Do you ever find it hard to unwind at the end of the day?
There's a lot that gets stirred up and thought about and done or not done throughout the day that sometimes it could take a while for our body and our nervous system to slow down and be calm enough to relax and enjoy the day.
And sometimes you might feel so exhausted that you don't even have energy to really relax or think about meditating.
And yet your mind could still be so busy with a million thoughts going through it,
Sometimes a mile a minute.
So I decided to offer this practice as a way to organize those thoughts and complete the day to help you settle down and settle in to what you feel was important throughout the day.
What is it that's taking up space in your mind?
Maybe it's something you didn't get done or you're reviewing a conversation over and over again in your mind or going through a list of some sort.
So consider some of these questions as a way to complete the day.
The first one is what was the most amazing thing that happened today?
What actually brought you joy or happiness?
You can even write that down if you have a journal or a paper and a pen handy or just think about it.
What was it that was amazing today?
What did you do today to support yourself,
To help yourself feel a little more relaxed?
Did you take a break?
Did you eat something nutritious at lunch?
Did you work out,
Go for a walk,
Spend some time in nature?
What did you do to support your well-being today?
And what is it that you wish you did but didn't have time for or got pushed to the back burner because something else came up?
What was it you would have liked to have gotten to but didn't today?
And what did you find most challenging today?
That's probably what one of the things that's on your mind the most.
What was challenging today?
What triggered you or felt like something that didn't get resolved?
And what made it challenging?
Was it in conflict with your way of thinking,
Your beliefs,
Your values?
Feeling misunderstood?
What was it that made it challenging today?
And then just take a look back to that for a moment,
What you wrote.
And notice the common themes of what you needed,
What you desired,
What brought you joy,
And what brought you the struggle.
And underneath that struggle,
What need was not met?
This is a clue to what your heart desires and what you can do now to bring it back into alignment and make choices tomorrow about how you want to direct your time and energy so in the morning you can set up a new intention,
A way that you want to feel by the end of the day.
And maybe you'll practice this each night until it becomes a habit so that you can complete the day to end it in a good way,
Acknowledging the joys and the challenges,
What needs were met and addressed or not,
And what you desire and how you can support yourself in that and line up for it and make yourself more of a priority.
Thinking about doing this each night as a way to unwind and close out the day and start fresh tomorrow with a new intention,
A new way of being,
Rebirthing into what is aligned and true for you now.
And now let's end this evening practice with a gentle reset.
This is going to rebalance the left and right sides of your brain and bring you some equilibrium and really calm the mind.
So first just take a moment to see how you're feeling now,
Doing a little body scan,
Noticing whether you have any constriction,
Tension,
Or if you're open and relaxed just noticing.
And then we'll start with taking your right hand over the top of your head,
Your crown,
And you'll breathe in for five and exhale for five.
And if you choose to,
You can pause at the top of the inhale and pause again at the bottom of your exhale.
So let's begin breathing in for five and exhaling now for five.
And switching hands with your left hand now over your crown at the top of your head and inhale.
Pause and exhale.
Beautiful.
And now just tuning in once again and noticing how do you feel now?
I trust that you're at least a little more relaxed and a little centered with your thoughts.
And if you practice this on a regular basis each night,
Let it become a habit and start noticing what changes and shifts occur in your daily life.
Maybe you'll be moving through the day a little differently or feeling a little more relaxed at night or setting clear intention about being aligned with what's most important for you and aligned with your values so that you can better prioritize and decide how you want to be directing your time and energy.
I just enjoyed this practice and thank you for joining me.
