Release anxiety,
Stress and concerns with this guided meditation for sleep.
You are listening to Imagine Better.
Worries are products of the imagination as it runs wild trying to make sense of things.
It gives a false sense of control,
But what would happen if you transformed your thoughts into ideas that feel good and redirect you toward your deepest dreams and desires?
Donna Stoneham expressed,
Worrying is praying for things you don't want.
Imagination is the soil that brings dreams to life,
So let that soil be rich.
Let the seeds of your imagination come from your beloved hopes rather than your nightmares.
The most sacred time for tapping into your subconscious yearnings is bedtime,
So why not use this time to imagine better?
Find a cozy place to cast aside your concerns and get comfortable.
And open yourself to the infinite,
Untapped possibilities for your life.
It's time to dream away.
I would like to welcome you to Michelle's Meditation Sanctuary.
I am Michelle and with each listen,
Consider me a trusted ally and friend.
Here to support you on a journey to serenity and bliss,
All along you have carried the deep knowledge that your life has a purpose.
Indicators of this pop up through feelings throughout the day by what feels true and right and what doesn't align with your needs.
The sacred time is just for you.
A guilt free moment to luxuriate in your experience in your body as you go deep within.
There is no wrong or right way to proceed.
There is just the way that is best for you.
So craft every moment to what feels best.
Trust yourself.
Trust your inner voice.
The calm,
Reassuring voice that becomes clearer the more still you become.
Let your mind be playful,
Soothing and kind.
You deserve to feel good and to accept nourishing,
Healing sensations.
During this practice,
Or at any point in your waking life,
Should you find yourself fixated on thoughts that take you on a downward spiral,
Take a pause.
Put a halt on everything and take a breath in and acknowledge these thoughts have a root.
There is a deep need within you that deserves to be met and hasn't been.
These thoughts are merely indicating what you really want.
After this moment for pause and reflection,
You need only to tell yourself these words.
Imagine better.
You always have the power to stop a negative feedback loop by noticing,
Pausing and reminding yourself to imagine better.
In order to welcome deeper relaxation,
We are going to take a series of breaths together.
Listen to your body and find places of holding that you may release with each conscious breath.
Life sometimes can get so busy that you overlook what is happening in your body.
Now is a time to honor this beautiful vessel that carries you through each experience,
Keeping you alive even when your attention is focused on other things.
Thank your body for being a treasure chest of resources and information.
Exhale in a generous sigh.
The kind of sigh that says I am done with this day and I deserve a mental vacation.
Open your mouth and take in a deep,
Delicious breath.
Let the air fill your lungs until you can inhale no more.
And then blow out your exhalation throughout pursed lips,
As if blowing out candles and making a wish.
And as you do this,
Make a wish for yourself.
The first wish that comes to mind,
Feel a smile on your face as you imagine what this would feel like coming true.
As you imagine better,
Take in another deep breath,
Inhaling through your nose or mouth.
Whatever feels right,
Feel the expansion of your chest and take up space in your sanctuary.
Feel the fullness of this healing air.
Open your mouth in another yawn to tell your body that you are surrendering to this peace.
Your guard is down.
And exhale once again through pursed lips,
As if blowing away the feathery seeds of a dandelion clock and making another wish.
Embrace these seeds spreading across a meadow of emerald blades of grass and vibrant wildflowers as a summer breeze assists.
When you put your wish out there,
It receives help and is fostered by the universe.
Inhale one more conscious breath.
Expand,
Feeling satiated and content.
Yawn if you like.
And then exhale as if blowing out a single candle.
This time you wish for peace,
For your health,
And for the ability to appreciate all the wonderful things that happen in each moment.
They are always there if you are curious enough to look.
Right now notice all that is pleasant in the sanctuary of your room,
In the sanctuary of your body and mind.
Turn your breath to normal and sink deeper in your bed.
A glimmering opal light covers you from head to toe.
The more that the light sparkles,
The more that your nerve cells are given reprieve and told to stand down.
Feel the warm pulsing light.
It massages you like fine white sand grains blowing softly against your skin on a perfect day at the beach.
Soothing you.
Regulating your nervous system.
Bringing you down to a place where you may imagine better.
And as you prepare for sleep,
You may imagine better for your life.
