From Softness, I Sleep (Bedtime Bodyscan)

Slip into softness before sleep with this guided bedtime bodyscan.
Olivia will guide you on a safe and deeply restful journey, as you soften your physical body, calm your nervous system and attune to the natural rhythm of your inner bodily systems.

Transcript

Hello friends,

Welcome to your bedtime body scan.

This edition is here to guide you to release,

Relax and exhale the day.

We're here to support you in fully letting go of the day,

The experiences and the energy of the day that brought you right here to this exact moment.

Whether the day brought success or survival,

You made it.

If you're new to meditation,

A body scan can be a great place to begin your practice.

And while the intent of this particular meditation is to guide you towards a relaxed and calm state before sleep,

We begin with awareness.

Awareness of thoughts and of course awareness of your body.

As you move through the meditation,

You may find yourself drifting off to sleep.

If you notice thoughts,

Worries or concerns arising,

Then take your attention away from the meditation.

This is also normal.

See if you can redirect your attention back to your body,

Gently letting go of any of the thoughts that creep in.

If you're not already there,

Find your way to laying down on your bed,

Comfortable in your space and take a few moments to arrive in your bed.

Set yourself up with pillows,

A blanket and anything else that will help you soften the body once you're comfortable.

Take a moment to check in on your posture.

The posture is essential for moving into a relaxed state.

Mentally and physically.

Begin by looking at the spine.

Find a little more length through the spine,

All the way up to the crown of your head.

Stretch your legs down and away,

So your feet are about hips width apart.

Rotate your feet a little outwards,

Toes and knees pointing out to either side.

Now check that your body is relaxed,

Including all the muscles in your face.

The allied sway side to side of the torso,

The neck,

Your head.

Allow each body part to sink deeper in and find a place to rest.

Close your eyes and take a few moments to drop in.

With your eyes closed,

Focus on the sensations throughout your entire body.

Simply observe the way your body feels.

It has an energy,

A vibration.

Begin to investigate that energy.

Is it soft or hard,

Warm or cool?

Is the vibration fast or slow?

Allow the mind to drop away anything you're thinking about and focus your mind on the sensations in your body.

Sensations like coolness,

Tightness,

Buzzing,

Pulsing.

Any kind of movement happening authentically within you.

Emotions and feelings might also arise.

Restlessness,

Irritability,

Stress or maybe you're already feeling good,

Already in that place of calm and joy.

Just be aware of these sensations and emotions as you continue the process.

The key is accepting what you observe without trying to make anything different.

Simply bringing a mindful attention of curiosity and openness to the present moment.

Let's begin at the crown of your head.

Simply bring your attention there.

Internally gaze up and notice what you feel.

Shift your attention to your skull as it makes contact with your pillow.

There may be a sense of pressure or weight as your head softly drifts into its support.

Attention moves to your face,

Your forehead,

Your cheeks,

Mouth and your chin.

There may be sensations of tingling,

Temperature,

Tightness.

Let it all be.

Become aware of anything that is present in your shoulders.

The area that tends to hold a lot of our attention and pressure.

If at any point you notice tightness or unease,

Sometimes in the act of noticing it,

You may find yourself releasing the tension a little.

Breathe gently through,

Directing the breath into that area to allow it to soften.

At this moment,

You're aware of the sensations in your right shoulder.

And then let your mind travel down your arm,

Noticing any tingling,

Heat or coolness.

As you reach your elbow,

Your lower arm and then your hand.

There are often quite a few sensations in the hand.

Notice your hands and fingers and the flow of energy in the form of subtle waves.

Each finger lightly,

Naturally curving in toward the palm.

Now bring your attention up to your left shoulder.

Again noticing any sensations.

If at any point there's no sensation,

Notice the absence of sensation.

What does that feel like?

And then start to move down your arm.

Notice your elbow,

Your forearm and then your hand and fingers on the left.

Let your attention go up to the top of your shoulders.

Begin to move it around to your back.

Loftly breathe down your back.

You can zigzag or make an up and down movement in your mind.

Sweeping up and down.

Drift down your spine,

Noticing the natural curve in your thoracic spine,

That mid part of your back.

Lifting the muscles,

Lowering to the base of your spine.

Taking your attention and breath with you.

If thoughts crop up as you're doing this,

Once again see if you can let them go.

Let them be like clouds floating across the sky of your mind.

Shift your attention to the front of your body,

To the chest area.

Gently scan your chest,

Down past the rib cage,

Into the stomach area.

Soften your tummy.

Gently begin to breathe more deeply,

Directing some breath to the chest,

The tummy,

Relaxing more with each cycle.

Continue to pass your consciousness further down your body,

Reaching the pelvis.

Notice the whole pelvic area,

This structure that contains a number of muscles at the bottom of your torso.

The pelvic floor acts as our inner core and supports important organs like our bladder,

Against gravity and any added downward pressure.

With this gentle awareness,

Look at the pelvis,

The low back and their connection to the bed as they begin to melt further in.

Now bring your attention to your right hip.

Start to bring the awareness down your leg.

Circle your attention around the leg,

Starting at the right thigh.

Wrap awareness from the thigh down to your knee,

Resting for a moment.

Before drifting further down,

To the shin and calf,

Gently wrapping them with intention.

Now awareness comes to the ankle joint,

To your heel,

The sole of your foot,

Not forgetting to breathe.

Eventually bringing this kind and curious attention to each toe,

Lingering here for a moment.

Watch the right leg,

All the way down to your toes,

Just release.

Now come back up to your left hip and slowly bring attention down your left thigh,

Feeling whatever is present or notice it in any other way that makes sense for you.

Allow the leg to feel heavy.

Moving to your knee and down your left leg,

Just scanning your body,

All the way down to your left ankle,

Foot and to your toes.

From your left leg,

From the hip to the thigh to the toes,

Just dropping away,

Softening.

Meditate on the full body in stillness.

Let the muscles,

The bones and all the other scaffolding of your body be heavy,

Be completely still.

Allow yourself to drift into sleep.

I offer a little mantra to take with you into sleep.

You can repeat this in your mind.

From here,

From softness,

I sleep.

I sleep with a calm mind.

I sleep with a soft body.

I sleep with a grateful heart.

I welcome sleep into my mind and body and I look forward to a new tomorrow.

Sweet dreams my friends.