Perhaps you're ready for sleep.
But your mind is racing.
Replaying events of the day.
Anticipating tomorrow's problems.
Maybe planning or rehearsing conversations.
We're jumping from one thing to another.
And perhaps you've been trying to calm down.
Try to empty your mind.
Try to relax enough to fall asleep.
But nothing seems to be working.
Let's see what we can do to help.
Unfortunately,
There's no single technique that's guaranteed to put you to sleep.
Different approaches,
Work for different people at different times.
So in this meditation,
We'll flow gently from one practice to another.
And by the end.
You'll have had the chance to test out 10 different techniques.
And hopefully to find out what works for you.
Treat this whole meditation like a little experiment.
There's nothing you have to get right.
And you're welcome to drift off at any time.
For now.
Make yourself as comfortable as you can.
And allow your eyes to close,
If they haven't already.
To begin.
Choose one finger.
And move it very slightly.
It doesn't matter which finger you choose or what kind of movement you make.
Just make it a small movement.
Then move it again.
But this time make the movement.
A little small.
And again.
Smaller still.
Continue.
Gradually reducing the movement until someone watching wouldn't be able to tell whether your finger was moving or not.
Until you can barely feel it yourself.
See if you can make the movement so small that you're no longer sure whether you've moved your finger.
Or whether you merely imagined it moving.
Now do the same with some other part of your body.
Another finger,
A toe,
Your eyes,
Anything will do.
A small movement.
Than the smaller ones.
Smaller again.
Gradually approaching stillness without deliberately becoming still.
Than simply noticing what this experience is like.
Movement becoming smaller.
Finer.
Quieter.
Until it becomes difficult to distinguish movement.
From stillness.
And then let go.
Just take a moment to rest.
Next.
Find a part of your body that feels tight or tense.
You might notice some kind of contraction around the eyes,
The jaw,
The throat,
Or the shoulders.
Perhaps in the chest,
The stomach.
The hands or somewhere else.
Choose one area where you can feel some kind of tension,
Tightness or holding on.
It doesn't matter how intense or subtle the tension might be.
And most importantly,
Make no effort to relax that part.
Instead,
Become interested in what the tension actually feels like.
Where is it exactly?
Is it concentrated in one small place?
Or spread over a larger area.
Does it feel hard?
Or soft.
Warm or cool.
Does it remain steady or change?
This is some kind of pressure.
For me.
Tingly.
Heaviness.
Movement.
Does the sensation have clear edges?
Places where it's more or less intense.
Under their different qualities of tension.
If the tension changes,
Allow it to change.
If it remains exactly as it is,
Allow it to remain.
Your only task is to examine it.
You don't need to release it.
You don't need to lock it.
These few moments just allow that tension to be a sensation to explore.
And to now allow the tension to move into the background.
Take another moment to rest.
Doing your best not to worry whether the tension remains or not.
And now shift your focus to the space around you.
Become aware of what you can hear.
Not necessarily looking for a particularly relaxing sound.
Just noticing whatever sounds are present.
Perhaps there are cells inside the room?
In neighboring rooms.
Or outside.
See if you can hear the most distant sounds.
Or the most subtle.
There's no need to identify the sounds you hear.
Or even to know where they come from.
Just tune in to the sonic qualities,
The pitch,
The tone.
Sound waves vibrating.
Appearing.
Disappeared.
And note that you don't have to try to listen.
You can just let the sounds come to you.
Trusting your ears to do the hearing.
And if everything seems quiet.
Listen to the quietness.
Notice that even silence has a certain quality to it.
Can you hear anything with a particularly low pitch?
Something barely discernible.
Can you perceive the underlying silence in which all sounds emerge?
And now let go.
Let the sounds continue without having to give them any attention.
And now we'll try something.
A little counterintuitive.
You might be aware that worries sometimes keep you awake.
So you might try to avoid worrying.
But tonight,
We're going to invite the worries in.
Because when you do that,
They feel heard.
And when they feel heard.
They usually don't need to shout quite so loudly.
So ask yourself.
What am I worried about?
And allow the mind to answer in whatever way it wants.
There's no need to analyze the answer.
No need to reassure yourself.
No need to find a solution.
Simply acknowledge whatever appears.
Then ask.
Is there anything else?
Perhaps another worry appears.
Perhaps the same one returns.
Perhaps the mind has nothing more to offer.
All of those responses are fine.
And so for the next few moments,
Just let every worry have its place.
Making no effort to understand or resolve anything.
Just giving the mind permission to tell you whatever it wants.
And asking it if there's anything else it wants to share.
Of course,
If this seems to make things worse,
You can stop.
But before you do,
Notice whether part of you is waiting.
We're hoping.
For the worries to go away.
That's perfectly natural.
But see what happens if,
Just for a few moments,
You can let go of the desire to have worries disappear.
Then take a break.
Resting as though rest were all that mattered.
Take a moment to notice whether thoughts of any kind are present.
Perhaps there are many.
Well,
Perhaps there are barely any at all.
Either way,
See if you can let them float.
Not like leaves floating down a stream,
But as though they were the water itself.
Make no effort to control your thoughts in any way.
Whether there's a torrent or a trickle.
Just let them continue moving.
Let them arrive,
Change direction.
Overlap.
Repeat themselves.
Disappear from view.
And notice if you're trying to do anything to them.
Maybe you're making some effort to ignore them or slow them down or change them.
