Restful Sleep Meditation For Racing Thoughts

This meditation will help calm your mind and body for sleep. You may find it helpful when racing thoughts or strong emotions keep you awake. You'll be gently guided through soothing breathing to calm your body, the RAIN practice (Recognize, Accept, Investigate, and Nurture) to cope with thoughts and feelings, and body practice to help you identify and release tension. The goal is to soothe and rest your body and mind, so you'll feel more relaxed and restored whether or not you fall asleep.

Transcript

Welcome.

Thank you for joining me in this guided meditation for racing thoughts that are impacting your sleep.

I'm Kimberly Kalish.

I applaud you for joining me with the goal of feeling better.

Let's agree together that the goal is not to fall asleep.

Let's release that goal because it only adds to stress.

Instead,

By focusing on my voice and following my suggestions,

Your body and mind will rest and relax,

Which will improve your overall sense of health and well-being,

Whether or not you fall asleep.

If your mind wanders as you listen,

That's perfectly fine.

Just bring your focus back to my voice when you realize your mind has wandered.

I encourage you to listen to this meditation in bed or wherever you sleep with the lights out,

Making yourself as comfortable as possible.

Let's begin with some deep breaths.

At your own pace,

Begin with a deep inhale,

Filling your lungs and expanding your diaphragm.

Then exhale with a whoosh of air,

Fully emptying your lungs,

Allowing your belly to deflate and lower.

Then again at your own pace,

Take another deep inhale.

And when you're ready,

Exhale.

As you continue taking full deep breaths,

Allow your mind to take comfort in the knowledge that you are right now soothing and relaxing your body and mind.

Even though you're awake,

Your body is resting and restoring.

I invite you now to breathe normally,

Letting go of those full deep breaths and allow your body to find its own natural breathing rhythm.

I invite you to notice your body and any sensations.

Notice your feelings and your thoughts.

If you're aware right now of racing thoughts,

Take a moment to pause and focus on those thoughts.

See if you can focus on a specific thought or a part of a thought and look more closely at it.

It may be helpful to ask yourself,

What am I thinking?

What's mattering to me right now?

You may identify a thought right away or you may wait and look for a few more moments waiting for a specific thought to come to you.

Whether or not you're aware of specific thoughts,

Ask yourself,

How do I feel right now?

How do I feel about this thought or lack of thought?

With curiosity,

Notice any emotions.

Notice whether or not an emotion becomes clear to you.

Say to yourself,

Silently in your mind,

I'm aware of feeling whatever this is that I'm feeling.

I'm aware of thinking the thoughts that are coming to my mind.

Be aware that any thoughts or feelings or lack of thoughts or feelings are perfectly correct for you right now.

I invite you to acknowledge that we don't get to turn feelings on and off.

In fact,

Our efforts to stop feeling or thinking a certain way actually makes those thoughts and feelings increase.

With that knowledge,

I invite you to say to yourself,

I accept that at this moment,

This is what I feel and this is what I'm thinking.

I accept that it may be difficult having these feelings and I'm aware that at this moment,

This is how I feel.

I invite you now to take a moment to ask yourself if there's anything that can be done in this moment about the thought or the feeling.

Sometimes we can fix a concern,

But most of the time,

Feelings are related to things that have happened in the past or fears and worries about what might happen in the future.

If there's something to be done,

Agree with yourself that you'll address it tomorrow.

And if there's no action to be taken or no action to be taken at this moment,

Then again,

Acknowledge to yourself,

This is what I'm thinking.

This is what I'm feeling.

If these are difficult thoughts or you're aware that any thoughts that you're having at all are upsetting because you'd rather be sleeping,

Then I invite you to put a hand on your heart and say to yourself,

I'm sorry for the pain that you feel.

Imagine how you might speak to a loved one.

Imagine the gentle names you might use like sweetheart or buddy.

Imagine words you might use to comfort someone you care for.

And I invite you to use those words to comfort yourself.

Honey,

I'm so sorry you're hurting.

