The Teach Yourself Sleeping Meditation

A guided relaxing meditation to help you go to sleep. Sleeping is the most natural of processes and often we tell ourselves that we can't sleep. In this session the voice gently invites the listerners to consciously go through the stages of sleep to re-learn how natural it is.

Transcript

This is a short meditation to help you go to sleep.

Only listen when it's safe to do so.

Obviously do not listen when driving or operating any machinery or at the theater.

It's best if you listen where you know you can safely allow yourself to go to sleep easily.

I guess I'm suggesting a bed is a great place to start.

So before we start just check in on your physiology.

You might choose to shuffle about a bit to find the best most comfortable position which will help you go to sleep.

You might want to have a little yawn.

And notice your breathing and when you breathe concentrate on your shoulders and with each breath make sure they are still and that your diaphragm and stomach are doing the work.

Then relax.

Relax.

An easy word to say and not quite as easy to make yourself relax.

So it might be best to start at the top of your head and begin to soften and relax the little muscles of your scalp.

Relaxing,

Releasing and softening each muscle.

A kind of mental head massage.

And then allow that feeling of relax,

Releasing,

Softening to move across your forehead.

Eradicating the lines and allowing the tension to melt away.

And then concentrate on your cheeks.

The little muscles all the way around your face.

Softening and relaxing and releasing.

And the muscles around your mouth.

Those muscles that help you to smile or frown.

Imagine them softening and relaxing and releasing now.

And relax the jaw.

Just allow it to slacken and relax.

I once had a client who came to me complaining of bruxism.

I quickly googled bruxism and helped her get rid of it.

It's nighttime grinding of teeth.

No one knows why we do it but it is a sign of anxiety.

So allow your unconscious to slacken that jaw now and move on to the neck and shoulders.

So many people carry tension in their neck and shoulders.

My friend Rachel is a masseur and I tease her that she can do all the gentle manipulations of the muscles using her beautiful aromatic oils and a skillful use of her hands to physically allow the tension to melt away.

And I say I can do the same just by getting you to vividly imagine those muscles softening and relaxing and releasing.

Fortunately Rachel and I are still friends.

And then turn to the backbone and imagine you could move down that backbone one vertebrae at a time softening and relaxing and releasing.

Softening the tendons down the back and the chest.

Soften and relax and release the tension in the muscles across the chest.

And move to the stomach and imagine that six pack of muscles softening and relaxing and releasing.

And it's sometimes helpful to go inside your own body and imagine the physiology of the lungs.

The large muscle that's the diaphragm moves down creating a larger space in the chest cavity which allows those lungs to inflate because of the vacuum caused.

And as the lungs inflate they draw in the air and the magical gaseous exchange happens as your beautiful body extracts the oxygen it needs.

And that oxygen is taken by the blood and pumped around the body to all the vital organs by the heart.

And of course the heart is just another muscle that you can relax and soften and release any tension.

So relax all those internal organs the liver and the kidneys and the gallbladder and the stomach.

And as you go deeper inside relaxing the intestines and you might be aware of gentle rumblings of the digestive system.

It's a good sign.

It means that you are really really relaxing from the inside out.

And relax the buttocks and the thighs.

The quadriceps that group of large muscles that does so much of the work when walking,

Powering,

Controlling,

Flexing,

Making the everyday things so much easier.

Just give them a rest and allow them to soften and relax and feel the release of the tension.

As you continue to relax the muscles throughout your body you may notice the occasional involuntary twitch as the muscle really does relax.

And it's okay.

It's really very normal.

So relax the rest of your leg muscles,

The calves on both legs.

Softening,

Relaxing,

Releasing the tension as you become ready for sleep.

And just wiggle your toes and imagine all the muscles in your feet and ankles relaxing.

And now as you take in another long breath notice if there's any part of your body that might need to relax more.

And if there is take all your conscious and your unconscious attention to that part.

And invite even deeper comfort,

Even deeper relaxation.

