleep.
After your beautiful journey with the moon,
The feeling of the bed beneath you is soothing,
The pillow beneath your head supportive and cool,
The sheets are light,
And the temperature is perfect.
Oh,
How you love sleep,
You think,
As you begin to drift off.
And oh,
How you love the moon too.
As the blanket of sleep envelops you,
Hypnagogic imagery of the moon lights up your mind's eye.
You are now in a state of supreme relaxation,
Fully at ease.
This visualization meditation has either lulled you into sleep,
Or brought you right to the edge of it.
Either way,
What awaits you now is a night full of restoration and dreaming.
It's time for your body and mind to heal.
And so,
With that,
I draw this session to a close.
Sleep well,
And we'll talk again soon.
