Peace After Nightmares

We all experience nightmares from time to time, either during stressful periods in our life that usually incorporate change. It's important to recognize that this is normal and not to be overwhelmed by them. A nightmare can cause a lot of the hormone cortisol to be released, which can make you feel stressed or agitated throughout the day. This meditation focuses on bringing down our physiology to its base level and allowing to mind to refocus and realize that the situation has now passed.

Transcript

Hello and welcome.

Today we're going to do a meditation that focuses on nightmares.

I want you to get into a relaxed position.

You can do this either sitting or lying down.

If you choose to sit,

Just ensure that your back is straight and your head is held high.

I want you to slowly close your eyes.

Take a breath in and release.

Take a breath in and relax.

Let's bring into our awareness now that we're in a safe space.

We need to bring our physiology down so we can gain awareness and clarity.

Repeat after me.

My nightmare has now ended.

I am in a safe space.

Even though my nightmare was very hard,

It is now over.

I am sitting here meditating and it is time to let go.

Right now,

I am safe.

It's very good.

Let's bring our attention now back to the breath.

Let's take a breath in through the nostrils and release fully relaxing.

A breath in through the nostrils and release fully relaxing.

Let's do that one more time.

A breath in through the nostrils and release fully relaxing.

Well done.

Let's keep in our mind now that we're in a safe space,

That everything's okay,

That we can let go here,

That nothing bad's going to happen.

We are safe.

We are secure.

We are one.

Let's bring our attention into our body now.

We're going to do a short body scan to see if we've got any tension from our dream caught in our body and if we find a piece of tension in our body,

I just want us to stop and breathe into that point and release it.

This doesn't have to be harsh.

It can be a soft breath.

If it's a strong point of tension,

You can take a deeper breath into that point.

Feel free to go at your own pace through doing this.

It's a very helpful exercise that can bring down our physiology and can bring us back into a place of homeostasis and calmness.

Let's begin.

Bringing our attention to our breath coming through our nostrils,

Down into the throat and into the chest,

Down into the stomach.

Bringing our attention into our stomach.

How does our stomach feel?

Focusing on any sensations,

Any thoughts that may arise,

May be linked to goings on in your current life,

Potentially the nightmare you've experienced.

If that's the case,

Just observe them and let them go.

If any noises arise in your physical space,

Just observe them and come to the point of your concentration again.

Focusing on our stomach.

How does our stomach feel?

Breathing into the stomach and releasing.

Moving our attention now into our chest.

Do we have any tightness?

Can we feel our lungs inflate as we breathe in?

Are we breathing deeply?

Or is our breath shallow?

Do we have any tension in our chest?

And can we release this?

Bringing our attention to our left shoulder now.

It's quite common for a lot of tension to be held in the shoulders.

So let's observe the left shoulder.

Let's breathe into the left shoulder and release.

Let's breathe into the left shoulder and release.

Let's go into the left bicep now.

Left tricep.

Elbow.

Forearm.

Wrist.

Our thumb.

Our first finger.

Second finger.

Third finger.

And fourth finger.

The back of the hand.

And the palm.

Bringing our attention now to the whole of the left arm.

Including the left shoulder.

Let's relax this whole of the left arm,

Including the left shoulder.

And let go of any tension.

Bringing attention now to our right shoulder.

Breathing into our right shoulder.

And again,

Breathe in.

And release.

Going down into the right arm.

The right bicep.

The right tricep.

Elbow.

Forearm.

The thumb.

First finger.

Second finger.

Third finger.

Fourth finger.

Coming into the back of the hand.

Into the palm.

Feeling the whole of the right arm,

Including the right shoulder.

And fully relaxing.

Bringing into attention now,

Both arms,

Plus the chest and the stomach.

Fully relaxing.

Noticing any pockets of tension.

Breathing into these pockets.

And releasing.

Again,

If any thoughts occur,

Just allow them to pass.

This is perfectly natural,

And it's okay.

Let's bring our attention now into our left hip.

And our right hip.

Attention to both hips.

Down into our buttocks.

Attention now to our groin.

Breathing in to release any tension.

Breathing out to relax.

In for any tension.

And fully letting go with the out-breath.

Bringing attention now to our left leg.

The top of the leg.

The thigh.

The kneecap.

The whole of the knee.

The left calf.

The left shin.

The left ankle.

The ball of the foot.

The bottom of the foot.

The top of the foot.

The left big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth toe.

Fifth toe.

The whole of the foot.

The whole of the leg.

Noticing any points of tension.

Breathing in.

And fully letting go and relaxing the left leg.

Breathing in.

And fully letting go and relaxing the left leg.

Bringing attention to the top of the right leg.

The right thigh.

The right kneecap.

The whole of the knee.

The right calf.

The right shin.

The ball of the right foot.

The bottom of the right foot.

The top.

And the big toe.

The second toe.

The third toe.

The fourth toe.

And the fifth toe.

Bringing attention to the whole of the foot.

Bringing attention to the whole of the right leg.

Noticing any points of tension.

Breathing in.

Letting go.

Breathing in again.

