The body scan for sleeping well.
Starting with finding a comfortable position,
Lying down,
Tuning into the contact point of the body with a bed,
Mattress or sofa or whatever you're resting on.
Sensing the feet in contact with the surface you're lying on,
The legs,
Buttocks,
The back,
Head,
Arms,
Feeling the back of the head in contact with the pillow.
Taking a moment now to feel the breath in the body.
Where can you most feel the breath?
Sensing the gentle rhythm of the breath in the body.
What does it feel like?
Can you get curious about the breath with an open,
Kind attitude?
Allowing the breath to breathe itself.
Perhaps and only if this feels right,
Placing the hands on the belly.
And in this way,
Connecting with the breath a little more deeply.
Sensing the awareness deep inside the breath.
Directly experiencing the breath in the body.
The subtle movements of the breath in the body.
When we have trouble sleeping,
We often feel agitated,
Restless,
Unsettled.
That's when the sympathetic nervous system is activated.
Connecting to the breath in the body.
Feeling the breath in the body and allowing the breath to deepen.
Activates the parasympathetic nervous system.
Connecting to the breath in the body,
Feeling the breath in the body and allowing the breath to deepen.
Activates the parasympathetic nervous system.
When this happens,
We begin to relax and settle more deeply into the body.
There's nothing to do anymore now at the end of the day.
Nowhere to go,
Just lying here,
Being here.
Resting,
Relaxing,
Letting go of the day.
Breathing in the night.
As you're resting here and drawing your awareness more and more into the body,
I want to invite you to also feel the bones of the body as much as this is possible for you right now.
There is a density and weight to the bones.
Giving the bones now to fully rest down.
Giving the body permission in its entirety to fully give its weight up to gravity.
Gently dropping down into the mattress.
Sinking down.
Letting go.
Finding ease and release at the end of the day.
It's time now to relax.
To bring closure to the day.
And welcome the night.
Resting the awareness deep inside the breath and the body.
On the out breath,
Releasing a little more.
Relaxing.
If thoughts are going through your mind from the day or about tomorrow or this week,
You can notice the thoughts,
Acknowledge them and let them go.
You could say something like,
Hello thought,
Thank you thought,
Goodbye thought.
Letting the thoughts go with a non-judgmental,
Kind,
Open attitude.
Your thoughts are just thoughts,
Not necessarily true.
You can see them for what they are.
Like clouds passing by in a clear blue sky.
And once more now returning to the subtle movements of the breath in the body.
Slightly extending the out breath without forcing anything.
Breathing in.
Breathing out long.
Breathing in.
Breathing out long,
Deeply.
Taking the awareness now to the soles of the feet,
Noticing sensations here in the soles of your feet.
The back of the feet,
The toes.
What do you notice?
From here gently moving up the ankles and into the lower legs.
The calves,
Shin bones.
What can you feel here?
Moving up further into the thighs.
Understanding what you are noticing here.
Simply taking the awareness now into the hips,
Pelvis area,
Buttocks.
Often we hold tension here.
If there is tension here in the buttocks,
Breathing in,
Feeling the tension in the body and breathing out,
Releasing,
Softening,
Relaxing the body.
Simply now bringing the attention to the lower back.
Then up along the spine in contact with the mattress,
The surface you are lying on,
The middle back,
The upper back,
The shoulder blades.
Moving around the shoulders and down the upper arms.
Lower arms.
Hands.
Simply noticing bodily sensations in the shoulders,
Arms,
Hands.
If you still have your hands on the belly,
You might notice the breath in the palms of your hands.
And what can you sense in the belly?
Now moving from the belly into the area just below the ribcage,
The solar plexus.
Can you notice the breath here?
Guiding the attention now into the ribcage,
Chest and heart area.
Sensing the breath here.
The gentle rising and falling of the chest with each in and out breath.
Then beginning to explore the throat and neck.
What can you feel here?
Is the throat open or closed?
Tight or soft?
What about the neck?
Move this tension in the neck,
Breathing in,
Feeling the tension here and on the out breath,
Softening,
Releasing.
And finally the head.
Sensing the contact of the back of the head with the pillow.
Allowing the head to sink down into the pillow or into whatever you're resting your head on.
Relaxing,
Dropping down.
And what about the face?
Soft face,
Soft eyes,
Soft lips.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Relaxing into the gentlerism of the breath.
Noticing the whole body breathing.
Relaxing ever more deeply.
Breathing down into the mattress.
Soft face,
Soft eyes,
Soft belly.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Breathing out.
