A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.
Charlotte Bronte.
To deal with insomnia,
First let your mind become quiet.
Turn your attention inward as you focus on relaxing your body.
Allow your muscles to relax,
From your head to your feet.
Take a deep breath in and hold it for a while.
Then exhale all the way and empty your lungs completely.
Take another deep breath in,
Hold it as long as you can.
Then exhale even longer,
Letting all the tension go.
Imagine what relaxation feels like.
It might feel warm,
Heavy or light,
Tingly,
Loose.
Relaxation is a pleasant,
Calm feeling.
It feels very comfortable.
Let your muscles relax.
Notice any areas where your muscles are tense and let a feeling of relaxation begin there.
The gentle rise and fall of your chest with each breath is so calming,
So relaxing.
Each time you breathe out and your chest lowers gently,
You feel even more relaxed.
Scan your body slowly,
Starting with the top of your head.
Feel your scalp relaxing.
Scan your forehead,
Your eyelids,
Your cheeks and jaw.
And feel your neck,
Shoulders,
Upper arms and lower arms,
Hands and all your fingers relax.
Take a deep breath in and while exhaling,
Relax your chest,
Your abdomen,
Your upper back,
Your lower back and your whole torso.
Now feel your hips,
Thighs,
Knees,
Lower legs and feet relax all the way to the tips of your toes.
As if all the tension leaves your body when you exhale and you relax even more when you breathe in,
Becoming so deeply relaxed.
Notice how relaxed you are starting to feel,
Drifting in relaxation.
Any remaining tension can continue to leave your body as you breathe,
Becoming more and more relaxed.
As time passes,
You relax even more.
Any sleep is good.
If this sleep,
Even if it is short,
Can be worthwhile,
That's great.
Even a short,
Shallow sleep is helpful.
Night time is time for you to relax,
Rest and sleep.
Even just relaxing can help you feel refreshed and can restore your mind and your body.
It doesn't matter if you sleep right now or how long you sleep,
Just the act of using relaxation is enough.
When you awaken,
You will feel refreshed,
Rested and alert.
You will wake up when you need to.
So right now,
For the time that you do have to sleep,
Just rest,
Just relax,
Taking the time you can to sleep,
To relax.
It's okay if you don't sleep right now and it's okay if you do in this moment.
Just relax.
You can wake up quickly if you need to and you will be alert when you have things to do.
But right now,
You can pleasantly drift relaxed,
Serene.
Let's use visualization to focus the mind and provide a mental vacation from your worries.
When worrying thoughts about your day or the next morning come back,
And they will,
Recall the feeling you had in your body when you heard the words,
Breathe,
The rise and fall of your chest,
Relax.
Then know that this visualization continues with three things.
Imagine that worry is like dark and peace is like light.
Worry has a message.
It is full of darkness and feels like muscle tension even if you are lying in bed.
It says,
Stay awake because of me.
This is what worry does to you.
It wants you to stay awake for hours.
If you are afraid to go to bed because bedtime means a time to worry in the dark,
Put words about light and peace in your mind and relaxation in your body with calm breathing and the awareness of warmth and happiness.
Now peace of mind is like light and sleepy words.
The sleepy words call you and say,
Come with us,
We bring you to a cozy place,
To a nice bed and we say that only good things are in this place where we lead you.
You can relax when lying in bed.
Be aware of what it feels like.
Arms and legs are heavy and warm.
Imagine a peaceful place.
This may be one you have never been to,
One that you remember or one that you may have seen in a movie.
Imagine that you are there,
In that peaceful place,
Bringing peaceful words or music to yourself.
If you wake up and can't get back to sleep or if the worrying thought takes you away from the peaceful place,
Say to yourself,
I can do something about this by putting peaceful words in my mind.
I listen to calming phrases or calming music until I can imagine the peaceful place again.
I am in my bed,
Surrounded by pillows.
My sleep becomes deeper here in the quiet of the night.
I can picture happy things with my imagination.
I recall peaceful words I have heard or read today.
I listen to peaceful,
Sleepy words that take me to dreamy places.
I am ready to sleep now.
I am fully relaxed.
My body is heavy and warm and I am sleepier than ever.
Savor that feeling and let yourself go.
Enjoy the relaxation now and allow yourself to drift off into pleasant,
Deep sleep.
Namaste.
