Welcome to your guided sleep meditation.
You've reached the end of another day and by now hopefully you are ready just to crawl into bed.
Feeling cozy underneath the covers,
Resting your head onto your pillow.
Finding a really comfortable position.
Allowing the thoughts of the day to slide away.
Fully allowing your body to arrive just where you are in your bed.
To help ourselves find this awareness of the present.
Allowing ourselves to drift off into sleep.
We will start with a body scan.
On your next exhale drag your awareness all the way down your body to the bottom of your feet.
And as we go over the body I invite you just to bring an image of that body part into your mind's eye.
Lingering over that image for just a moment before taking your awareness to the next body part.
Beginning at the bottom of the feet.
The ankles.
The calves.
The shins.
Your knees.
Your thighs.
The hips and your glutes.
The front of your pelvis.
The torso.
The rib cage.
Gliding that awareness up to your chest.
Your shoulder blades.
To the tops of your shoulders.
Down through the upper arms to the elbows.
The forearms.
Your wrists.
And your hands.
And then allowing that awareness to float over the neck through the back of the head.
The crown of the head.
And then we're going to do that body scan one more time but this time we will explore the more subtle aspects of our body.
On your next exhale allow that exhale to go all the way down through the body again to the bottom of the feet.
Starting with the right big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
The right pinky toe.
Right bottom of the foot.
Top of the foot.
The right heel.
The right ankle.
The back of the leg.
The calf.
The back of the knee.
The front of the shin.
The kneecap.
Right thigh.
Right hip.
And the glute.
The right side of the waist.
Right rib cage.
Right shoulder.
Upper right arm.
The elbow.
The eye of the elbow.
The right forearm.
To the right wrist.
And then the back of the right hand.
Palm of the hand.
The right thumb.
The pointer finger.
Right middle finger.
Ring finger.
And then the pinky finger.
And then like there was a thread attached to your fingers leading up through the arm to the side of the right neck.
The right ear.
The right jaw line.
The side of the head to the crown of the head.
And linger here at the top.
And then as you exhale again draw that awareness all the way down your body like a stone floating down through the water to the ground.
Standing at the bottom of the left foot.
Left big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Left pinky toe.
The bottom of the left foot.
Top of the foot.
The heel.
The ankle.
The calf.
The back of the left knee.
And then the shin.
The kneecap.
The left thigh.
To the left hip and the left glute.
Side of the waist.
To the left rib cage.
Left armpit.
Around to the top of the left shoulder.
And then down through the upper left arm.
To the left elbow and the eye of the elbow.
Down the forearm to the wrist.
To the left thumb.
Pointer finger.
Middle finger.
Ring finger.
And the left pinky finger.
Back of the hand.
Palm of the hand.
And then gently running that awareness up through the arm,
Back to the shoulder,
And then the left side of the neck.
Left jaw.
Left ear.
Up the side of the head to the crown.
And then just imagining your body.
The legs.
The torso.
The upper body and the arms.
The neck and the head.
Your whole body.
The whole body resting now.
Taking a couple deeper breaths now.
Filling up the lower belly.
Filling up the rib cage.
Filling to the crown of the head and then allowing perhaps a gentle sigh out your mouth.
Doing that one more time.
Inhaling.
Filling up the body.
Expanding the rib cage,
The lungs and then holding at the top.
And exhale.
Letting it go.
Gently bringing your breath to a regulated state.
Following the awareness of your breath from the beginning.
The inhale.
Following it to the very top.
Breathing slightly and then letting it go,
Traveling back down to the bottom.
In these moments of quiet,
Sometimes our brains want to wander off.
They want to start figuring out a problem or telling a story.
And although this is part of the brain's job,
Right now we can keep reminding ourselves that it is time to rest.
We've done all that we need to do today.
And it is time for your body to sleep.
So as your mind might want to start to float off and grab at certain ideas or thoughts,
Gently bringing that awareness back to your breath,
Back to the body,
Back to your heart.
Breathing in,
Watching the rise of your chest.
Breathing out,
Watching the fall of your chest.
This subtle awareness,
This subtle focus will help allow your body to find its regulated state.
And with loving kindness,
Allowing the thoughts of your mind to just float off.
Like you were lying in a field looking up at the sky,
Watching the clouds overhead just float by.
You can anchor your thoughts to these clouds and just let them float off into space.
Being rooted and grounded through your body,
No longer attached to the ideas of the day.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Feeling more expansive on your inhale and then letting go on the exhale.
This might mean feeling a little heavier into your mattress.
It might mean traveling that awareness down to your belly as you exhale.
And again,
Allowing those thoughts to just float away.
Sleep well,
Dear one.
