It's time to lay down your burdens and rest.
As you get ready for sleep,
Remind yourself,
I've done what I can for today.
I've done what I can for now.
Let yourself rest.
Imagine that you're walking through a forest.
Sometimes the paths through forests are pretty easy.
They're well-groomed,
They're level and even.
I remember walking through an old growth forest on Vancouver Island,
The Avatar Grove.
It was really steep.
There were sets of stairs in places,
All covered with moss,
A bit slippery.
No handrails.
There were no signs saying turn this way.
In places,
We went across creeks.
As we got deeper into the forest,
There were some people coming down and said,
Actually,
Don't go on that path.
It just takes you into a bunch of brush that you can't really get through.
It's too many fallen trees there.
We went down that one at first and came back,
And then we went up this one,
And it takes you right up to this beautiful view of the valley.
And sometimes on our journey,
We find people that help that have been there before.
It's a beautiful forest,
The Avatar Grove.
Trees that are hundreds of years old.
It's quiet in there.
The stillness of time,
Of space.
So rich with oxygen.
All that we could hear were the birds,
The occasional squirrels.
There were no sounds of traffic,
And there were very few people.
Mostly,
We walked along in silence,
And sometimes we shared with each other.
But our minds were very still,
And the urge to speak had lessened.
We could hear our breath as we went up that last rise.
And then we came to this amazing view over the valley.
There were some large rocks that were perfect for sitting.
The first thing we did was take off our backpacks,
Rested them on the rock,
Got out some water,
A snack,
Something to replenish our muscles after all that work.
We could see for miles.
In places,
There was some mist caught in the trees.
The sky was blue,
Hardly a cloud.
We could see for miles out to the ocean.
As we looked further out into the ocean,
There's that line of the horizon.
We sat in meditation for a while.
Our minds,
Already still from being in the forest,
Were quiet.
We're in a difficult time right now.
It's challenging.
There's a lot of fear.
There are tyrants and bullies that are harming people.
That is also reflected in our personal lives.
People are struggling with their nervous systems.
There's a lot of hypervigilance and fear.
Sometimes we can't even sleep at night.
We have such a feeling of dread in our body.
Our minds are so busy trying to figure out what to do to keep ourselves safe.
As we move through these challenging times,
It's helpful to be as accurate as possible about the threat,
The danger.
We don't want to hide our heads in the sand.
We're also vulnerable to this catastrophic thinking,
To being kind of taken over by that feeling of exhaustion,
Despair.
There's nothing I can do.
And that's not true.
We can connect with other people in our community on the ground and also on the internet.
Sometimes it's so helpful just to look at some of the advances in science that are helping to solve some of our environmental problems.
To connect with people who are engaging courageously with whatever is in their arena to do.
We can't carry the weight of the world on our own shoulders.
We have a part for sure.
This is not something we can carry on our own.
Who could I reach out to?
Carry it with a partner,
With friends.
We can lighten the load by sharing it.
When we reach this place of rest,
We took off our backpacks,
We sat down and let our leg muscles recover.
Sometimes we have a heavy load that isn't all ours.
We could lighten it by releasing things that aren't ours to carry,
Or maybe not in the way that we've carried it.
Lift your shoulders for a moment and then allow them to soften.
Let go of the burdens of the world just for this time.
We need a respite.
We need a time of renewal and resting,
Letting go.
Especially as we're preparing for sleep,
We need to let worries and the cares about our world move to the background so that we can rest.
Take a few deep nourishing breaths.
Allow your body to soften as you breathe out.
Relax your forehead,
Eyebrows and eyes.
Let the muscles of your forehead soften.
Let go of worry.
Notice your mouth and jaw and allow the hinges of your jaw to let go,
To release.
Whatever we need to say or hold back from saying is for tomorrow or another day.
We've done what we can for now.
It's time for rest.
Notice your neck and shoulders,
Your upper back,
The large muscles of your upper back and behind your heart center.
Often we brace ourselves against attacks from the back.
Right now,
There's nothing here that can hurt us.
We're getting ready to sleep.
Let yourself be supported by the bed,
Covers of the bed.
Let yourself be comfortable.
As we were sitting on that rock,
We could hear very clearly any of the noises in the forest.
There was nothing there that was going to hurt us.
My whole body was able to rest.
Let yourself feel that now.
We've been working with the joys and the challenges of the day,
And now it's time to sleep.
I've done what I can for now.
Let your body breathe.
Let your body be supported by the bed.
Anchor your awareness to the gentle rise and fall of the stomach area as you breathe.
The belly softens as you breathe out,
Expands as you breathe in.
If your mind is still active,
Really focus in on the continuity of the breath.
Just as you're coming to the end of your exhalation,
Pay attention to the transition as the breath turns around.
Now the inhalation begins.
Those muscles start to lengthen a little.
And as you finish your inhalation,
Then we freely let go of the breath.
The belly begins to soften back towards the spine.
Forehead softens,
Mouth and jaw,
Neck and shoulders.
The large muscles of the back,
Of the chest,
The stomach.
And also let your arms relax from your neck and shoulders down through to your palms,
Your fingers,
Fingertips.
And your legs from your hip joints through the powerful muscles of your thighs.
Knee joints,
Shins and calves,
Your ankles,
Top of your feet,
Your toes,
Your heels,
Soles of your feet.
Your work is done for the day.
Let yourself rest.
I've done what I can for today.
I put down any burdens that I'm carrying.
It's time to rest.