Knowing we are safe.

Letting go.

Feeling safe.

Bringing our attention now to the base of our spine.

Noticing how our back feels as we move up through the spine.

Through the vertebrae.

Up into the lower back.

The mid back.

The top of the back.

Noticing the muscles that contain the back.

Just allowing ourselves to relax.

Allowing the whole of the back to relax.

Bringing in to any points of tension.

And releasing.

Breathing in.

And letting go.

The spinal cord,

Just an information system,

Extends through the vertebrae.

And one theory of dreams is that the information process comes from here.

And allows us to release it in a dream state.

It's a very important part of this meditation to focus on this.

Let's imagine our spinal cord through our vertebrae.

All of the information gathering systems.

And just letting them release.

No judgement.

Just letting go.

Being one with our body.

We are safe.

Everything is okay.

We can let go.

Bringing into our attention now.

The whole of the back.

Including the shoulders.

The chest.

The stomach.

The arms.

The legs.

The feet.

The whole of the body.

Noticing any points of tension.

Noticing how it's all connected.

Beginning to feel homeostasis returning.

And calmness.

Bringing our attention now into our neck.

Noticing any tension there.

Knowing that we can breathe into points of tension and let go.

That we are safe.

And everything is going to be okay.

Bringing our attention into the back of the head.

Where our skull meets the spinal column.

Up through the back of the head to the top of the head.

I want to take a breath in here.

To the top of the head.

And release.

Let's do this one more time.

Deep breath in.

Breathe in.

And release.

Our attention now going to the forehead.

To the brow.

Temples.

Eye sockets.

Eyes.

Nose.

Nasal passageway.

In through to the mouth.

The tongue.

The gums.

The teeth.

The lips.

The cheeks.

The jaw.

Relaxing the whole of the head.

Relaxing the whole of the face.

Bringing into attention now the whole of the head and the neck.

Just relaxing.

Both of them together.

Fully letting go.

Knowing that we're safe.

Bringing in the tension now.

The whole of the body.

The neck and the head.

Are there any points of tension left?

And if there are.

Let's just take a minute now to breathe into that point of tension.

Breathe in peace.

May I be peaceful.

Breathe out.

May I relax.

Let's try this for a few minutes.

Okay.

Let's try this for a few minutes.

May I be peaceful.

Let's try this for a few minutes.

If any thoughts arise.

Know that this is normal.

Just let them arise and let them pass.

Don't attach.

Breathing into our whole body.

May I be peaceful.

May I relax.

May I be peaceful.

May I relax.

We should now find deep peace.

This is our normal state.

This is our home.

We've come home.

Now we are in a peaceful state.

We can accept that nightmares are a normal part of the human experience.

Some people believe that they're a way for us to be shown something in the unconscious mind.

Others believe that they're just a way for information to be released and processed.

No matter what the answer is.

It's important for us not to over identify with them.

And if there is a lesson to be learned from them,

To be grateful that we've been given this information.

And try and put it in a proper frame of mind where it can be helpful to us.

We can only do this when we come from a position of peace.

We now know that we're not in the nightmare.

We're here and we're safe.

And that time is now over.

And what can we do with that information?

Is there something to be learned?

Or is the lesson just letting go?

Whatever the lesson is,

It has brought us here.

And together we have found peace.

Again I want to bring into attention our whole body.

And I want to breathe in now.

I want you to say with me,

Deep peace.

Let's breathe in.

Deep peace.

And breathe out.

Relaxation.

One more time.

Deep peace.

And release relaxation.

That's wonderful.

Go throughout your day and bring this mantra with you.

Know that you're not also alone in experiencing nightmares.

We all experience them from time to time and it's a shared human experience.

Know that you're not alone.

And if you need help again,

Just return to this meditation.

So you can find the centered balance to then address the issue.

This is Jake Williams wishing you all a good night's sleep and a good day.

Reviews

Most excellent, thank you so much 🙏🙏🌍

Thank you! Exactly what I needed this morning after a very scary nightmare 🙏🏽🕯️☮️☮️☮️☮️💝

Clear kind and supportive! thanks for all the attention to different subtle areas of the body. All the best!

I went back to peaceful sleep after a few minutes, thankyou.

Great reset after waking from intense nightmares, very peaceful and calming meditation

Soothing practice after a rough night of dreams! Thank you for this practice.

Excellent! Thank you!

I fell back to sleep before the end. Waking up now feeling peaceful.

I was inspired to start checking out these recordings after enjoying one of the instructor’s Lives; this one seems like a fine intro to his approach.

I only wish I had known about this particular recording a wee bit earlier in my week, because I have been experiencing several disturbing nightmares (at the tender age of 60, so it’s true: They can pop up at any age). Now that I know about this meditation, I will be able to use it in the future.

Fantastic meditation for unhooking from nightmares. Thank you!

🙏💗

Thank you very much, I'm in a stressful period right now, increasing nightmares, and this is truly helpful to reset each morning. 🙏

Thank you for the wave of calmness your meditation brought to me after my unsettling nightmare. Grateful 🙏

Thank you Jake, very helpful.