Evening Ritual: Self-Care Soothing Practice For Sleep

Relax after a long day and release all tension with this soothing practice that is designed to help you sleep better. In this session, you will be guided through a grounding breathing practice, then through some gentle stretches to help you create more space in the body, as well as pressing acupressure points and giving yourself a nourishing massage. We will finish with a deeply relaxing meditation and a body scan, that will leave you feeling at peace and ready for a restful sleep.

Transcript

Welcome to this gentle and relaxing evening ritual,

Where you connect yourself to your body,

Leave away any tension and worries of the day,

Nourish yourself from within and prepare for a restful sleep.

We are going to start this meditation sitting down.

Feel free to sit on your bed or on your mat if that's more comfortable.

Relax your shoulders,

Roll your shoulders back.

You can even start with a few more gentle movements of your shoulders to create more space in your chest for deep breaths.

And then keeping your back straight,

Being aware of your posture.

We are going to take 5 deep breaths to soothe your nervous system and release any inner tension or stress that might be left in your body.

So resting your hands just on your lap.

Closing your eyes.

And breathe out all the air in your lungs.

And then start inhaling deeply.

Inhale through your belly,

Ribs and chest.

Inviting fresh,

Nourishing energy.

And exhale.

Wide through your mouth.

Letting go.

Let's do 4 more times like this.

Start inhaling,

Filling yourself up with love,

With healing energy.

And exhale with an audible sigh out to release it all.

And again,

Inhale.

Exhale.

2 more times like this.

Inhaling peaceful energy,

Inhaling love into your body,

Into your system.

And releasing anything,

Any energies you don't wish to experience anymore.

And one more time like this.

Make this inhale even longer,

Giving your body fresh oxygen,

Nourishing and supporting yourself.

And exhale totally free,

Totally open.

Lovely.

Remember that this is your safe space.

Celebrate it.

Celebrate this time for yourself.

Give yourself thanks for this day.

Expressing gratitude for all the things that went well.

And all the things that maybe didn't go so well but you can still appreciate and learn as an experience.

We're going to invite a gentle movement now,

So feel free to keep your eyes closed if you want.

And slowly sliding your hands on your thighs,

Up and down.

Feeling your thighs,

Feeling your muscles,

Feeling your legs.

This is like a gentle massage,

Pressing down onto your thighs.

And then we're going to massage the left arm.

So start gently pressing on it,

Starting from the top,

From your shoulders.

And then pressing on your biceps,

Giving yourself some love on your forearm.

Gently pressing with your right thumb in the middle of your left wrist.

This is an acupressure point,

Amazing to release stress.

Keep pressing in a circular motion just for a few more breaths.

And then just press on your inner left palm,

Underneath your fingers.

Keep breathing through this practice.

Nourishing yourself with love,

With awareness.

Now after the next exhale,

Change your arm so with your left hand start pressing on the top of your right arm,

Through your shoulder,

Your upper arm.

Releasing any stiffness in these muscles.

Your forearm,

Front to front and back.

Then with your left thumb pressing on to your middle of the right wrist.

Stimulating this acupressure point.

And then keep moving your left thumb in a gentle circular motion,

Pressing underneath your right hand fingers.

Pressing on your inner palm.

All these gentle touches and pressing sensations are really really soothing for your nervous system.

Letting it know that it's safe to relax.

Okay now let go of that and just shake your hands,

Shake your arms,

Releasing any tension.

Maybe stretch your neck a little bit,

Very gently move your head side to side.

And then up and down.

And again if you want,

With your hands on each side of your neck,

You can press gently in any points of your neck that you feel there's tension there.

And with every touch you giving to yourself,

Send yourself this love,

Support and appreciation.

Lovely and release your hands now.

Inhale taking a big breath and stretching your arms over your head and up to the sky.

Lengthening your spine,

Reaching up to the ceiling.

Exhale bringing your hands together.

