Guided Sleep Meditation: Cognitive Shuffling

The first phase of the recording is dedicated to the sleep talk-down and the second phase of the video is dedicated to the lucid dream incubation. Today’s sleep talk-down theme is cognitive shuffling and today’s lucid dream incubation theme is swimming through an otherworldly void.

Hope you'll enjoy!

Transcript

Hello,

I'm Rhys Jones,

And welcome to this Sleep Talkdown and Lucid Dream incubation recording.

Today I'll be guiding you through the process of relaxing your mind,

Preparing yourself for sleep,

And then,

Once your mindspace has been softened,

Sowing the seeds for a lucid dream later on in the night.

In this particular video,

The Sleep Talkdown theme will be Cognitive Shuffling,

And the Lucid Dream Incubation theme will be Swimming Through an Otherworldly Void.

Please note,

You're free to fall asleep at any part of this recording,

So when you begin to feel tired,

Don't hesitate to follow that feeling.

If that happens during the Sleep Talkdown,

That's fine.

If it doesn't happen until the Lucid Dream Incubation,

That's also fine.

First and foremost,

Prioritize falling to sleep.

Do not wait for my permission to do so.

Follow my words until you begin to feel drowsy.

At which point,

Allow yourself to let go and gently drift away.

And so,

To begin,

Please turn off all of your lights,

Lay down on your bed,

And get into a position that you feel comfortable with.

Be it on your belly,

On your side,

Or on your back.

Whichever position you feel most comfortable in,

Adopt it now.

And then,

Make any final adjustments you need,

In order to feel fully settled.

For example,

Perhaps you'd like to fluff your pillow.

Or maybe you'd like to stretch your legs and then snuggle into your comforter nice and tight.

Which makes you feel cosy,

Is fine,

And should be done now.

If you haven't already,

You should now close your eyes and take a deep breath in and out.

And another deep breath in and out.

Then,

Allow your breath to settle into a normal rhythm,

Not forcing it to go one way or another.

Today we're going to be experimenting with a technique called cognitive shuffling.

This falls under the broader category of mind games,

And is designed to help ease you into sleep.

These so-called mind games have been researched for decades now,

The most popular example being counting sheep.

Cognitive shuffling is another iteration on the same concept,

And goes a little like this.

Scan through a selection of random,

Non-threatening images in your mind's eye.

Surely,

One after another,

Until you eventually start drifting off.

You do this by starting with a word.

Any word,

As long as it's non-threatening.

And coming up with things that start with each letter of that word.

So,

For example,

You might pick apple.

If so,

You'd then visualise something starting with the first letter of apple,

A.

Then you'd visualise something starting with the second letter of apple,

P,

And so on.

Then once you've gone through each letter,

You start fresh with an entirely new word.

This works because our brains are wired to make sense of things,

So by giving them something to dwell on and analyse,

It acts as a mental distraction of sorts,

And helps get our minds off stress and anxiety.

So let's give that a go now.

Choose a word.

Any word.

It really doesn't matter what.

As long as it's something that doesn't induce stress or anxiety.

And once you've picked that word,

Go through each letter.

Slowly,

One by one,

Visualising something that starts with each letter.

OK,

So presumably you've gone through at least the first word by now.

And perhaps naturally from there you picked up another word and began with that.

If not,

That's OK.

Let's start now.

Pick another word.

So,

For example,

You might pick table this time.

If so,

Begin by visualising something starting with the first letter of table.

T.

Then visualise something starting with the second letter of table.

A.

And so on.

Go through each letter of the entire word.

Slowly,

One by one.

And then start with an entirely new word.

Remember,

It can be any word.

It really doesn't matter what.

As long as it's not something that induces anxiety or stress in you.

So,

Choose a word now and begin.

Then pick up another word and go through each paragraph.

T.

And that's it.

Okay,

Just checking in one last time here.

You get the idea by now.

Take a word,

Visualize something starting with each letter of the word,

And keep on doing this.

As you do,

Notice yourself getting drowsier and drowsier.

You're lulling yourself into sleep with this,

Gently easing your grip on the wheel of the mind and letting yourself float away into sleep,

Relaxed and trouble free.

So,

You're getting drowsier,

You're getting drowsier,

You're getting drowsier,

You're getting drowsier,

And you're getting drowsier,

And you're getting drowsier,

And you're You You You are now in a supremely relaxed state either Sleeping or on the edge of sleeping and so we're ready to begin incubating a lucid dream for later on in the night by following along with my words and Visualizing them as you go you'll prime yourself to draw upon these very same images during room There's no need to follow along strictly Just continue relaxing and allow my words to wash over you Whatever images come come Even if you're now asleep know that your subconscious will soak these words in and store them for later So let's begin You come to in a dark void At first all you sense is awareness itself No sounds No sight No smell Just you But as the seconds tick by Small sensory murmurings emerge from the nothingness It starts with a sense of weight and touch You feel a body forming around your awareness a head Then a torso Now some hands And so to test what you have you take hold of what feels like a pole A cold metal pole Hanging in the void You sense deeply into the stimulus Unable to see it,

But you can feel it and it feels like a pole Where am I?

You think disorientated As you think the thought a vague smell drifts in Adding to your now growing ray of stimuli And the smell sparks a strong smell The smell sparks a strong memory And the memory enraptures you As the memory fades you now notice that the void is being punctuated with small glimmers of light First it's just one or two in the distance but very quickly more appear And before you know it the entire space looks like Well space as in stars You find yourself just floating there and amongst them Who am I?

You wonder trying to push through the ego death and find something solid You search through your memory banks and eventually stumble upon something familiar A name And then you attach that name to a family And that family to a location And just like that your sense of self Comes into bloom So So So So So You remember who you are now but your thoughts continue to wander disorientated Trying to make sense of where you are Floating in amongst the stars like this Directionless and adrift It doesn't quite make sense Welcome to the dream A voice gently echoes through the space And just like that you realise not only who you are but where you are You're dreaming of course Drifting in between the stars Of your own mind And so lucidity begins to rise And your vision blossoms further Now not only are there stars but as you look around you see a large group of ethereal jellyfish form by your sides Whoa you think amazed Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music And now a fully fledged body forms in the void Your body There I am You think looking down and taking in your appearance You're in a space suit A futuristic looking space suit Then all of a sudden the jellyfish that surround you take off Zooming away Out into the spacious void And with that they create a current that takes you along with them Hurtling you forward At first it feels like you're flying but as more jellyfish fly away And the current picks up pace It starts to feel like you're swimming Void swimming What a dream you think Bolled away Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music As your void swimming adventure continues You start to marvel at how beautiful the jellyfish that surround you are They're blue and shimmering and their tentacles are long and glittery They begin telepathically communicating with you Follow us between the veil We'll take you north to meet blue whale They continue leading the way The current stepping up a notch again Your arms pushing forward and to the side Forward and to the side Forward and to the side Rhythmically swimming with them Up and out we're interweaving Don't look back or soon be leaving The jellyfish continue their telepathic mantra Their tentacles lighting up brighter than the sun Their insides pulsating The speed of the current intensifying yet again It's at this point that you feel your emotions rear up So before you lose yourself in them You softly remind yourself that you're dreaming Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music 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