Welcome to from spiraling to still,
A bedtime reset.
Does this sound familiar?
It's time for you to go to bed.
You've had a long day.
And you feel completely exhausted.
Completely worn out.
And yet your mind just won't stop.
You feel stuck in a mental loop.
Obsessively focusing on negative thoughts.
Maybe you're beating yourself up over a mistake you made.
Thinking about what you could have done different.
What you should have said or done.
What you would do different if given the chance.
Or perhaps you're stuck in reliving an upsetting event.
Remembering words that cut you to your core.
Or seeing the person's face that broke your heart.
Ruminating on negative thoughts without end.
I am here to help.
We can stop the spiral together.
We are going to practice three simple steps to stop the spiral.
So take a moment to come fully present with me.
Please take some time to find a comfortable position laying down.
Supporting your body with lots of pillows.
And snuggling under your blanket.
Feeling as if you are wrapped in a layer of protection and ease.
Creating a cozy nest.
So that you can allow yourself to really let go.
Let your eyes close gently now,
If they haven't already.
Let's take some time to feel our starting point.
Becoming aware of the communication between mind and body.
Sometimes we lose that connection.
The mind gets loud.
And demands all of our attention.
Now is the time to just notice the body.
Notice the sensations in the body.
You with curiosity and total awareness.
Feeling and welcoming all sensations just as they are.
Begin to sense your body.
As if you are collecting data.
What sensations are you experiencing right now?
Scan your body from the top of your head all the way down to your feet.
We are noticing.
Without labeling anything as good or bad.
What do you feel right now?
You Do you discover tightness or tension within?
If so,
Where do you feel it?
Do the sensations within have a temperature?
Or perhaps a color.
Please just map out the sensations you are feeling right now.
So that we have a starting point to work from.
You you you you you Then take a moment to fully arrive.
Allow yourself to come fully present into this moment.
Letting go of the past.
It is already done.
No worries of the future,
It's not yet here.
You together we will remain cocooned in this cozy nest where only positive thoughts can penetrate the bubble of ease.
You This is a Yoganeedra practice.
Yogic sleep.
Where we will travel to the luscious space between waking and dreaming.
To the place where deep healing happens.
Next,
Bring your attention to your breath.
Become curious.
What is the quality of your breath right now?
No need to shift or fix.
Simple awareness.
Explore for a moment.
Are you breathing in and out of your nose or mouth?
No right answer,
Just observe.
Then notice how long does it take for you to inhale.
And how long does it take for you to exhale?
Is the inhale longer than the exhale?
Or is the exhale longer than the inhale?
Or are they balanced?
Are you inhaling and exhaling for the same count?
Notice.
You Thank you for watching!
Explore.
Now regardless of what your breath is doing.
Is it possible to invite your breath to become slow and steady?
Easy and deep.
Can you welcome your inhale into the bottom of your lungs?
Filling up completely.
And emptying out totally.
Three more breaths like that.
Inhaling,
Filling up.
Exhaling,
Emptying out.
Then can you trust your body to maintain that comfortable rhythm of breath so that we can explore deeper.
Tonight we will work together to stop the spiraling thoughts you that incessant chatter that keeps us from finding rest.
But before we dive into that.
.
.
Let's first set the stage.
Noticing sounds around you.
Moving your attention from one sound to the next.
Feeling the vibration of sound within your ears.
Feel your ears hearing.
Then become aware.
Ambient noises no longer register as sharp sounds.
As if they are fading into the distance.
Fading into the background They muffle now.
As they travel through a thick,
Distant fog.
Like waves hitting a far-off shore.
Your breath deepens naturally.
Slowing into a rhythmic tide.
Each wave of breath lapping at the beach.
Feel it pull the remaining fragments of your day out.
With the receding surf.
Inviting your body to become heavy.
Shedding all of the layers of overwhelm.
Feeling the weight of gravity turning your limbs to lead.
A natural slowing down.
As we allow sluggishness into our mind and body.
Blurring the sharp edges of the waking world.
As we prepare our mind and body for the deep heaviness of sleep.
Not as a goal.
Not as an expectation.
But simply as a natural consequence of our choosing when to let go.
Allowing sleep to find you whenever it feels right You are in control here.
This is your time.
And your practice.
It's okay if your attention drifts.
It's okay if you go in and out of conscious hearing.