And let's just do one more side stretch on each side.

So keeping your left hand just on the ground next to you,

Inhale reaching your right arm all the way to the left side.

So you feel a stretch through your right side,

Opening your side body.

Trying to keep the arm straight and turning the chest up to the sky,

So you feel a longer opening.

And slowly bring both arms up,

Change the side,

Place your right hand next to you and left arm goes all the way to the right,

Feeling the lengthening on your left side.

Keep reaching and breathing.

Remember,

Never hold your breath in the yoga poses,

In meditation.

Keep breathing deeply,

Open up.

And bring both arms up again and hands together.

Lovely,

Now you can keep your hands next to you or behind you and release the legs.

So if you have been sitting with your legs crossed or maybe on your heels,

Just straighten the legs in front of you and give them a little shake.

A little shaking sensation,

Stretching these legs.

And now if you're on your bed or on your mat on the floor,

You can slowly start making your way down to lie down.

Make yourself comfortable with your arms next to you,

Your spine supported,

Your head relaxed.

Bring your knees to your chest,

And give yourself a big hug,

Keeping your hands interlaced underneath your knees,

Or each one of them on your shins.

And just keep bringing the knees closer to you and feel free to move a little bit side to side to release the tension in your lower back,

As well as to give yourself this hug of love,

Of appreciation.

Keep moving very gently and softly.

Your body really loves these movements after a long day.

And then when you're ready,

You can slowly release your legs.

Just let them rest on the mat or on your bed.

And before we fully relax,

Just bring your hands onto your face and give your face a gentle massage.

You can start from massaging your jaw muscles,

Gently moving your fingers on your cheeks,

Pressing them down,

Releasing tension from the jaw.

And then maybe just massaging your cheeks as well,

Tapping gently underneath your eyes,

On your forehead,

Your temples.

It's like you are putting on this night cream of glow,

This cream of self-love and inner beauty.

Lovely.

And when you're finished,

Just rest your arms next to your body.

Maybe your legs are resting as well.

Maybe you want to make yourself more comfortable by placing a pillow underneath your knees,

Keeping warm blankets on top,

And just soothing yourself in this lovely cocoon,

Getting ready to relax even deeper.

And as you come to total stillness in Shavasana,

Closing your eyes again if they weren't closed,

Connecting back with your breath,

Now feel your whole body breathing.

Your whole body is breathing.

Each inhale you take,

The body is expanding.

Each exhale you take,

Everything is just relaxing and connecting down to the ground,

To the surface underneath you.

Staying in this space for a few more breaths,

As your whole body is totally relaxed and calm,

As your mind becomes more and more peaceful,

As you're connecting deeper to the space of your soul,

The space of awareness.

Again,

Remind yourself,

I am safe here,

I can relax now.

I deserve to rest.

I deserve to take care of myself.

And keep relaxing your whole body,

Relaxing through your feet,

Through the back of your legs,

Softening your glutes,

Letting their relaxing and healing energy flow through your lower back,

Middle back and the upper back,

Softening your shoulders even more,

Grounding them down to the earth and on the back of your neck and your head,

Letting this warm,

Relaxing and restorative energy flow through your face,

Soften your facial muscles,

Then through the front,

Through your chest,

Your shoulders and your front arms,

Totally surrendering down to the earth with each breath out.

Then,

Letting this energy surround your chest,

Your ribs,

Your belly,

Feeling your hips open and resting.

And the top part of your legs,

Your thighs,

Knees and your shins,

Down to your feet.

Your whole body is relaxed now.

Your whole body is totally relaxed now.

I am surrendering to the earth.

I am resting deeply.

I am one with peace.

Beautiful,

My darling,

I invite you to stay here now,

In a space of peace and relaxation.

There is nothing you have to do.

Just stay here and slowly and slowly drift away into the land of your dreams.

Thank you so much for connecting in this evening ritual and feel free to come back more and more often.

Namaste.

Good night.