You may also think of a world of like minded souls that imagine better as well.
In a great collective voice,
In a collective mission,
John Lennon sang,
You may say I'm a dreamer,
But I am not the only one.
This lyric is a strong reminder that we are all dreamers.
We need not dwell on the past to reveal our future.
What was does not have to be.
The opportunity is alive in the now to imagine better.
Imagine yourself in a dressing room where you have pulled new garments,
Daring things you have not worn before to try on.
See yourself in the mirror.
Dim golden lights illuminate the room as you stand behind a scarlet velvet curtain drawn shut.
You try on an article that feels different and makes you feel vibrant,
Safe and inspired.
You try on hope.
Hope is not to predict the future.
Hope is for the present.
The only time that exists.
It passes before we can hold onto it.
Hope makes you feel good now.
There is no benefit in postponing feeling good for a future time.
There is no need to wait for everything to be figured out the way you want it.
Or for external factors to decide your level of joy.
Happiness begins now as you imagine better.
I am going to say a few words to foster feelings that raise your vibrations.
Happiness has proved that words have the power to change the expressions of your DNA.
It is why it is so helpful to use kind words with yourself and to take a pause when concerns spiral out of control.
Back in the sanctuary of your room,
The prismatic light flows over you.
And these words float over your body.
They light up like neon signs in colors that you enjoy.
And you trace the messages they carry as they travel from head to toe and back.
The first word is peace.
Watch this word dance and hover over you.
Feeling over the crown of your head,
Over your throat chakra,
Over your heart center,
Over your solar plexus,
Over your pelvis,
Your hips,
Down your legs.
Bringing you the peace you deserve.
Feel peace radiate from head to toe and toe to head.
It pushes out any places of tension or holding and frees you to surrender to feeling safe,
To welcoming peace.
Chaos can often become so familiar that when peace arrives,
It feels peculiar.
That is okay.
This will feel more and more comfortable as you accept that you deserve peace.
The next word is forgiveness.
Inhale on this word and think about it.
And when you exhale,
You feel the release that comes when you forgive.
Forgive yourself.
Clear the path for you to move forward.
To get unstuck.
To release the unkind thoughts or ideas about yourself that might linger.
Celebrate the road forward when you imagine better.
And you are free to build the things you long for.
The word forgiveness bobs on the pearly light,
Inching its way down your body.
You see your reflection in this light.
Look deeply into your eyes and say these words,
I forgive you.
Forgiveness clears you of judgement.
It takes you away from the hobby of being a couch critic.
It activates the parts of you that desire motion forward.
Motion towards a better experience.
Forgiveness brings the fluidity of a gentle incoming tide.
And you dip your toes into this water until you are ready to float on this feeling.
Free to heal and blossom.
The next word is imagination.
The heart of this practice comes from your imagination.
The chatter in your mind may fool you into thinking your imagination is limited.
But it isn't.
I am here to remind you that you have the key to unlock it when you want.
Most of your thoughts that keep you up are using your imagination to conjure scenarios.
To make sense of stories past and present.
To anticipate future scenarios.
Anxiety feeds on imagination.
Worry does the same.
But when you connect with your deep authentic self that has a purpose to experience a full and satisfying life,
It's easy to take the pen away from stress and worry.
Use that pen to write a new story across the blank canvas of the hours,
The days,
The years to come and imagine better.
Imagine the most colorful and vibrant word to hover in the opal light.
Skips and hops playfully from your head down your body to your toes and then round again.
The word is so playful and resilient that it bends like a slinky.
The letters shower down on your body and reassemble.
Imagination lets you know that it is here to stay and play nice.
The next word to come is bliss.
Illuminated in blush pink,
The letters have a soft halo of light around them.
Bliss comes when welcome.
It does not require perfection or achievement.
It does not require everything to be a certain way.
It flows through you when you say yes.
And right now,
You accept bliss.
It tingles as it floats over your body and causes your jaw to release and your lips to form a soft smile.
Bliss is your friend.
It patiently waits for you to return when you are entangled with sadness or regret.
It is always there to welcome you in a loving embrace.
No matter how caught up you get at times,
No matter how much you neglect your bliss.
Your friend bliss stands confidently waiting,
Knowing you will return.
