Hi,
It's Matt Young,
And this is a meditation to help calm your mind and fall asleep.
We'll begin with some simple techniques to help you relax.
This is usually a good place to start,
Because if you aren't relaxed,
That makes it so much harder to calm your mind and fall asleep.
So begin by checking in with your body.
What sensations do you notice?
Could you allow yourself to rest a little more deeply?
Are there parts of the body that feel tense or sore?
Perhaps you notice a sense of restlessness or fatigue.
Whatever the case,
Continue scanning your body with a sense of curiosity and appreciation.
To aid in this process,
Picture a parent gently rocking their newborn child back and forth,
Making reassuring sounds as they gaze lovingly into the child's eyes.
And do your best to regard your body with this same loving and supportive attitude.
Almost as though you are massaging each part of the body with gratitude or appreciation.
Tending to the muscles of the face in this way.
Pausing to relax the forehead.
And to soften the muscles around and behind the eyes.
Allowing the jaw to release.
And the shoulders to drop.
Now let your attention wander to the back of the head.
Let your attention drift freely,
Making no effort to focus or to relax or to fall asleep.
Just giving yourself permission to switch off for the day.
You can let your arms and legs go loose and limp.
And imagine your heart beating a little more slowly,
At a nice,
Steady,
Even pace.
Let your breath become softer and softer.
And be as patient as you can.
Putting pressure on your stomach,
Putting pressure on yourself to fall asleep,
Makes falling asleep more difficult.
So give your body the time it needs to wind down.
Let relaxation unfold at its own pace.
Taking the time to appreciate even the smallest signs of comfort.
For example,
Is there a part of your body that feels satisfactorily warm?
Can you enjoy,
Just for a moment,
The softness of your pillow?
Or the reassuring weight of your bed covers?
As you relax,
You may find yourself thinking back over the day that's been.
Or forward to the day to come.
This is a natural and essential part of the relaxation process.
You might assume that thoughts prevent you from falling asleep.
But it's actually the effort to stop thinking that usually keeps you awake.
So,
If thoughts arise,
Make no effort to change or control them.
Just let them come and go,
Or hang around,
As though they were familiar friends who you'd invited over for the night.
And as you let them go about their business,
Bring your attention to the breath.
If it's possible,
Make sure that you have your mouth closed,
So that you can breathe gently through the nose.
You might imagine that the breath is entering the body through the base of the spine,
So that it gently spreads throughout the pelvis and abdomen,
Remaining deep down in the body.
Remaining deep down in the body.
And let it be very quiet,
As though it were as soft as the breath of a baby.
You might even picture yourself in a park,
Perhaps lying on a blanket or on the soft green grass.
Either in the warmth of the sun or the shade of a tree.
And you might picture dandelions floating through the blue sky.
Or you might picture the delicate petals of a rose.
And let your breath somehow mimic these images.
Or perhaps imagine the sound of the wind gently rustling through the leaves of a tree.
Each breath like a caress.
And you could sense your lungs moving,
Like the wings of a butterfly.
And with each breath,
They pump oxygen throughout your body.
And indeed,
More than oxygen,
Let them pump goodness and health into every limb.
Let each breath flow through your body like a balm,
Which soothes and relaxes every fiber of your being.
And remember not to put any pressure on yourself to fall asleep.
Instead,
Take the time to fully appreciate the simple act of breathing.
Do your best to enjoy the time in bed,
Appreciating the process of breathing.
Do your best to enjoy the time in bed,
Appreciating the process of falling asleep.
Cultivating a sense of coziness and comfort.
And trusting in the body's natural capacity to fall asleep.
And periodically check to make sure that your body remains relaxed.
And periodically check to make sure that your body remains relaxed.
Perhaps your legs aren't quite as loose as they could be.
If so,
You might give them a little shake from side to side.
Letting the muscles loosen up like a runner would before a race.
Then allowing them to settle a little more deeply into the mattress.
Then allowing them to settle a little more deeply into the mattress.
As though they were the legs of a rag doll,
Flopping loosely on the bed.
By allowing the body to gradually relax,
You mimic the physiology of sleep.
Making it more likely that sleep will come.
But you don't have to try hard to relax.
But you don't have to try hard to relax.
And there's no need to worry if some places continue to feel a little tight,
Or tense,
Or sore.
Just gently focus on letting go where you can.
Or let your attention rest on some place within that feels relatively warm and soft.
Or let your attention rest on some place within that feels relatively warm and soft.
Perhaps you can take another moment to enjoy the softness of the pillow beneath your head.
Or to enjoy the comforting weight and warmth of the duvet or blanket.
You might simply focus for a minute on the sensations in your hands and fingers.
Or take the time to allow your body to sink more deeply into the mattress.
Savouring the sensation of your body becoming more and more heavy.
Even if only in your imagination.
And don't worry one bit if you lose track of what I'm saying from time to time,
Or drift into thought.
Know that you'll give yourself the best chance of falling asleep if you refrain from trying to control what you think and feel.
Now to help prepare your body and mind for deeper rest,
We're going to try something a little counterintuitive.
We're going to spend some time deliberately noticing thoughts.
You may not have tried this before,
So we'll just do it for a couple of minutes to see what happens.
To begin,
Just notice what pops into your mind over the next 20 or 30 seconds.
I'll pause while you do that.
Now see if you can recall who or what you were thinking about.
Were you thinking about a particular person?