That simply means that you are doing this right.
There's no need to concentrate.
In fact,
You should not try too hard.
Striving and trying will just interfere with this natural process.
So when the time feels right,
Simply release the sound of my voice.
And drift effortlessly toward deep,
Healing rest.
Like an anchor,
Dropping through layer after layer of consciousness.
Until the floorboards of the mind grow still.
Now before we dive into the steps Let's first set our intention.
Are Sankalpa.
Take a moment to create your intention for practicing.
Stating your intention as if it is already happening.
In a positive statement.
Of the truth you want to create.
You you Please know that sometimes we are too overwhelmed to even think about what we want or need.
I understand.
That's okay.
Feel free to use my words as your own if you are struggling to create an intention.
It can be simple like,
I release what I cannot change.
Or I am at peace with my day.
Are even as simple as I rest easily.
Whatever you choose as your intention.
Please say it three times silently within.
You you Now together,
We will take a brief journey throughout the body.
Noticing sensations with awareness.
Beginning at the top of our head.
Observing sensations of warmth spreading like warm honey over your scalp and head.
Maybe you feel this warmth.
Or perhaps you see it as a warm golden light.
However you experience this sense of relaxation is perfect.
I am creating the framework and you get to write the story any way that makes sense to you.
Feel your eyes growing heavy.
Eyelids lined with sand.
Rolling back into the comfortable darkness within.
An inescapable pull.
Of luscious weightiness.
Knowing that it would be a monumental task to simply lift the lids in this moment.
Welcome that heaviness over your face and jaw.
You bottom jaw growing heavy as you feel all frustration melting away.
The muscles of the neck and throat uncoil.
And sink into your bed.
All stubbornness dissolving away.
No more need to speak up.
Allow the vocal cords to rest fully.
That wave of golden light swirls lovingly over your shoulders,
Inviting the boundary between where your body ends and the mattress begins to melt away.
There is no responsibility here.
Nothing more you need to do.
And nowhere else you need to be.
You have done enough for today.
Everything else can wait.
Allow your thoughts to slow from a rushing river of thoughts.
Into isolated,
Heavy droplets dissolving coherency into the warm quiet of the subconscious.
Welcome that warm wave of golden relaxation.
To wash over arms and hands.
Feel it dissolving all tension.
As it glides over your upper arms.
Both elbows.
Lower arms.
Wrists and hands.
Feel it pulling in the palms of both hands you Notice how it tingles at the tips of your fingers.
Leaving your hands completely limp.
And observe.
As your fingers really release,
They just naturally curl up.
Your trembling grip giving way.
Fingers unfurling one by one.
With the slow,
Deliberate grace of a waking Fern Frond.
A tight spring gently loosening its coil.
With a long,
Slow exhale.
Feel your collarbones widen.
Casting off the invisible weight they have been carrying.
Feel that although your chest has felt like a locked vault… once knotted and defensive.
The chest muscles now smooth out.
Like golden silk wrapped lovingly over a stone.
Your ribs,
Once clamped tight like iron bars,
Protecting a short and shallow breath.
But now in this quiet room.
The armor dissolves.
The ribcage surrenders its grip.
Expanding wider and wider without effort.
The ribs now look like the gills of a fish.
Inhaling wide and open.
Exhaling coming back to center.
Lungs filling with a profound and heavy fullness.
And as the lungs expand to full capacity.
The belly is finally given permission to fully let go.
The deep-seated anxiety in your stomach unraveling.
Feel it softening into a warm and quiet stillness.
The golden light settling into your abdomen.
Melting into your core.
Feel it radiating peace out into the space around you.
See your entire body wrapped in the golden light of that peace?
And that tranquility.
Invite that broad wave of golden light to cascade down your spine.
Illuminating each and every vertebra.
Enfolding the entire spine in its warm relaxation.
Allow that light to unknot the muscles of your upper back,
Between the shoulder blades.
And welcome it to pool in your lower back.
Soft,
Silky,
Golden light.
Melting away all stiffness.
Allowing you to sink deeper and deeper into support and ease Feel the entire torso heavy.
Sinking into the support beneath you.
No longer fighting gravity.
Instead,
We embrace it.
Completely trusting it to hold you tenderly.
Safely wrapped in the blanket of gravity protecting you.
