Gentle Self-Loving Sleep Meditation For Anxiety & Stress

This guided meditation is a gentle sleep meditation full of reminders that you are doing okay. You are in the practice of loving yourself. It is okay to make mistakes. Sometimes we need to tap into our love for others before we can love ourselves, especially when we find we are being hard on ourselves internally. Allow yourself to drift off as you gently sit of all that is good and worthy within you. Sleep sweetly and well. 

Transcript

Welcome to this guided meditation for finding gentleness with yourself as you make your way to sleep.

In this meditation we will let go of whatever happened today and remind ourselves of who we are,

So that we can calm our minds,

Settle our hearts,

And get some rest.

If you haven't already,

Take a moment to get settled.

Move if you need to.

Find the most comfortable position you can for your rest.

Notice if there are movements in your body that need to be expressed before you can sleep.

Maybe there's a scrunch in your shoulders that you need to exaggerate and then let go.

Perhaps it would help to clench your fists and then unclench them.

Maybe you could shift your jaw a little from side to side and then let it slacken.

Start to tap into your breath.

You could sigh a few times,

Which is often a helpful signal to the body that the day is over.

Have you let go of the day yet?

If you haven't,

Take a moment to do that.

Now is the time to sleep.

Whatever is going on for you now,

Whatever your day is like,

Whatever tomorrow may bring,

Now is the time for sleep.

Allow yourself to decide,

To set aside whatever you need to do or worry about and leave it for the morning.

You're here now.

How are you feeling in your body today?

You might have some thoughts running through your mind.

That's alright.

We don't need to pay them too much attention right now.

Deepen your breath.

Allow your lungs to fill all the way to the top and then breathe out all the way to the bottom of the breath.

Inhale to the top of your lungs or as far as it feels comfortable and allow your exhale to be complete.

Notice if you are rushing your breath,

Wanting to inhale before your exhale is complete and slow down a little.

Each exhale is an opportunity to soften,

To drop,

To let go of a little tension.

Be as completely in your exhale as you can.

Allow the inhales to come and allow each exhale to slow down,

To soften,

To complete itself at its own pace.

What do you feel in your heart?

Take a moment to breathe into the heart space and notice that.

Now begin to access the part of yourself that loves.

Think of someone you love,

Someone you care about deeply.

It could be a person,

But it could also be a pet,

Even a place.

Allow your heart to fill with love for that one,

That being that you love.

What does it feel like in your body,

In your heart to love?

Be with that feeling,

That emotion,

That compassion and care.

Allow that feeling to suffuse throughout your body,

To circulate in your blood.

You are a person that loves.

You are filled with love and care.

Now let's take a moment to access the part of you that hopes,

The part of you that wishes,

That plans for the future,

The part that dreams or fantasizes or creates.

This might simply be the part of you that likes a certain TV show or doing the crossword puzzle.

It could also be the part of you that is trying to improve,

Trying to learn or change or be better in some way.

What does it feel like to think of the part of you that imagines,

That hopes,

That plans for the future?

What does it feel like to be a person that can conceptualize of a better life,

A better self,

That can create?

You are a person that hopes.

It is in your body.

Even if it's been a while since you felt hope or imagination,

It is in you.

You are a person that hopes.

It is in your body,

In your heart and in your mind.

You did the best you could today.

Even if you made a mistake or something didn't work the way you wanted it to,

You tried.

The fact that you have chosen to listen to this meditation with me right now means that you are trying.

You are caring for yourself.

You are inviting sleep and gentleness and self-love.

That is already here.

It is okay to make mistakes.

Everyone makes mistakes all the time.

Even the best,

Most intelligent,

Most polished of us,

We still make mistakes.

It is part of being human to screw up,

To lose things,

To feel bad.

But that does not mean there is anything wrong with us.

We are perfect in our imperfection.

We are constantly shifting and changing.

It is okay to feel stuck.

Even when it feels like we are stuck in the same place for a long time,

When we're not going anywhere,

Even then,

Something is happening under the surface.

The fallow field needs a growing season to not grow in order to regenerate its soil for the next phase.

A seed is very busy under the surface before you can see any green popping through the ground.

If you feel stuck,

Here you are.

Allow yourself to be here.

It's okay.

It is okay to feel angry,

Sad,

Frustrated,

Confused,

Lost.

It is okay to feel bad about yourself sometimes.

It doesn't mean you are a bad person.

You are already good enough just by being who you are.

We don't always believe we are worthy of love,

But that doesn't make it true.

Remember that part of yourself that loves,

That holds the best of someone or something else within you.

Take a moment to turn that love and that care towards yourself.

It may not always be easy to receive that love,

But that's okay.

Loving ourselves is a practice.

It's something we do.

And you are doing it right now by choosing to be here and listen to this meditation all about self-love.

You are already doing enough.

That voice in your head that tells you that you are not is trying to protect you,

But it's not telling you the truth.

You are already enough.

You don't have to work to deserve love.

You already do.

You are a child of the earth,

A human being.

You have a mind,

A heart,

And a body.

Whether or not you have a spiritual belief system,

You are never alone,

Never simply you.

You are part of the web of connections in your life,

Your family,

Your loves,

Your community,

The past and the future,

The trees,

The air,

The animals,

The earth,

The land.

Whenever you try,

Whenever you love,

Whenever you hope or imagine,

You are making the world a little bit of a better place.

Whenever you rest,

When you sleep,

When you give yourself time to feel,

You are making the world a better place.

You are a human being,

Not a human doing.

It is already enough.

You are suffused with the power of love,

Hope,

Imagination,

And rest.

You already have everything you need within you.

You are safe.

There is time.

The fact that you can love means there is love within you,

That you are a part of that love.

Allow yourself to rest in that knowing.

You are in a practice of loving yourself,

Of loving others,

Of loving the world.

You are in a practice of rest.

It is enough.

You are enough.

Sleep sweetly and well.

Reviews

Gradual wind-down to sleep that worked perfectly! Thank you!

This was amazing And I fell right to sleep! Exactly what I needed and I’m saving it. It was not an easy day, but this allowed me to separate!

Everything I needed to hear and more. Your soothing voice and validation brought me some peace I haven’t felt in awhile. Thank you for being so supportive and validating that “ I am enough.”

Excellent!

Thank you for sharing these kind words.I nodded of a few times through this meditation 😂🙈😴🙏✨💖❤️hopefully I will be able to listen again

I feel called out, but in a good way. A healing way. Thank you.

Made me feel at ease, at peace with myself. I am worthy and I am good enough, brilliant.

That was amazing I fell asleep so fast and it was so relaxing and I could finally get rid of any stress that was building upon

A very good reminder that I am enough, that I am a human being, not a human doing.

Wowwww this is just what I needed after the Retrograde Blues. A thousand thanks!

Beautiful, gentle, just what I needed ….thank you

One the most amazing and best meditations I’ve ever done on this site! Thank you this was wonderful and exactly what I needed to hear. I feel calm, relax, loved and full of peace.

Awoke in middle of night ~ this did the trick!🙏🏽🕉