Evening Ritual For Restful Sleep

This meditation is a beautiful way to end your day and move into a good night's rest. This practice is designed to be done either sitting up before bed or while already lying own. You will use a mix of affirmation and gratitude to help calm your mind and increase your wellbeing. You will also set an intention to wake up the next day healthy and purposeful. By the end, you will wish yourself a deep, peaceful sleep.

Transcript

Hello and good evening.

My name is Lou Redmond and this evening meditation is intended to be done just before bed.

So probably in your normal meditating space,

Maybe a room or chair,

A cushion.

If you are already in your bed,

However,

You will also find this practice supportive to help you get to sleep and set up your day for tomorrow.

And so wherever you're at,

Allow your body to sink in to your chair,

To your cushion,

To your bed.

And as the weight of your body moves downwards,

I'd like you to acknowledge that you are in this transition point of your day.

And this is special and maybe even sacred time,

A time to move from doing to being.

I'd like you to find a word that would be supportive during this time for you.

Maybe it's a word that will help you release the day and move towards sleep.

This word could be calm,

Relax,

Stillness,

Peace.

Not putting too much pressure to think about a word,

Finding one that could be a bit of a ritual for you,

Almost a trigger to remind yourself to slow down and to remind yourself of this time before bed.

And once you've found your word,

I'd like you to imagine that the word is at the top of your head and imagining what the feeling and the intention of the word is.

So if it's calm,

You're imagining calm at the top of your head.

And you're going to repeat this word over and over and imagining the awareness and the energy of the word to start to ease and move down your whole body.

So imagining that calm is moving from your head,

Your face,

Your shoulders and your neck.

And as it's moving down,

It's doing the meaning of the word.

So if it's peace,

You're feeling peace in your body.

If it's relax,

You're feeling relaxation as the awareness moves down your hips and your thighs.

Using this word to allow the body to do what it needs to do.

And then take a conscious breath in with me and breath out.

Now that we've gotten the body relaxed,

We can work with the mind for a moment.

Because typically this can be the hardest part to release into the night.

It typically has its own agenda.

And that's okay.

That's just what the mind does.

And so allow your mind to do what it likes to do and that is to run through what happened this day.

What got done,

What didn't get done,

What you said,

What you wish you said.

And allow yourself to go back through the day that you just had.

Almost like you're a doppelganger watching you walk through this day.

Giving yourself a little separation from the events that occurred.

And just witnessing yourself get up,

Make breakfast,

Start working,

Write that email,

Work on that project,

Go for a walk.

Just witnessing all the events that happened.

Now I'd like you to find a moment in this day that is ordinary yet at the same time profound.

Think something that you may take for granted and if it were gone,

You'd really wish it were back.

Something that you can find gratitude for.

Maybe it was dinner with your family or morning coffee with your partner or conversation with your child.

And go back to this moment specifically and this time really experience it first person.

And bring that feeling of gratitude into your body right now.

Giving thanks for this ordinary yet extraordinary moment.

And see if you can take this gratitude with you when we eventually leave this practice and head to bed and move into the next day.

Remembering to honor these ordinary but profound experiences that we can have on a daily basis.

And as you hold in that gratitude,

Also just acknowledging anything that came up today that you would like to leave in this day.

Maybe it was a struggle or a difficult experience or emotion.

And bringing that to mind for a moment as you let go of the gratitude.

Maybe just feeling where this experience lands in your body.

And invite your word back in.

Allow it to re-relax your body here and to melt the energy of this experience off your body so that you cannot take this into your next day.

And then I'd like you to take a good breath in and breath out.

So now that we've cleared the energy for today,

I'd like you to imagine yourself waking up tomorrow.

And just as we first focused on the body today,

Imagining yourself wake up and your body was feeling really good.

Imagine yourself waking up tomorrow and your body is feeling good.

You are feeling in great and good health.

And if you are dealing with some pain where you may not feel great,

Maybe you'll see yourself tomorrow just feeling better,

Feeling like you're taking a step in the right direction.

And so imagine yourself healthy in body,

Feeling the energy course through your veins,

Feeling the health,

Feel the ability to sit,

To run,

To play.

See yourself entering tomorrow with that strong body.

And with that strong body,

Also a sense of being strong in mind.

Maybe you already wake up and set an intention for your day.

Well,

Let's do that right now,

Even if it may change when you wake up tomorrow.

What is the intention that you can set now for tomorrow?

Maybe it's to be courageous,

To be receptive,

To engage life,

To walk with love.

What is the little seed that you can plant in your mind?

And so that when you wake up,

You're already moving with this intention.

And we won't take time to visualize your day because we want to get to bed soon.

However,

We'll take another minute here and just offer this general intention for yourself tomorrow.

And maybe repeating this silently to yourself.

Tomorrow will be a good day.

Tomorrow will be a good day.

And then take another smooth breath in and out.

And as this evening practice winds down,

Noting any areas of your body that still feel tense at all.

And maybe offering that word once again to calm or to relax your body.

And then staying in the meditation and like you to imagine yourself leaving this practice.

Maybe you go and you brush your teeth or you do the rest of your evening ritual.

Maybe you're going to relax on the couch or read a book.

Or maybe you're going right to bed for rest.

And see yourself at that point where you're lying in bed,

All cuddled and comforted.

And share these words that you will then receive in just a little bit,

Sending this to your very future self.

May you sleep well.

May you get rest.

May you be restored.

May you sleep well.

May you get rest.

May you be restored.

And imagine how easily you just go ahead and drift into sleep.

And if you're already in bed,

Maybe saying,

May I sleep well?

May I get rest?

May I be restored?

And then whenever you feel ready and you feel complete,

You can gently open your eyes if you're not already in bed.

And move into the rest of your night.

I offer that last part for those that lay in bed later to imagine your previous self telling you to get good rest,

To sleep well.

Receiving that from them and then turning it again,

May I,

As you allow that to drift you into this evening.

Wishing you a great night's sleep and a great day tomorrow.

Namaste.

Reviews

Thank you very much for this wonderful meditation. Helping me relax and calm my anxiety. Have a wonderful day 🙏 ❤️ 🙂

Really lovely. Wonderful genuine voice, thoughtful, well paced. Just lovely!

So relaxing and the perfect suggestion for preparing for a good night's rest. Thank you!

Message, tone and cadence of your voice was very relaxing.

Outstanding meditation to prepare me for sleep and let go of the day.

Love this so much

I fell asleep listening to this, exactly what I needed it for

I was asleep before it was over

Nice thank you. May I sleep some more 🙏🏼

Love it! 🙏🏻💞

I really enjoyed participating in this meditation. Selecting the word was reassuring. Thank you.

Loved this. Just the right pace. It helped me relax.

I really enjoyed this meditation!

Thank you 🙏 Lou 💗💗💗. This is a great evening meditation to wind down the day and reflect. Focusing on gratitude brings much peace to my heart.

Lou’s sincere approach to
Life calms me…

Really nice end to the day!

I barely heard any of it… it worked! Many thanks 🙏

🙏

Lou! This was awesome! I fell asleep so quickly! Thank you 🙏 and sending lots of love 💕 and light ✨ from Portugal!

very calming
thank you