Hi,
It's Matt Young.
Welcome to this session for helping get to sleep.
It will work best if you're lying on your back in bed with your legs stretched long.
And you may like to rest one hand on your belly and the other on your chest.
Feeling the contact,
Weight and warmth of your hands.
And the gentle rise and fall of the torso beneath them.
Take some time to appreciate what it's like to let your body rest.
To be off your feet.
Allowing your full weight to sink downwards.
Enjoying the softness and comfort of the surface beneath you.
Now take a deep breath in and release it with a sigh.
Again breathing in.
Breathing out.
Once more,
Opening up the chest.
And relaxing as you breathe out.
Then let the breath settle back into its natural rhythm.
Moving through your body like a gentle breeze.
And scanning your face.
You may find tension in the cheeks and jaw.
Or around the eyes.
And so you might yawn once or twice to help relax these muscles.
Letting the shoulders drop each time you breathe out.
And noticing as the ribs gently expand and contract.
Lying there comfortably,
Giving yourself permission to rest.
You may find that your mind drifts into thoughts of the day that's been,
Or the day to come.
There is no need to resist these thoughts,
No need to demand that your mind be quiet or clear.
Instead,
Allow your thoughts some time on stage,
As though they were actors,
Each with a role to play.
They might rant and rave,
Or fret and complain.
They might yell in your face,
Or whisper in your ear.
And you might worry that they'll keep you up all night.
But peace of mind emerges when you stop trying to stop your thoughts.
So for now,
Just observe them with kindness and curiosity.
Appreciating the show they're putting on for you.
And as you rest,
Letting thoughts drift lightly through your mind.
Become aware of your breath.
You don't have to focus on it directly.
Or make it longer or deeper.
Instead,
Focus on your feet.
And see if you can just get a vague sense of the breath in the background.
Noticing whether it seems long or short.
Centered in the abdomen.
And notice whether the breath feels rough and jerky,
Or smooth and silky.
Letting it float through your body.
Like waves lapping gently on the beach.
And you could imagine the sounds of those waves.
Washing up on the sand.
Picturing the sun setting over the horizon.
And the wind dying down as dusk descends.
And you can let any sounds you associate with that scene drift through your mind.
Along with the sounds you actually hear.
Perhaps the sound of your own breath.
Whatever you hear,
Loud or quiet,
Real or imagined,
Near or far.
Just listen.
Listen as though that sound was the only thing that mattered.
And if there's no sound,
Just listen to the silence.
As though the only part of you that remains awake is your ears.
And every other sense has been shut down for the night.
Turned off,
Permitted to rest.
And you might imagine that your dreams are still there.
And you might imagine that you're dreaming.
In this dream you're lying on your bed,
Still and comfortable.
And your whole body is softly glowing.
Each time you breathe in,
Your body glows a little more brightly.
And as you breathe out,
The glow becomes softer.
And maybe you can sense this glow,
Like a subtle warmth that spreads throughout every part of the body,
Through every muscle,
And every cell.
And the soft glow feels like a massage,
Soothing and restful.
And it draws your attention into those places where you feel relaxed.
Where the body feels soft and warm.
So that with each in-breath,
The sense of comfort envelops the body.
And with each out-breath,
Tension is released.
And you sink a little closer to sleep.
And you can think of your body as though it were a big house.
Each part of your body like a room in the house.
And imagine that you're wandering around the house,
Just before bedtime,
Turning off the lights.
So starting at the feet,
Imagine you turn the lights out,
So that everything below the ankles goes dark and quiet and still.
And then you wander up to the ankles,
The calf muscles,
And the knees.
And as you move through each part of the body,
It goes dark and quiet and still.
And you turn the lights out in the knees and in each of the thighs.
And you just enjoy letting your attention drift through the body,
Noticing the legs at rest.
Dark and quiet and still.
And the breath moving like a whisper through the body.
And as you feel into the hips and the pelvis,
You notice the sensations there.
And then you turn off the lights,
So the whole of the pelvis goes dark and quiet and still.
And you move up into the belly,
Noticing the soft flow there as you breathe in.
And you watch the glow there fade as you turn off the lights.
And the belly goes dark and quiet and still.
Then you switch off the lights in the chest.
So now the whole of the torso,
Front and back,
Is bathed in darkness.
Quiet and still.
And you might notice a certain peacefulness,
Perhaps a sense of calm or relaxation,
As you switch off the lights in the arms and the hands.
And they fall dark and quiet and still.
So now the entire body can rest.
It can let go of the day.
Can let go of the need to get things done.
Tertling into the comforting embrace of sleep.
And you can turn off the lights in the head,
Letting everything there go dark,
Quiet and still.
And you don't have to make yourself relax.
And you don't have to stop your mind from thinking.
You don't have to do anything at all.
You can just lie there.
Appreciating the dark.
The quiet.
And the still.
Appreciating.
The dark.
The quiet.
And the still.
