Welcome to this gentle beautiful meditation to help you sleep,
To help you rest and relax and become so relaxed that you naturally drift away into sleep.
Let's take a few beautiful breaths together.
I invite you to get comfortable as we breathe,
Slow gentle breaths.
And you can do this practice anywhere in your bed or even at a time where you don't plan on falling asleep and you just want to relax.
The only thing that matters right now is that you're comfortable and you have nowhere else to be.
So are you able to give your full attention right now to this experience?
And if you are,
What you're about to experience is called yoga nidra,
Yogic sleep and it's different from ordinary meditation.
You're not trying to stay awake and alert and you're also not trying to consciously sleep.
You're going into the threshold between waking and sleep.
This is going to be a state where your body is resting as though it's asleep while a gentle thread of awareness remains present.
This is a state where the deepest restoration happens and where from this place natural sleep finds you.
And here's the most important thing I want you to hear before we begin.
Your only job right now is to receive.
Receive and allow yourself to relax.
Don't worry about sleeping.
No need to try,
Just receive.
Because when you stop trying to make sleep happen,
Sleep finds you.
That's the whole secret.
So let us begin.
First,
Can you make yourself just 5% more comfortable?
Maybe shift a little,
Soften the jaw.
If you're lying down,
Maybe tuck the blanket a little bit closer.
Maybe move the pillow to take the full weight of your head.
Just make some adjustments,
Even one adjustment to feel a little bit more comfortable and relaxed.
Now let the body be completely still.
There's nothing to do right now.
Nothing to figure out.
Nothing to fix.
There's no problems to solve.
You can leave it all behind.
There's no conversations to replay.
You are safe and secure right here.
Your only job right now is to receive.
I invite you,
If you haven't already,
To gently close your eyes and just arrive.
Notice your natural breath.
Don't change it,
Just feel it arriving and leaving on its own.
With the inhale,
Receive.
And with your natural exhale,
Soften,
Settle and relax.
Gently let the exhale be a little bit longer than the inhale.
Not forced,
Just easy and natural.
Inhale and receive.
Exhale slowly,
Beautiful long exhale,
Soften,
Settle and relax.
With every out-breath,
Let your body get heavier,
Feeling gravity,
Feeling more supported,
More held.
Melting,
Softening and relaxing.
Notice the sounds around you.
Close by,
The sound of my voice,
And further away.
Let them come and go like waves.
You don't need to follow them.
You don't need to push them away.
Just let them be.
Let them be part of the background.
As the waves flow in,
And now feel the air on your skin.
Notice the texture of what you're lying on.
Notice the points of support beneath you.
Notice where you're being held and let all of that hold you completely.
You don't have to hold yourself up anymore.
Let go of that job entirely.
Notice the soft darkness behind your closed eyelids.
The quiet space inside.
Let the outer world fade gently into the background.
With each exhale taking you deeper and deeper into that beautiful sense of peace and calm.
Safe and relaxed.
Now bring your awareness to your heart.
The place of deep knowing inside you.
And from that place,
Silently repeat these words three times.
Don't just think them,
Feel them dropping into your body like stones into still water.
I sleep peacefully trusting life's perfect timing.
I sleep peacefully trusting life and all its blessings.
I sleep peacefully trusting life.
Let the words dissolve keeping the feeling of calm,
Safety,
Deep peace.
And now these words,
Feel them as already true in your body.
My body knows how to rest naturally.
My body already knows how to rest naturally.
Letting these words dissolve and keeping the feeling.
Now I'm going to guide your awareness slowly through your body.
This is a nervous system massage.
And as you notice each area,
It helps every part of your body and mind relax.
Bringing safety and peace and calm.
Wherever your attention lands,
That part will begin to soften and let go.
There's nothing to do,
Just gently notice and allow yourself to relax easily.
Become aware now of your forehead.
Notice the space between your eyebrows.
Now notice your eyelids,
The heaviness,
The restfulness.
Allowing them to relax as your eyes,
Your forehead softens.
The tip of your nose,
Both nostrils.
Feel the cool air arriving,
The warm air leaving.
