And E I See L Sleep *** BELLS *** So the eyes softly shut.
And even a gentle in-turning of the eyes.
Gentle in-turning.
As if they were looking in the direction of the heart.
And checking that the hands are in a position,
A shape without tension.
Sometimes the open hand palm down on the knees or the thighs is a more relaxed posture.
And you may wish to experiment with letting the jaw hang loose and breathing through the mouth.
And you could try a little experiment and see if it isn't the case that the exhalation is more thorough without any contrivance with the mouth open.
A thorough exhalation.
A simple but potent yoga.
Something about the loose jaw and how the body follows suit.
And an analogous ritual to cutting the soul cords is imagining you're putting your concerns in a box.
Let you close and put on the shelf for now.
And shifting into welcoming.
Whatever element of the moment part of us is saying no to becomes the limit of our meditation.
This welcoming is not your approval of what's present.
But a release of conflict.
So this may mean softening into the sore calve.
Finally releasing the argument with the neighbors too loud conversation.
Relaxing resistance.
Feel that quality when nothing is being singled out as the problem or the unwanted element.
And contacting the sensation of sleep.
The body-mind knows how to let sleep in.
The unhooking from concerns and the environment that accompanies that.
The softening of the brain.
And yet wakeful enough that you don't dip into unconsciousness.
If you tend to be a more sleepy meditator,
Then you're going to want to bring in more wakefulness as you contact the sleep energy.
If you tend more towards hyper-vigilance or an anxious quality in your meditation,
Trust let sleep sensation in a little bit more.
And see if it wants to flow down through the body.
A subtle but cool tranquility.
Inhabiting this inner sensation.
Noticing that it's an activity.
It's sensationing.
Deepening your immersion by noting the textures.
Is it like white noise?
Does it have pulsation?
Vibration?
And whatever you're experiencing is exactly correct.
Yet knowing the details of that experience.
Let it be high fidelity.
Dropping in.
Staying dropped in.
Indifferent to the daydreams that come and go.
Neither feeding nor entertaining.
And if the quality is too formless for you to abide in,
You find you get lost in selecting some element as a touchstone.
There may be inner sounds.
Whatever it may be choosing a touchstone.
It can confuse your only And it's a bit like a crab retracting,
Or a turtle retracting its limbs into its interior.
And yet it's not out of fear,
But out of pleasure.
Pleasure of energy not flowing outward.
Meaning to gather and circulate within.
The loose jaw.
Perhaps there's just a small aperture at the lips for the breath.
And monitoring tension in the belly.
Inviting a soft belly.
Letting the perineum relax.
And especially if you haven't actually been nodding off,
Invite the sleep energy in a little bit more.
Let yourself be at the threshold between sleep and waking.
And yet presence kept lit.