Finally,
The heavy,
Comforting warmth of that beautiful golden light.
Flows into your lower body.
Feel the pelvis and hips softening even more.
Completely releasing their grip on the day.
The light floods over the thighs.
Washing over the knees.
And the lower legs.
Let it flow into your ankles.
Feel it filling up the arches of your feet.
You may even feel it.
As it slips out of your toes.
Taking the last remnants of tension with it.
The entire body bathed in golden light.
Resting in stillness.
And entirely at peace.
You Take a deep breath in.
In a long,
Slow breath out.
Let that breath be a signal to your whole body.
That it's safe to let go now.
We are grounded.
Anchored and secure.
We can face everything from this place of grounding.
You no longer feeling alone.
We can really look at uncomfortable situations.
From a new perspective together.
As your body rests.
And your breath continues to soften.
Let's turn the awareness toward the mind.
Observe if any of those thoughts of rumination are present right now.
Let them simply be noticed.
Like clouds passing far overhead you don't have to follow them.
You don't have to solve them.
Just notice.
Ah,
There's that thought again.
Become aware.
And then notice where that thought lives in your body.
You you Is there a tightness in your chest?
A heaviness in your belly Do you discover tension in your jaw or your shoulders?
Just map it out without judgment.
We are simply practicing awareness.
Which is the first and most important step.
You will hear my voice again in a few moments.
Step one is to notice that the spiral has begun.
That is awareness.
Recognize what is happening to you at the start of the spiral.
What are the first signs that you are slipping into rumination?
Remember,
Rumination is where we get stuck focusing on past events,
Playing them over and over and over again in our mind asking ourselves,
Why did I do that?
Why did I say that?
Beating ourselves up over something that is done and over.
That is how we can distinguish rumination from worry.
Worry is all about the future.
Focusing on uncertainties.
What if I fail?
What if I say the wrong thing?
So let's separate the two.
And just focus on rumination for right now.
Choosing to set aside the worry.
And we can address that later.
So together,
Let's think about.
.
.
When you find yourself ruminating.
When those repetitive negative thoughts start.
When you feel yourself being sucked into the downward spiral.
What shifts in your body.
What sensations are present in your body.
Can you name the feeling you experienced?
How does it feel?
Where in your body do you feel that sensation?
Please do not allow your mind to go into blaming or shaming.
Ruminating is simply getting stuck in the loop.
Of thinking and feeling.
Feeling and thinking.
This is what creates our state of being.
Your state of being is your overall condition.
Your well-being.
So what happens in our thought loop?
Is we have a thought.
That thought creates a corresponding feeling.
That feeling creates even more identical thoughts.
And now we are stuck in the loop.
You So step two is to realize that you are the only person hurting.
Recognize that you are a victim to that thought and feeling in this moment.
No one else is hurt by you beating yourself up.
Thinking what you could have or should have done differently.
The past is gone.
It's done and over.
We cannot go back and undo what is already done.
But we can learn from it.
We can choose a different path next time.
We can make a better choice or decision today.
Right now.
Your brain is electric.
Your thoughts send an electrical signal out into the world around you.
Out into the quantum field.
Your body is magnetic.
Your feelings generate a magnetic charge that draws experiences to you.
When you loop the same thoughts and feelings together over and over again for years,
They become a permanent,
Automatic state of being.
And over time we accept that as our personality.
Do you want your personality to be based on negative thoughts and feelings?
If not,
We move to step three,
Change it.
Moving out of our head and into our heart.
Consciously choose a different state of being.
Catch yourself each time the old way of thinking comes back.
Because it will.
We simply have to notice it.
And then shifted to a thought that feels better.
A thought that will move us in the direction?
Of where we want to go.
Instead of reliving where we messed up.
Failure is the breeding ground of greatness.
Mistakes teach us valuable lessons.
It's time to self-regulate.
There is no blame here No shame.
There are no excuses.
Step three takes time.
It's called a practice for a reason.
We have to let go of our perfectionism.
We will not get this right the first time.
We begin to rewire our thought process This takes time.
So be easy with yourself.
As Dr.
Joe says,
Thoughts are the language of the brain.
And feelings are the language of the body.
The quickest way to shift our vibration.
Is to move toward gratitude.
What are you grateful for right now?
Even if it's just gratitude for your next breath.
Gratitude to find a moment to just be fully present with your breath.