Perhaps you try to think different thoughts or to understand or resolve them.
Let that all be OK.
But at the same time,
Just allow one thought to move into another.
Let thoughts remain incomplete.
Let them pass by without requiring a conclusion.
And know that you don't need an empty mind.
To be able to relax and fall asleep.
Your mind doesn't have to be quiet or still.
So just for another few moments,
Allow your mind to do as it pleases.
Thinking without needing to do anything about the thinking.
Now we'll try something a little different.
We're going to fake a yawn.
This encourages the body to relax towards sleep.
So allow your mouth to open comfortably.
Let the jaw drop.
Breathe in as though a yawn were beginning.
And slowly let it go.
Then try another.
There's no need to force it or stretch the jaw uncomfortably.
Just imitate the shape and movement of a yawn.
Perhaps the pretend yawn turns into a genuine one.
Perhaps it doesn't.
Whatever happens.
Is fine.
So try one more.
Opening the mouth.
Allow them a breath in.
And slowly releasing.
And notice what happens afterwards.
Perhaps there is a change around the jaw,
Throat,
Eyes or face.
Maybe your breath.
Becomes a little looser.
Perhaps nothing changes.
Either way.
Let the mouth remain gently closed.
Allow the tongue to rest.
Wherever it feels comfortable.
And let the body decide what,
If anything.
That wants to do next.
And then bring your attention to your eyelids.
Noticing what they feel like.
Their weight.
The temperature.
Sensations where the upper and lower eyelids meet.
Let the muscles around the eyes do as little as possible.
Just playing with the idea that your eyelids might gradually start to feel heavier.
In the same way they do when you feel very,
Very sleepy.
Simply imagining their weight.
Gradually increasing.
Are highly becoming heavier.
Muscles around the eyes softening.
Perhaps imagining the heaviness spreading into the eyebrow.
Across the forehead.
Towards the temples.
Through the cheeks and the jaw.
Not straining to create a feeling of heaviness.
Simply introducing the idea of heaviness.
And noticing how the body responds.
Perhaps the eyelids do feel heavy.
Perhaps they don't.
Either way,
Let them rest naturally.
Now,
For the next couple of minutes,
Give yourself permission to remain awake.
Releasing any pressure you might be placing on yourself to fall asleep.
Just letting go of the requirement for sleep to come.
Allow yourself to lie here at rest.
Maybe listening to your breath.
Heartbeat.
Or feeling the warmth in your hands.
Or the weight of your head on the pillow.
Sleep,
Of course,
Is welcome if it comes.
Just for now.
Make no demand on your body to fall asleep.
And let your mind do whatever it wants to do.
You might say to yourself.
It's okay to be awake.
For now,
I can lie here and rest.
With nothing to accomplish.
Notice whether there's any part of you checking or asking.
Am I relaxing?
Is this working?
How much time is left.
That checking.
You can also pause for a bit.
So you can just allow yourself to lie here.
Awake.
Or asleep.
Relax.
Or restless.
Thank you.
Or not thinking.
See what it's like to remove sleep from your list of responsibilities.
Just resting for a few moments before we continue.
Now let's help your mind settle a little more deeply.
All you have to do is picture the following images.
They don't need to be clear or realistic.
And if you can't see pictures clearly in your mind.
Simply think about each object.
Begin with a red umbrella.
A wooden staircase.
A lemon cut in half.
A bicycle.
Leaning against a wall.
Blue cup.
A path through tall grass.
Now allow your own random image to appear.
It doesn't need to be connected to anything that came before.
And then another unrelated image.
Something sea green.
A place in nature.
That beach,
That dusk.
Campfire.
The night sky.
There's no need to build a story.
Let each image remain briefly,
And then be replaced by something else.
And if one of the images begins to change by itself.
Let it change.
If you lose track completely.
Allow yourself to simply drift.
In fact,
As we draw to a close.
I imagine that you're already dreaming.
Not trying to convince yourself that you're asleep.
Just pretending that you're slipping into the world of dreams.
Let your thoughts pass through your mind like fragments of a dream.
Let the sounds around you become part of a dream world.
And perhaps the sensations in your body.
Can belong to the dream as well.
An image might appear.
Place.
Something you can't quite identify.
A feeling like a word on the tip of your tongue.
A sense of movement.
There's no need to choose what comes next.
Let one thing become something else.
A room might open into a garden.
The sound might become a color.
The memory might appear without reason.
Nothing needs to be logical.
Nothing needs to be completed.
And you don't have to remember.
Anything at all.
Just letting things arrive by themselves.
Change by themselves.
Disappear by themselves.
And perhaps within this dream,
You can imagine that you're asleep.
Your breath soft and subtle.
Your limbs loose and limp.
So we've tried out 10 different practices.
Maybe you have a sense of what helps you relax.
Maybe you don't.
For now.
Make no further effort to fall asleep.
Just allow yourself to rest.
Thoughts may continue.
Sounds may come and go.
Images.
Light form.
And dissolve.
And you don't need to follow my voice.
Let your mind go wherever it goes.
And let the next moments take whatever shape they take.
Finally,
If you're still awake.
Please be kind to yourself.
And if you hear this final line.
Might like to leave a comment letting me know which of these techniques you like the best.
So I can create a sleep meditation just for you.
Using just the strategies you found most effective.
You can,
Of course.
In the morning.