Shifting your attention now,

I invite you to imagine all the other people in the world at this moment who are also aware of difficult feelings and thoughts,

Who are also awake when they'd rather be asleep and to all of the beings in the world with this similar shared experience.

I invite you to say in your thoughts,

I'm so sorry for the pain you're experiencing.

I'm sorry for the suffering.

I wish you comfort.

And with your hands still on your heart,

Bring your attention back to yourself and say,

Sweetheart,

I'm so sorry for the pain you're experiencing.

I'm so sorry for the suffering.

I wish you comfort.

You are welcome to repeat the process as many times as you need or continue along with me through a body relaxation exercise.

Together we'll now identify and reduce bodily tension by tightening and holding tension in our entire body to the point of awareness,

But never pain.

Always release tension immediately in any area if the tension is causing pain.

Inhale and exhale as needed at your own pace as I now invite you to flex your feet up towards your head and hold that tension.

Now tighten your leg muscles,

Your buttocks and your abdomen.

Make a fist with your hands and flex your biceps,

Holding all of these muscles in tension.

Now bring your shoulders up towards your ears,

Tightly shut your eyes,

Squeezing them closed and bring your mouth into an exaggerated smile,

Revealing clenched teeth.

Hold your entire body in this place of tension for just a few more breaths,

Holding it all tight,

Not to the point of pain,

But to the point of awareness.

Holding,

Holding,

Noticing the tension in your muscles and now release.

Let your fingers open naturally and rest to your sides.

Let your whole body release as you breathe at your own pace.

Notice the sensations in your body as the tension melts away.

Notice areas of warmth or coolness,

Areas of tingling or comfort.

By briefly increasing tension,

We're able to release tension in areas when we may not have known we were holding it.

Continue to lie down where you sleep and I invite you to shift and stretch your body,

To wiggle your fingers and toes and readjust your posture in any way that makes you just a little more comfortable.

Pull the covers up or push them off,

Whatever you need to do to increase your comfort.

As I guide you to focus your energy from your toes to the top of your head,

I invite you to bring all of your attention to each body part as I name them.

Noticing any sensations of heat or coolness,

Comfort or pain,

Tension or neutral sensations.

At any moment that you become aware of discomfort,

Please focus on breathing in,

Healing,

Oxygenated breaths and with each area of comfort or neutral sensation,

Focus on taking in a breath of gratitude for the comfort.

As you lie in the space where you're resting with your eyes closed,

I invite you to bring all of your attention to your toes.

Notice whatever sensations you're feeling in your toes.

As you focus on each toe,

You may become more aware of how they feel.

You may become aware of the feeling of fabrics or blankets against them or you may not.

Whatever you notice is correct for you.

Notice your feet,

The tops and the bottoms.

If you're aware of comfort or neutral sensations,

Allow yourself to breathe in a breath of gratitude,

Saying gently in your thoughts,

Thank you for the comfort.

And if you're aware of any discomfort in your feet,

Breathe in healing breaths,

Bringing attention to those areas and gently saying to the discomfort,

May you be well.

Bring your attention now to your ankles.

With openness and curiosity,

Notice your ankles,

Notice what you feel.

Bring your focus now to your calves.

Noticing without judgment,

Asking yourself,

What do I feel?

Can I feel the weight of my legs against the surface upon which I lie?

Bring your attention now to your knees,

The fronts and the backs.

Remind yourself that this practice is restorative,

That you're relaxing your body just by noticing.

Bring your attention and energy now to your thighs,

The fronts and the backs.

If you're aware of comfort,

Breathe in the comfort and appreciation and exhale,

Thank you.

Thank you for the comfort.

Focus now on your hips,

Allowing your mind and your thoughts and your energy to rest on your hips.

If you're aware of any areas of discomfort,

Breathe in healing breaths.

And then your thoughts gently say to the areas of discomfort,

May you be well,

May you be comfortable.

Bring your focus now to your pelvis,

Allowing your awareness to notice any sensations.