Bliss visits with a whisper.
The beacon of light in the darkest of days that says,
Remember me.
I'm still here.
I never left.
Peace,
Forgiveness,
Imagination and bliss come together in a braid of illuminated letters and form a colorful light-filled rope.
You reach your hand up and grip around it.
The rope is so strong and reliable that you know you can trust it and the journey that it will take you on.
And so you hold on and you surrender to the direction it takes you.
You float through time and space.
Drifting,
Relaxing.
You feel safe and full of trust.
You are exactly where you are supposed to be.
Your feet land on a forested path that leads up a mountain.
The air is cool,
Misty and smells richly of sweet earth,
Fallen pine cones and cedar.
The fragrance tingles your nose.
It is mentholated and peppery.
You take in a deep breath as the colorful rope combusts into glittering particles that land on your body.
They give you the strength and desire to climb to the peak of the mountain.
Light streams through the feathery evergreen branches and covers your face in golden warmth.
You feel your legs strong and determined as you climb higher and higher up.
With each step,
You are releasing your patterns.
You are letting go of the need to control everything.
You exist in the moment and welcome the feelings of aliveness that are always there.
Your beating heart,
Your breath,
The mountain breeze on your skin,
Your awareness of all that is around you in this serene escape.
Birds fly freely overhead,
Not once questioning themselves.
They live in the moment.
They take flight when the impulse strikes.
As do the squirrels that race up the grey-brown trunks towards the tops of the trees.
They trust themselves with each bold leap across branches.
It is ingrained in them to put their needs first.
And on this mountain hike,
You connect with the instinctive part of you that puts your needs first.
You will spend more time with yourself than anyone else in this life.
So let that relationship be the best relationship you cultivate.
In a life where you love yourself completely,
You acknowledge and release all the pain and disappointments of life.
Deep down you know they are just part of the journey.
You celebrate yourself for always doing the best you could do,
Given what you are able to do at the time.
With each step that you ascend,
You visualize a life where your needs are fulfilled.
You imagine a life that fills your heart until it becomes so warm and full that you feel it yearning to spread its wings and fly alongside the free birds you admire.
Every day there are tiny moments that happen,
Even when you are not noticing,
That have the potential to open your heart.
These vignettes are strung together to create a content,
Rich and deeply fulfilling life.
The path winds around granite boulders and you place your hand on the cool rocky surface to balance.
You feel the strength of the stone and it reminds you of your inner fortitude.
Take another deep breath and continue on the path as it leads to a summit.
The vista takes your breath away.
Turquoise streams flow like ribbons between cherry blossoms and full bloom.
And deep in the valley you see a glassy lake.
The air smells like spring and offers renewal.
Purple grey mountain peaks jut against a crystal blue sky.
A patchwork quilt spreads across the grass.
You recognize the fabrics from your life.
Some patches come from clothing you wore during major life milestones.
These may not have been conventional milestones,
But they were the points in your life's timeline that mattered most to you.
They were turning points with endings and new beginnings.
You survived every one of them.
The quilt is a collection of glimmering occasions in your life that define who you are.
When put together in this way,
They become beautiful and resilient.
The fabric is reused in a way that offers you a place to rest and reflect.
You remove your shoes to feel the silky,
Tall blades of grass between your toes.
You walk to the blanket and sit down comfortably.
Your heart rate slows.
Your breathing follows.
A journal sits on the blanket with a pen.
Both are precisely the styles you would select for yourself if given endless options in a stationary store.
The summit offers a moment for clarity.
When you begin to imagine,
You imagine what your best life would look like.
Perhaps there are even many different best lives that you could lead.
You ground yourself on the earth and feel a sense of safety and stability.
Sitting here reminds you of how temporary your earthly existence may be.
At first you wonder if these words are carried on the wind when they come to you until you realize it is your inner voice rising with the message,
This is my life.
No one else's.
It is mine to live the way I want.
Puffy white clouds with a metallic shimmering underbelly move across the baby blue sky like grazing sheep.
In each downy cloud,
You see the reflection of your life and the most lingering challenges that have come to you.
You focus on a cloud that reveals relationships in your life.
While not easy,
Every relationship and interaction affects the mosaic of experiences that have created who you are today.