Make a commitment to yourself.
Start rehearsing new thoughts.
Practicing new elevated emotions like gratitude,
And allow gratitude to be a portal into joy.
Practice this so many times.
That the new thoughts get hardwired into your mind.
Then what you will find is that you have created a new way of being.
You will no longer have to think about it.
You will notice that you have become a whole new you.
Now let's deepen our rest.
Exploring briefly some contrasts.
Bring to mind heaviness.
And let your whole body feel heavy.
Sinking deeper and deeper Now the opposite.
Experience vast lightness and openness.
As if you could float.
Effortless.
Weightless.
Then allow both feelings to dissolve.
And simply feel neutral.
At ease.
Bring to mind the feeling of heat?
Like the rays of the sun gently kissing your skin.
Then the opposite.
Remembering the feeling of cold like a crisp,
Cool winter breeze.
Then allow both feelings to dissolve.
And simply feel comfortable.
Warm just right bring to mind the tension you felt earlier.
Remembering where your rumination lived in your body.
And let it tighten just slightly for a moment.
Then invite a wave of relief to wash over you,
Letting go.
Now imagine yourself somewhere calm.
A place that allows you to soften and let go.
Perhaps your favorite place in nature.
Like a quiet shoreline at night as you hear the sounds of the waves rolling and receding.
Or a still and peaceful forest.
Under a canopy of stars.
Or imagining you are simply floating.
On a calm lake bed.
Fully supported by the water beneath you.
Every wave.
Every breath.
Every rustle of leaves.
Invites you to sink a little bit deeper into rest.
There is nowhere else you need to be.
Nothing left to think through.
Just this quiet and held place.
Envision if you like.
That the electrical signals of your thoughts and the magnetic pull of your feelings are settling now.
Like ripples smoothing into still water.
Your body's natural state returning to ease.
Bring to mind once more your Sankalpa.
Your intention you set at the beginning of this practice.
And repeat it silently to yourself three times with feeling.
You Let it settle into this deeply relaxed body and mind.
Like a seed planted in the rich soil of potential.
The limitless possibilities of your intention unfolding.
And blossoming into your reality.
Congratulate yourself for taking this time.
For making the effort.
Seeking a new path forward.
Let's lock this feeling of ease into your mind and body.
Allowing your breath.
To be your transportation back.
To this moment in time.
Breathing slowly and deeply three times to lock this feeling of ease into your mind and body.
You Now,
When thoughts begin to spiral.
You have a plan.
You have the map.
And the breath to guide you back to a new way of being.
The three simple steps are Notice,
Feel Change.
Notice the thought then affirm,
The past is already over.
There is nothing left there to protect by continuing to relive it.
You are allowed to put it down now.
Feel.
When the spiral begins,
Remember that no one else feels what you are feeling in this moment.
The loop of thought and feeling belong to you alone.
And so you are the only one who can choose to set it down.
This is not about blaming yourself.
There is no shame.
It's simply recognizing that holding on serves no one.
Least of all you.
Then,
We change the thought.
Choosing a thought that feels slightly lighter than the one you were holding.
It doesn't need to be a big shift.
Just a small step in a better direction.
Shift into the softness of gratitude.
And let the feeling of gratitude spread throughout your entire body.
From here,
There is no need to return to full waking awareness.
Let this practice carry you gently into sleep.
If you find yourself still listening.
Simply allow your attention to rest.
On the natural rhythm of your breath.
The breath falling in.
And the breath falling out.
With as little effort possible.
In and out.
And heavier.
And softer.
Drifting.
Whenever the spiral tries to return.
And it may.
You now know the way back to stillness.
You know the way back to calm.
Notice it,
Recognize it's yours to release.
Gently shift towards ease.
This is a practice.
Not a perfection.
And be patient with yourself as this new way of being becomes familiar.
Remember,
The best way to establish a new and healthy habit is to practice it.
Please allow this meditation to be your constant companion.
Until the new thought pattern is so easy.
So familiar.
That you no longer need my assistance to return back to calm commit to yourself.
Commit to your practice.
Into this new way of being.
Is wired into your mind and body.
You Rest now,
My friend.
Allowing yourself to feel safe.
.
.
You are supported.
You are exactly where you need to be.
Simply drifting.
You you you you you Thank you for watching!
You you