The cheeks,
The cheekbones,
Your chin relaxing.
As your jaw becomes more relaxed,
Your tongue relaxes.
Let the teeth part slightly,
Just a millimeter.
Let the jaw hang completely loose,
Softening and relaxing.
Noticing the hollow of the throat,
Your neck is relaxing.
To your temples,
Your forehead is wide and calm.
The top of the head,
The back of the skull,
And feeling that calmness down the back of the neck,
Long and easy.
The whole head at once,
One unified field of sensation,
Completely at rest.
Relaxed and glowing softly with awareness.
Both shoulders,
Let them drop,
Let them be heavy.
Your upper arms,
Elbows,
Forearms,
Relaxing your wrists,
Palms open,
The backs of the hands,
Your right thumb,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
Your little finger,
Feeling the spaces between the fingers,
The very tips of the fingers,
Index finger,
Middle finger,
Ring finger,
And feel the spaces between the fingers,
The coolness of the air,
The very tips of the fingers.
Both hands together,
Completely still,
Completely at rest.
The chest rising and falling with each slow gentle breath.
The upper back releasing into the support beneath you.
The ribcage expanding softly as you inhale,
And settling,
Relaxing,
Melting as you exhale.
The belly softening,
No need to hold it,
Just let it go completely.
The lower back letting go,
And notice the pelvis sinking heavily into the bed,
Or wherever you're sitting or laying.
Noticing the heart beating gently on its own.
Steadily,
Faithfully,
Without any help from you,
Watching.
As the lungs breathe by themselves,
You don't have to breathe,
Just let it happen.
All the organs settling into rest,
Surrendering,
Doing their quiet healing work,
Without any effort from you.
Both hips,
Notice the thighs,
Heavy and warm.
Notice the space behind the knees,
That wonderful feeling of calm in the shins,
The calves.
Flowing down the ankles,
The heels pressing into the mattress,
The soles of the feet,
The tops of the feet,
The toes.
The spaces between the toes,
The very tips of the toes,
The whole body at once,
Head to toes.
One unified field of sensation,
Completely supported,
Completely held,
Every part of you resting,
Softening,
And settling.
Now we go deeper still,
Through the layers.
Feel your skin,
The whole surface of your body,
The boundary between inside and out.
Now sink beneath the skin,
Into the warm soft tissues beneath,
Feeling the muscles releasing their grip entirely,
Letting go.
And relaxing every muscle in the body,
Softening,
Melting,
Gently,
No need to brace,
No need to hold.
Gravity is doing all the work,
Just melt,
Just let go,
Arms melting,
Legs melting and relaxing,
The whole back releasing.
The face is completely softened,
Every muscle in the body surrendering to gravity.
Deeper still,
To the bones themselves,
The skeleton that has held you upright all day,
That has carried you through everything,
Feel those bones settle now.
Feel them surrender,
Completely supported,
Totally at rest and relaxed.
The organs,
The heart beating slowly and gently,
The lungs breathing gently,
Slowly,
Calm the liver,
The kidneys,
All of them slowing their rhythm.
Moving in their own quiet order,
Without any effort from you,
Just living,
Just functioning perfectly all on their own.
Noticing the fluids,
The blood flowing like slow rivers through you,
The lymph moving quietly,
All the waterways within your body flowing gently,
Carrying exactly what's needed,
Exactly where it's needed,
All the chemicals in the brain,
And the cells,
Trillions of cells,
Each one a tiny glowing point of life,
Each one quietly doing it's work right now as you rest.
Repairing,
Renewing,
Restoring,
Billions of acts of healing,
Healing is happening right now in the darkness of your body.
Healing is happening,
Billions of healing cells,
And the energy beneath all of that,
The quantum existence,
The current of life itself,
The hum of existence,
Steady,
Quiet,
The field of energy running through everything in the body and all of the energy that connects everything to everything else,
Part of the unified field of the entire universe,
The whole body layer by layer,
Skin,
Tissue,
Muscle,
Bone,
Organ,
Energy,
All of it surrendered,
All of it resting,
All of it held,
As you melt and relax into the infinite calmness.