What would it look like if you imagined better?
Feeling free to exchange love and your truth fluidly.
Without looking for validation or attention,
But creating authentic connections,
Another cloud passes by and reflects your relationship with yourself.
You imagine better.
You visualize present and future experiences where you honor your needs and listen to your body.
When you take this time to connect with yourself,
It's easy to know when it is best to surrender and when it is best to hang on to something and put up a fight.
Imagine forgiving yourself every time,
Knowing you are trying your best.
The more you learn,
The more you will do better.
Imagine feeling free,
Overflowing with appreciation for your body and mind and spirit,
For the life you have led and continue to design.
Imagine waking each morning with curiosity and enthusiasm about all the things to come,
Unexpected and planned,
During an unwritten day that you have never experienced before.
Imagine loving yourself entirely,
Your flaws and strengths,
Your resilience and hope.
And even when you do not feel hope,
It is one of those magical sensations that you may borrow from me or others.
You may even fake the feeling until one day it becomes so genuine and abundant that it flows out of every pore of your being and spreads like those dandelion seeds across the summer's meadow and to everyone who crosses your path.
The next cloud comes and reflects your physical health.
Imagine better.
Imagine feeling better.
Imagine doing all that you can to tend and nurture your physical and emotional needs so that you have the best possible experience.
Visualize appreciating your body for all that it can do and all that it does to keep you around instead of judging it or being unkind.
Imagine always choosing kindness when speaking to yourself.
For in this life,
You have had the longest ongoing conversation with yourself.
Golden sunlight breaks through the last cloud that holds all the reflections of your dreams for your life.
Imagine letting go of the ones that no longer bring you joy and conjuring new ones that align with what you desire now.
Celebrate the attempts you have made regardless of the outcome.
When you tried and put yourself out there,
Imagine taking faithful little steps each day,
Not focusing on the setbacks,
But staying committed to your dream.
Imagine better.
Imagine the universe conspiring and people coming into your life to help you achieve these dreams.
For they were placed in your heart to encourage you to try,
To feel alive and full of hope and to remember that you deserve the life that you long for.
The clouds float away and you bask in the warmth of the sun.
A sun that continues to shine even when clouds get in the way.
Your faith also remains,
Even though it's unseen.
And that faith is the basket that holds optimism,
Hope,
And love.
They all exist deeply within you,
Even when circumstances,
Like clouds,
Get in the way,
Feeling warm and delightful.
Close your eyes and drift on the crisp mountain breeze.
Surrender and float through time and space as if in a dream and return to the sanctuary of your room.
And before you drift to sleep,
You are consoled by these positive affirmations that set the foundation for you to imagine better.
You take in a deep breath and sink into the comfort and safety of your bed.
These affirmations echo through the darkest corners of your mind and bring peace,
Hope,
Promise.
I am safe.
I am resilient.
I am a dreamer.
I believe every experience,
No matter how small,
Helps shape who I am and informs me of the direction I want to go.
I am in tune with my needs.
I am the architect of my life.
I choose thoughts that make me feel good,
Because I deserve to feel good.
My needs matter.
I have a purpose and to deserve to take up space and enjoy every minute of it.
I am well.
I am self-aware.
I am compassionate with myself and others.
I am able to define the values and ideas that are right for me and my life.
I am okay with being different.
I welcome a life where I imagine better.
I am aware of my thoughts and will pause them when they are unhelpful so I may redirect and connect deeper to imagine what I want.
My feelings are capsules of truth and I may open them to learn more about myself.
Every day gives me a chance to practice all I have learned and to learn more.
I am resilient.
I am worthy.
I am enough.
I deserve self-love and I deserve love.
I deserve to feel good in my body.
I deserve inner peace.
I deserve a life where I imagine better so that my life becomes better.
Before I count you down to sleep,
I will leave you with these final words from Einstein.
Your imagination is everything.
It is the preview of life's coming attractions.
So let your sleeping life offer the preview of what you desire so you may awaken tomorrow refreshed and imagine better.
I am going to count you down towards a night of deep sleep and imaginative dreams.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
Nine.
Ten.
Ten.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Healing,
Contentment,
And tranquility as you find sleep.
It's time to dream away and to imagine better.
Good night.
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