Some situation?
A conversation you had?
Whatever it was,
Summarize what you were thinking about in one sentence.
Now let's do that again.
I'll give you another 30 seconds to notice whatever pops into your head.
Did your mind produce a lot of thoughts?
Or just a few?
And were you aware of anything you could feel or hear?
Or were you totally focused on thoughts?
And if you were thinking,
Were you thinking back over the previous day or week?
Thinking forward to the day or week to come?
Or were you simply thinking about what you were experiencing right now?
Whatever happened,
You don't have to think of it as good or bad,
Right or wrong.
The point here is to simply observe whatever your mind tends to do when you're in bed.
So let's do that once more.
Just noticing whatever pops into your head over the next 30 seconds.
Now this time consider what type of thinking was going on.
Did you find yourself planning or problem solving?
Or did you find yourself thinking about a particular person?
Did you find yourself planning or problem solving?
Perhaps you were rehearsing something in your mind.
Maybe you were worrying or fantasizing or wishing that you were already asleep.
More importantly,
Did you try to dismiss any of those thoughts?
Was there a part of you that wanted the thoughts to go away?
Or a part that felt like the thoughts were keeping you awake?
If so,
That's okay.
But this time,
When I leave you to notice what pops into your head,
Just notice each thought as though it weren't a problem at all.
In fact,
Pretend that each thought you noticed was a problem.
This brings you one step closer to sleep.
As though each thought was some kind of sleep-inducing drug.
So try that now,
Just for 30 seconds.
Now pause once more and let your attention drift freely.
Make no effort to control what you think or how you feel.
Make no effort to relax or to fall asleep.
Just rest.
Rest as though you were already sound asleep.
As though you were already awake.
As though you were unconscious and unaware.
So you didn't even know quite what you were thinking.
Or how your body felt.
And you couldn't really do anything at all.
Except maybe snore.
In other words,
Just let yourself be.
Let each moment come and go without trying to change it.
Let go of the fight to fall asleep.
The fight to stop thinking.
The fight to stop thinking.
Or the fight to get more comfortable.
And now gently ask your mind if it wants to tell you anything else.
You might say to yourself,
Dear mind,
Is there anything you need to tell me before I go to sleep tonight?
And just listen to what it has to say.
Once it's done,
Say,
Thanks mind,
That's good to know.
Then ask if there's anything else.
You might say,
Dear mind,
I'm ready to go to sleep.
Is there anything you need to say that can't wait until tomorrow morning?
And if it has something to say,
Just listen.
Listen carefully and listen patiently.
And then say,
Thanks mind,
That's good to know.
I look forward to continuing our conversation tomorrow.
Good night.
And if you have any questions,
Then take a moment to focus on the sensations in your eyelids.
Allowing them to become heavier and heavier.
At the same time,
Allow your breath to become a little softer.
Let it be steady,
Subtle,
And light.
And feel your limbs sinking into the mattress beneath you.
As though the mattress itself will be coming softer and softer with each passing moment.
And if your brain continues to try to tell you stuff,
Just let it chatter away to itself.
As though it were a TV or radio you could hear faintly in the distance.
Now take a moment to focus on your feet.
Check in with them as they're moving.
Now take a moment to focus on your feet.
Check in with them as though they were friends you hadn't seen for a while.
Noticing whether they feel warm or cool.
And appreciating whatever other sensations you become aware of.
Then thank your feet for the work they've done carrying you around today.
And say to them,
Thanks feet,
Good job today.
You have my permission to knock off for the day.
I'll see you tomorrow.
And allow the feet to relax.
Almost as though they had been in a dream for a long time.
Had fallen asleep.
Now move up through the ankles,
Heels,
Calves and shins.
Thanking each part of the body in turn.
And allowing that part to relax.
Allowing the muscles to switch off as though ready for bed.
So the ankles,
Falling asleep.
The heels,
Falling asleep.
The shins,
Falling asleep.
The calves,
Falling asleep.
And thank the knees,
Thighs and hips for the work they've done today.
Let your attention rest in each part for a moment.
Feeling the subtle sensations within.
Then imagine the knees,
Falling asleep.
Then imagine the knees,
Falling asleep.
The thighs,
Falling asleep.
The hips and pelvis,
Falling asleep.
Then let your attention rest deep in the belly.
Feeling your abdomen gently rise and fall with each breath.
Let the breath be slow and lazy.
As though your body hardly needed any oxygen at all.
And thanking the body for working so tirelessly,
Day and night.
You might say,
Thanks breath,
For feeding me air all day long.
You can wind down for the day.
Let the night shift take over now.
You can rest.
And let the day take over.
You can rest.
And just check in briefly with the lungs,
The heart,
And all the organs in the torso,
The stomach,
The kidneys,
The liver.
Let them all shift into rest and repair mode.
Winding down for the night.
In fact,
Imagine every cell in your body was tucked safely in bed,
Warm and cozy.
Muscles relaxed,
Breathing softly.
Eyelids heavy,
Enjoying the stillness and dark of the night.
And imagine those cells slipping into a world of dreams.
Thoughts becoming vague.
Images and memories floating by hazily.
Such that wakefulness no longer exists.
Images and memories floating by hazily.
Such that wakefulness and sleep become hard to tell apart.
So that you're not quite sure whether you're awake or not.
And that doesn't really matter.
Because you can just allow yourself to drift.
Until sleep comes.
