Relax Into Deep Sleep

In this soothing mindfulness meditation, Dr Howard Johnson uses metaphor and imagery to guide you into a state of deep relaxation in both body and mind. By doing this, we are cultivating good conditions for a full and peaceful nights sleep.

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Dr Howard Johnson.

Welcome to this guided sleep meditation.

Together we will be doing a body-based mindfulness practice that will leave us feeling deeply relaxed and ready to drift off into a deep and peaceful sleep.

Please take a few moments now to make sure that you're as comfortable as possible,

That you're warm,

And that there are no outside distractions.

Now let's gently close our eyes.

If you've had difficulty sleeping in the past,

Then perhaps the busyness and activities of the past and the future are already crowding your mind and tightening your body.

Perhaps even the thought of going to sleep creates a sense of anxiety or dread.

A helpful preparation for sleep is to form the clear intention in our mind to put down the mental activity of the day.

This is both a courageous and a compassionate gift for ourselves.

The invitation in this practice is to imagine that all of our worries,

Our concerns,

Our memories,

The problems to be solved,

And the decisions to be made,

Even our hopes and dreams,

Are carried around with us in a very heavy suitcase.

And just like arriving on holiday,

We know that the only way we can ever rest is if we are able to put our suitcase down.

We don't throw our suitcase away because it contains all the important things that we will need for later.

In the same way,

We're not getting rid of our thoughts,

We're just putting them down.

So,

I invite you to breathe in with me now.

A very deep and very long in-breath.

Holding and on the out-breath,

Imagine putting down the suitcase full of our mental activity.

Perhaps it feels scary to postpone our future plans,

To defer the decisions to be made,

To let go of the problems to be solved.

That's okay.

We're not abandoning our suitcase,

We're just putting it down.

There's nothing that can't be picked up again tomorrow.

So,

Let's take another deep and long in-breath.

Holding and on the out-breath,

Putting our suitcase down again.

It's fine if the thoughts are still in the background.

Just continuing to feel the breath in the foreground of our awareness.

And now,

One more deep in-breath.

And on the out-breath,

Imagine putting our suitcase down again.

And allow the breath to return to a natural rhythm.

Feel the body lying in the bed,

The weight of the body,

The sensations of contact with the bed,

Sensations of pressure,

Warmth,

Buzziness or tingling.

Taking a moment now to acknowledge the overall tone or the texture of the body as a whole.

Perhaps it feels restless,

Agitated,

Relaxed,

Peaceful,

Heavy,

Light,

Happy or sad.

Simply the momentum of the day still running through the body.

However we find the body is okay.

Just one of the ways we can find a human body.

Feeling the rhythmic wave-like motion of the breath moving throughout the entire body.

And when we're ready,

Sending the out-breath down to our feet.

As though the out-breath could land in the feet,

Helping us to notice all of the sensations.

Perhaps tingling,

Warmth or coolness,

Contact.

Noticing if there is any sense of holding or tension in the feet.

And using the out-breath to relax these areas.

In the same way that we may let go of two ends of a rubber band that's been pulled very tightly.

On the out-breath the rubber band is released and the fibres in the feet become very relaxed.

Very loose.

Feeling the feet becoming heavier.

Melting down into the bed.

And when we're ready on another out-breath,

This time breathing the attention out down the body into both of our legs.

Becoming a bit more aware of the sensation in the legs.

The weight of the legs.

Sensations of vibration,

Pulsating,

Twitching,

Tension or relaxation.

And as we notice our sensations,

It's perfectly natural for the mind to have picked up its suitcases again.

Each time this happens,

Making it the intention to put the suitcase down.

If there is any sense of tension or holding or contraction in our legs,

Then using an out-breath to release the fibres in this area.

Really imagining that there are rubber bands being pulled tightly that we can let go of on the out-breath.

So we feel the legs becoming very heavy and very relaxed.

For a while,

Holding both of our legs,

The left leg,

The right leg and both of our feet in a very soft and warm,

Caring attention.

Breathing out,

Allowing the legs and the feet to completely rest.

And on another out-breath.

This time,

Sending the attention down into the pelvis.

Taking our time,

Exploring all of the sensations on the surface of the skin.

The contact of our clothes against the body or perhaps a sheet.

And sensations coming from deeper inside the body.

Heaviness,

Lightness,

Aching,

Dull sensations and sharp sensations.

All are okay.

Breathing out into the pelvis.

Helping the pelvis to completely relax.

And feeling the pelvic area becoming heavy and sinking down into the bed.

On another out-breath,

We can drop the attention down the spine.

Feeling aware of all of the sensations in the back.

The back is often an area which can hold tension and even pain.

Noticing any unpleasant sensations as just a different form of energy in the body.

The weight of them.

Whether they have a centre,

The edges.

And whether there is any holding or tension around these sensations.

And using the out-breath to imagine being able to release all of the fibres in the back.

Just like two ends of a rubber band being let go of.

Feeling the back becoming soft.

Becoming heavy.

On another out-breath,

Dropping the attention down into the stomach.

Becoming aware of the sensations in the stomach.

The movement with the breath.

The changing pattern of sensation on our skin as our stomach rises and falls with the breath.

Perhaps contacting the fabric of our clothes or our bedsheets.

And sensations coming from deeper inside the stomach.

Noticing if there is any area of holding or contraction in the stomach.

And breathing out.

Allowing this area to soften and relax.

And on another out-breath.

When it's okay to do so,

Breathing the attention down into the chest.

Noticing any sensations here of tightness,

Contraction or spaciousness.

The movement of the chest with the breath.

And breathing out.

Allowing the whole of the chest to relax.

On another out-breath,

Breathing this warm and caring attention out over the shoulders and down both of our arms.

Feeling the weight of the arms beside the body.

The sensations of vibration or fuzziness or tingling.

Hot or cold in our fingertips.

The contact of the arms against the body or the bed.

Noticing especially any areas of holding or tension in our fingers.

And breathing out,

Inviting the fingers and the hands to rest.

Feeling all of the fibres in the arms soften.

And on another out-breath,

Dropping the attention down into the neck.

Feeling the sensations in the neck.

Areas of stiffness.

Any sense of knotty-ness.

And using the out-breath to help to let go of any areas of tension in the neck.

And finally,

Allowing the attention to bathe the whole of the head and the face.

Maybe sensations of pressure behind the eyes.

Sensations on the surface of the head,

On the scalp.

The heaviness of the eyelids.

The temperature of the air as it first contacts the skin of the nostrils or the lips on an in-breath.

And using an out-breath to help the head and the face to relax.

To become loose and heavy.

To soften.

It may also be helpful to imagine that the out-breath could very gently encourage our brain to rest and to relax.

To put down any remaining concerns or worries that it may have been picking up in this practice.

And then when we're ready,

Opening the attention back up to a sense of the whole body breathing in and breathing out.

Feeling this rhythmic,

Wave-like motion of breath moving throughout the entire body.

The whole body feeling very heavy now.

Very relaxed.

Noticing if there are any final areas of the body that are asking for us to breathe out into them.

Helping all of the fibres and the muscles to completely relax and soften.

And then bringing our attention back again to the whole body breathing.

The whole body breathing.

The whole body breathing.

The whole body breathing.