Counting Elephants For Sleep | 8 Hours
This extended sleep meditation guides you into deep relaxation and eventually sleep, with calming background music continuing for the whole of the night. Before you fall asleep, you are invited to recall a moment from your day that was successful, a moment you felt grateful for and a moment of joy. You are then guided through a yoga nidra inspired body scan to relax your mind and body, and a visualisation of watching a herd of elephants slowly walk past you, counting the elephants to ease you into sleep. The counting continues up to 500 and you are then left to continue counting by yourself until you fall alseep. The background music continues throughout the night to accompany you as you rest. Music by Relaxing Time Image by Rudy Kirchner
Transcript
Welcome to your sleep meditation.
Take some time to begin with to make sure that your body is as comfortable as it can possibly be for falling asleep.
Take a moment to move around to adjust yourself and your bedding in any way that you need to.
To find the position that your body wants to sleep in tonight.
And once you've made yourself comfortable feel into the feeling of your body resting into the mattress.
To the feeling of your blankets or bedding against your skin.
The feeling of your head against your pillow.
And take a moment now to acknowledge how safely supported your body is.
How the surface that you're lying on is securely holding your body for the night.
So it is safe for you to completely relax into sleep.
Become aware of your breath.
Watch how your breath is flowing tonight.
Just notice how the air moves in and out of your body.
Notice the gentle rising and falling of your chest as you breathe in and out.
And notice how every time you exhale the whole of your body becomes a little more relaxed.
With each exhalation tension from the day unwinds from your muscles.
With each exhalation your body sinks a little more deeply into the surface beneath you.
With each exhalation feel your body completely letting go.
Surrendering into deep and peaceful rest.
And as you make this transition from waking to sleeping.
Take a moment now to acknowledge the success of today.
To acknowledge one thing that you have achieved today.
Invite a successful achievement from today to arise in your mind.
Anything at all that you have achieved.
Perhaps something big.
Or perhaps something very simple and ordinary.
But a significant achievement nonetheless.
Take a moment to acknowledge your success from today.
And now invite something that you are grateful for from today to arise in your mind.
Perhaps something very big or perhaps something very ordinary.
Whatever it is bring that thing from today that you are grateful for into your mind.
And take a moment to acknowledge it.
And invite something to arise in your mind now that brought you joy today.
Something that brought you joy.
Perhaps a significant event.
Or perhaps something very everyday.
Take some time to acknowledge that moment of joy.
And now leave the day behind.
For it is done.
Allow the events of today to gently fall away into the past.
As you welcome this time for rest.
This time for healing.
This time for rejuvenation.
Watch the breath flowing in and out.
Notice how with every breath your body becomes more relaxed.
Your mind becomes more relaxed.
With every breath your thoughts slow down.
Your mind becomes quieter.
With every breath you become more peaceful.
More relaxed.
More ready for a long night of deep sleep.
And take a moment now to make the intention to yourself.
That you will sleep deeply and peacefully tonight.
That you will have a long healing continuous sleep.
And that you will enjoy your night of sleep.
And know that there is no rush to fall asleep.
No need to force sleep.
Trust that you will fall asleep very naturally when the time is right.
You don't need to do anything to try and make sleep happen.
Just enjoy the meditation.
Enjoy the process of falling asleep.
And when you're ready you will effortlessly drift away.
Into a blissful night of deep peaceful sleep.
Feel how quiet and still your body has already become.
Notice the state of relaxation that your body has already achieved.
And if there's anywhere in your body that still feels a little tense or uncomfortable.
Send the breath into that area.
Take a breath into that place of tension or discomfort.
And as you exhale feel the breath carrying that tension away.
Continue breathing like this into any parts of the body that need it.
Every exhalation carrying tension away.
Every exhalation guiding your body more deeply into relaxation.
And to encourage your body and mind to surrender even more deeply into rest.
We're going to take a journey around the body.
Rest the awareness at each body part as its name.
Beginning at the eyebrow centre.
Rest the awareness at the eyebrow centre.
And the throat.
Rest the awareness at the throat.
The right shoulder.
The right elbow.
The right wrist.
The right hand thumb.
The right index finger.
The right middle finger.
The right ring finger.
The right little finger.
The right shoulder.
The right wrist.
The right elbow.
The right shoulder.
The throat.
The left shoulder.
The left elbow.
The left wrist.
The left hand thumb.
The left index finger.
The left middle finger.
The ring finger.
The little finger.
The left wrist.
The left elbow.
The left shoulder.
The throat.
The centre of the chest.
The left side of the chest.
The centre of the chest.
The right side of the chest.
The centre of the chest.
The navel.
The lower abdomen.
The right hip.
The right knee.
The right ankle.
The right big toe.
The second toe.
The third toe.
The fourth toe.
The little toe.
The right ankle.
The right knee.
The right hip.
The lower abdomen.
The left hip.
The left knee.
The left ankle.
The left big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Little toe.
The left ankle.
The left knee.
The left hip.
The lower abdomen.
The navel.
The centre of the chest.
The nose.
The throat.
The eyebrow centre.
The top of the head.
Rest the awareness at the top of the head.
Imagine that you are sitting on the side of a hill.
Overlooking a wide valley.
It is the evening time.
And the sun hovers just above the horizon.
Illuminating the landscape in yellow and orange colours.
You watch the peaceful valley.
And you see a wide dark shape appearing in the distance.
As it comes closer.
You see that it is a large herd of elephants.
Slowly plodding their way through the valley.
You watch them carefully walking along.
And as they pass.
You count each one.
One.
The first elephant slowly plods past you.
Two.
The second elephant steadily paces along.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Each elephant plodding steadily through the valley.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Ten.
Eleven.
Twelve.
Thirteen.
Fourteen.
Fifteen.
Sixteen.
Seventeen.
Eighteen.
Nineteen.
Twenty.
Twenty one.
Twenty two.
Twenty three.
Twenty four.
Twenty five.
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Twenty nine.
Thirty.
Thirty one.
Thirty two.
Thirty three.
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Thirty five.
Thirty six.
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Thirty nine.
Forty.
Forty one.
Forty two.
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