Hello and welcome to this short breathing meditation designed to help you wind down for sleep.
This practice is best done in bed,
So firstly take a moment to get really comfortable.
Make sure you're warm,
Lie on your back if possible,
For this you might like to place a cushion under your knees to avoid too much curvature in the lower spine.
Now we're going to bring our attention to our out-breath,
Exhaling through pursed lips as slowly as possible until our lungs are completely empty,
Then allowing the in-breath to enter through the nostrils,
The lungs filling from the bottom to the top.
Exhaling through the mouth,
Through pursed lips as softly as you can,
Extending this out-breath.
Inhaling through the nose.
Exhaling through the mouth.
Inhaling through the nose,
Feeling the lower ribs and back expand out to allow space for the lungs to fill.
And we're not pushing to the edge of each breath,
As soon as you feel any tension at the end of the exhale,
Soften and transition to the inhale.
In through the nose,
Out through the mouth,
Softening with each exhale,
Sinking a little deeper into the bed.
At the top of your next inhale,
We'll add a small hold,
Just a couple of beats,
And then exhaling fully,
Softening with this exhale,
Letting it all go.
Breathing in through the nose,
Holding briefly at the top of the inhale,
And softening with the exhale,
Sinking a little deeper into the bed.
Building on this now,
We're going to repeat a breath sequence.
We will breathe in through the nose to the count of four,
Hold at the top for a count of seven,
Then breathe out through the mouth for a count of eight.
Let's try it together,
Exhaling fully,
Then inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Release the count and notice how that felt for you.
If those counts feel too long,
You can do breathing in for a count of three,
Holding for a count of four,
And breathing out for a count of six.
Using the sequence that best suits you,
You're going to count in your head now,
So I will be quiet as we do this sequence five times.
Breathing in through the nose,
Holding,
And breathing out through the mouth.
Breathing out fully together through the mouth before we start,
And inhale.
And releasing the count,
Softening and relaxing deeper again.
If you're still with me,
Take a moment now to think of something that you're grateful for from today.
Perhaps it's your warm bed,
Your body for all the work it's done for you today,
Or perhaps it's this time to practice together.
And just repeat in your mind,
Thank you,
Thank you,
Thank you.
And then finally giving thanks in advance for the deeply restful sleep you are about to have.
Thank you,
Thank you,
Thank you.
Good night and sweet dreams.