Because the more you become comfortable and relax the easier it is for you to,

That's right,

Go to sleep.

Sleeping and dreaming are very important aspects of our development and the phases of sleep have different purposes.

A night's sleep begins as you ramp down from waking state to sleep with that delightful dozing stage.

A light sleep,

The bridge to a good night's sleep.

We doze for only a few minutes and it means you're on your way.

Stage 2 sleep is when your breathing slows,

Your temperature drops and your muscles begin to relax even more.

In the third phase of sleep your body goes into slow-wave sleep which is deep sleep.

Sleep which is restorative.

Sleep which actually rebuilds your physical body,

Growing cells boosting the immune system.

The final phase of sleep,

Phase 4,

Is when the body becomes still and the mind becomes active.

It's the phase we call REM,

Rapid eye movement or dream sleep.

As you dream and sleep and soar through the experience you've had during the day,

The brain files and categorizes memories,

Keeping some as important and letting go of others.

The rapid eye movement sleep provides insights,

Creativity and reinforces learning.

So how are you going to go to sleep now?

Well,

Imagine you could see yourself now by being your own guardian angel.

Looking down from the top corner of your room,

Looking down at that you,

That you getting ready for a good night's sleep.

See that you looking relaxed and getting into bed.

Notice the tiniest details from your position as guardian angel because you can zoom in and see everything of that you.

See that you getting comfortable,

Switching out the lights,

Maybe turning on this recording or another meditation and watch as that you begins to drop into the first phase of sleep,

That delicious dozing off stage.

Notice how long it takes for you to seamlessly drift into the next phase.

You notice the breathing of the sleeping you slow right down and maybe a final shift of position as you go into deep sleep and from your guardian angel position you will easily recognize this phase.

The body of the sleeping you begins it repairs and restorations to that physical frame.

The beautiful machine that is your body is undergoing self-diagnosis and self-repair and it happens in every deep sleep and the better the quality of your deep sleep,

The healthier and fitter that body can become.

This phase of sleep can last up to 40 minutes.

Watch that you and remember you are beautiful,

A magnificent machine.

Then you'll notice this phase ending as you enter the rapid eye movement or dream sleep phase.

You will know because your body becomes still,

Immobile,

A safety mechanism to prevent you acting out your dreams.

It's the eyes that are active.

Apart from your slow breathing,

The only part of the body that moves is your eyes.

REM,

Rapid eye movement,

Is how the brain processes things that have happened in a day or maybe over a longer period of time.

From your guardian angel position you can see that sleeping you,

Those eyes darting around below the eyelids,

Sleeping and dreaming,

Dreaming and sleeping,

Sifting and sorting experiences,

Conversations,

Insights,

Questions,

Relationships and make sort of sense of them,

Keeping the important things and allowing the unimportant to drift away.

There's one theory that says we remember everything,

Everything we've experienced and it's this REM filing system sleep that keeps everything in the right place until we need it again or letting go completely because there are lots more important things for you to enjoy.

At the end of phase 4 sleep the cycle repeats,

Dozing,

Light sleep,

Deep restorative sleep,

REM or dream sleep and again dozing,

Light sleep,

Deep sleep,

Dream sleep,

Up to five or six cycles a night and as you watch yourself enjoying a great night's sleep imagine you could float down from your guardian angel position and slip into that sleeping you like it was a suit of clothes and begin to enjoy the feeling and choose a good time to do this,

Slipping into that sleeping you maybe at the beginning of the second cycle as you are dozing and begin to remember what it's like to really enjoy these phases of sleep,

Really begin to enjoy the joy of sleeping and allow yourself to experience a few cycles of sleep,

Dozing,

Light sleep,

Deep restorative sleep,

Dream sleep and as that you sleeps and especially dreams,

Invite your unconscious to let go of the things that do not serve you and tonight as you sleep and as you dream and reorganize the thoughts and feelings only keep the ones that will bring you joy and love and peace and sleep and sweet dreams.