Focus now on your lower back,

Noticing without judgment,

Whatever the sensations are.

Breathing at your own pace.

Bring your focus now to your abdomen.

Notice the skin on your belly.

Notice if you feel the sensations of air in the room or fabric on your belly.

Notice sensations of digestion or changes or feelings beneath the skin happening within your abdomen.

Bring your attention now to your middle back.

Noticing feelings.

Allow yourself to be aware of the weight of your body against a mattress or the cushion.

Bring in your attention now to your upper back.

Focusing on sensations,

Offering gratitude for comfort or wishes for wellness.

Focus your attention now on your chest.

Allow your mind to become aware whether or not your chest is rising and lowering with your breaths.

Notice the skin and notice any sensations beneath the skin.

Are you aware of the beating of your heart?

Are you aware of the air as it enters your body and exits?

Bring your focus now to your shoulders.

And if your mind wanders to other thoughts,

Say to yourself,

Yes,

That's what's mattering to me right now.

I accept where my mind has gone and now I bring my focus back to my shoulders.

Noticing whatever feelings I become aware of in this moment.

Bring your energy now to your upper back.

The inside and the outside.

Notice your elbows and your lower arms.

Bring your focus now to your wrists and your hands.

Allow yourself to be aware of any feelings of air moving in the room or fabric against your hands or the weight of your hands against the surface upon which they lie.

And bring your focus to your fingers,

Each finger,

Your pinkies,

Your index fingers,

Your middle fingers and your pointer fingers.

Bring your focus to your thumbs and allow your mind to linger here,

Noticing the sensations.

Bring your focus now to your neck.

Notice the skin on your neck,

Whether you can feel the surface upon which you lie or air against your neck.

Notice sensations if you swallow or whether or not you notice sensations as you inhale and exhale.

Remind yourself that this practice is restoring your body,

Is relaxing your body and mind.

Bring your focus now to your jaw,

Noticing the muscles and the muscles around your mouth.

Bring your focus to your lips and tongue with openness and curiosity,

Allowing all of your energy and thoughts to linger here,

Noticing your awareness.

Allow your energy to rest now on your nose.

Ask yourself if you're breathing in through your nose or your mouth and simply notice.

Bring your energy now to your ears,

To the skin,

The sensations on the skin of your ears and notice as well what you hear.

Are you aware of the sound of my voice,

Of the music,

Of other sounds in your room or outdoors?

Bring your focus now to the back of your head.

As you inhale and exhale,

Awareness of thank you for comfort or for areas of discomfort,

May you be well,

May you be comfortable.

Focus your energy to the muscles around your eyes,

To your eyes and your eyelids.

Notice sensations around your eyebrows and your forehead.

With curiosity and openness,

Notice what you feel.

And finally,

Bring all of your energy to the crown of your head,

To the top of your head.

See as you rest your energy there if you can become aware of any sensations on the top of your head.

As you continue to breathe at your own pace,

Know that your body and mind have rested and relaxed.

Whether or not you're feeling sleepy,

You have reduced your heart rate and breathing rate,

Your eye movements have slowed and your muscles have relaxed.

Your brain waves have begun to slow down and your body and mind are restoring from the weakfulness of the day.

Allow yourself to continue to rest with the ease and knowledge that you've given your mind and body a relaxing gift.

Continue to breathe and allow whatever comes to you with openness and compassion.

May you be well.

Reviews

I didn't make it to the end, so I think it must have been good!! Lol

I didn’t hear the end because I fell asleep! My mind was really all over the place before and I felt myself slowing down.

Excellent. Please re-record with a higher quality microphone. It will make it much more usable by more people.

✨Thank you so kindly for the lovely practice before 🌙 bedtime. Much gratitude🙏🏼deep sleep 💫deep peace🌺
Namaste 🙏🏼 💫🎇

I needed this one last night and it really helped me calm down and feel better :)
Thank you so much

Wonderful - I as far as I heard, dozed off ! Thank you for sharing! 😊