Gravity holds your body,
Divine love holds you,
Floating in infinite peace.
I'll introduce you to a simple phrase,
An anchor,
This is your anchor,
If the mind gets busy,
Return to these four words,
Whisper them inwardly three times,
And then return to silence and peace,
Slow,
Slow,
Letting that settle in deep,
Just follow this feeling,
It's a little different,
Don't try to understand it,
Just feel the heaviness,
The whole body sinking,
Heavy like warm honey,
Heavy like you couldn't lift a hand if you tried,
You can try but the harder you try the heavier it feels,
Letting everything that holds you,
Take your complete and full weight,
Every pound,
Heavier and heavier,
Surrender it all,
Heavier and heavier,
Melting,
And now feel the lightness,
The whole body floating,
Weightless,
Buoyant,
Like you're resting on still water,
Floating like a feather,
Barely there,
So light,
Light,
Now both at once,
Heavy and light at the same time,
Don't try to make sense of it,
Just allow yourself to feel both simultaneously,
Heavy and light,
Light and heavy,
Both at once,
Heavy and light,
Light and heavy,
Expanded consciousness,
All things,
All at once,
As you feel yourself expanding,
Expanding,
Growing larger than your body,
Filling the room,
Expanding beyond the walls,
Beyond the building,
Spacious,
Peaceful,
Awareness itself growing vast like an open sky,
Infinite space,
Endless space,
Now contracting smaller and smaller,
Smaller than the body,
Smaller than a cell,
Smaller than an atom,
A single brilliant point of pure conscious light,
That contains eternity,
Now both at once,
The vast infinite space to the edge of the universe and beyond,
And the tiny,
Tiny point of light,
Don't try and figure it out,
Just rest in both,
Expand,
Vast and tiny,
Infinite point,
Infinite space,
All at once,
Infinite space,
Eternal point of tiny light,
Smaller than an atom,
Billions of times smaller than the smallest atom,
The vastness of the universe,
Both at once,
Everything and always,
And now the most extraordinary thing of all,
You can allow the body to rest as though it's in deep sleep,
Completely still,
Completely quiet,
Deep sleep,
And at the same time,
Notice this gentle thread of awareness,
The part of you that is still here,
Present,
Softly awake,
Aware,
The infinite consciousness who notices,
Deeply asleep,
And softly awake,
This,
This is the doorway,
The doorway right here,
You are at the threshold between waking and sleep,
Deeply asleep,
And softly awake,
Deeply asleep,
And softly awake,
Don't reach for sleep,
Don't hold on to wakefulness,
You are resting in both simultaneously,
Where sleep naturally finds you,
Because you are not your body,
The body is resting and relaxing,
The body is heavy and soft and surrendered,
But you,
The one who notices the body,
Are not the body,
You are not your thoughts,
The thoughts come and go like clouds in the sky,
But you are the sky,
The infinite sky,
Not the clouds,
That pass and vanish into the infinite sky,
The infinite peace,
You are the never ending,
Peaceful awareness that notices everything,
The witness,
The soul,
The one who was here before this body,
And will continue after it,
As the body melts and disappears,
You remain,
Always,
You are the soul,
An eternal point of light,
Infinite peace,
Completely free,
A shining self luminous star,
Behind the eyes,
Right now,
In this moment,
Rest,
Rest as that shining,
Smiling light,
You are peace,
Resting in infinite peace,
Resting in love,
You are a luminous being of light,
Temporarily wearing this body,
Temporarily moving through this life,
Temporarily carrying all that you carry,
Put it down,
Put all of it down right now,
Just let it all go,
Passing clouds,
Let it all go and just be what you are,
Infinite peace,
An eternal being at rest,
You are completely held,
You are completely safe,
You are completely loved,
Let go,
Be held,
Infinite love surrounds you,
Let yourself feel held in the infinite love that surrounds you,
Slow,
Soft,
Slow,
Soft,
Sleep knows where to find you,
As you completely relax,
You are safe,
You are held,
You have come home to stillness,
And you let sleep,
As you float away into that beautiful light,
Relax,
Slow,
As each breath relaxes you and takes you,
Slow,