Hi little friend.
Would you like to go on an imagination adventure for your bedtime story?
Sometimes it's hard to get settled in.
I know my kids feel squirmy and jumpy and restless.
So we'll use the power of our imagination to take us to the beach.
Maybe you already guessed it because you can hear the waves in the background.
And so right now settle in.
We'll think back over our day and then we'll do a body scan and then we'll say a prayer and you should feel all set and ready for deep sleep.
So snuggle in and take a big deep breath.
I like to listen to the waves so that I can remember to breathe in and then breathe out when you hear the crash of the waves.
Let's try it again.
Alright,
I think we're ready.
So close your eyes and as best as you can picture yourself by the ocean.
These waves are nice waves.
You could walk along the shore for miles and miles and you wouldn't get pulled in.
These waves are gentle waves and they just crash ever so gently along your feet.
So sit at the edge of the water and imagine back over your day today.
What happened in your day today in the morning?
Where did you go?
What did you do?
Now I want you to imagine over back over your day in the afternoon time.
What did you eat for lunch?
Where did you go?
And then I want you to think back over your night time.
What have you done tonight?
Who were you with?
And now we're going to play another imaginary game.
I want you to think back over your day and find if there was anything that was frustrating.
And I want you to imagine taking all of that frustration and packing it in like you would pack a snowball.
But this is a frustration ball.
And I want you to take that ball and I want you to throw it as far as you can into the ocean.
Ready?
One,
Two,
Three.
Oh,
There it is.
In the wave and now tucked under into the wave in the water crashing down.
Good.
Okay,
Now I want you to gather up anything that you felt like went wrong today.
Can you remember anything back over your day?
Any place that just felt like it was just going wrong?
I want you to take all of those pieces,
Pack it into that ball again,
The imaginary ball.
And here we go.
We're going to throw it again.
One,
Two,
Three.
There it goes.
Tucked back into the water.
Good job.
Okay,
Now is there anything else you need to let go of for today?
And anything else that maybe just feels kind of yucky inside?
Let's take that,
Whatever it is,
You name it.
Sometimes it can be if a friend is upset with you or maybe you got in trouble.
Maybe you were sad.
And we're going to take it again and we're going to throw it right back into the ocean.
Ready?
One,
Two,
Three.
Let it go.
How do you feel?
Good.
Now we are going to look for little seashell moments,
I'll call them.
You know,
Sometimes when you're walking along a beach,
You'll see a lot of seashells.
Sometimes it'll be hard to find any at all.
But what we will do is we'll look back over our day and we'll find seashell moments.
These are moments where you feel loved and seen and known and valued just for being you.
Maybe your teacher was glad with something that you did today.
Maybe you had your favorite breakfast.
Maybe a friend gave you the biggest hug when you saw them.
Whatever it is,
Imagine back to those little seashell moments,
Those bright spots.
Did you find one?
Okay,
Hold that memory and take that little seashell and hold it close to your heart.
Imagine putting your hands right there on your heart and thinking back about that special moment and holding it in your memory one more time.
Was there another seashell moment?
Maybe there is a moment when you felt proud of yourself.
Did you try something new today?
Did you do something that was difficult?
Did you help someone out?
Did you make someone smile?
What do you feel proud about in your day?
I want you to hold that memory one last time and again take that seashell and hold it right next to your heart.
Thank you God for all of the places that we let go of and thank you God for all of these seashell moments.
Thank you for seeing us and loving us.
Help us to fall deeply asleep tonight and rest.
Amen.
Alright friends,
Now it's time that we will do a body scan.
And so I want you to put on your imagination again.
I want you to lay in the warm sand.
Maybe you're a little further from the waves so you're not getting wet this time.
And I want you to imagine this sand is not sticky like ordinary sand that sticks to you.
It's magic sand.
It feels warm and anytime you want to have it go off of your hands and legs and feet,
You can just wipe it off and it goes right off.
My son Carter likes to imagine that it's moon sand and it doesn't stick to you at all.
So lay down,
Get comfy and I want you to imagine this kind of magic moon sand all around your feet.
And you can wiggle your toes into it right now into your blanket.
Imagine ooh it feels so nice and warm.
And when you're at the beach sometimes you can layer sand on top of your body and it makes it feel like it's really heavy.
And so we're going to take imaginary magic sand and we're going to pretend that it's weighing our feet down.
Oh my goodness they feel so heavy.
And then I want you to imagine that this moon sand is now on your shins and your legs and your knees.
It feels so warm and your legs feel so heavy but you don't even want to move because you're tired and you're ready to let them rest.
Now I want you to imagine this magic moon sand is up on your hamstrings and your quads and your hips.
Oh and now it's on your belly.
It feels so warm and it feels like a weight just helping you to sink down into rest.
Sink down into relaxation.
And then I want you to imagine this moon sand all the way all the way up to your arms,
Almost up to your neck,
But your arms are under the moon sand.
Only your hands are sticking out.
You can wiggle your fingers.
But everything else feels so heavy.
Ah and it feels so fun to feel that weight drawing you down.
And now I want you just to think about your face.
Your face is up out of the sand.
But your face feels so relaxed because you're resting every muscle.
It's almost like when you scrunch your face up tight and then you let it go really gently and you let it completely relax.
So relax your forehead.
Relax your jaw and your cheeks.
Take one last big deep breath.
Now as your body is completely relaxed,
We end with this prayer.
Dear God,
Thank you for this little friend.
Thank you for their whole day.
Thank you for the places that you saw them and you loved them.
Thank you for the places that they'll see you in little moments tomorrow.
And I pray this friend has sweet dreams.
Good night.
