Allow tonight to be a little softer and freer as you unwind.
And release the weight of everything.
You've been so diligently carrying.
You are listening too.
The safety net.
Guided sleep meditation for releasing worry.
And remembering the quiet place within you.
That has always known how to find your way home to yourself again.
With each calming breath.
Tension will drift free from the body in luminous strands.
Weaving themselves together in a net that receives every worry.
You long to release tonight.
Release the what-ifs,
The spinning thoughts that loop past the point of usefulness.
In a net you weave with each calming breath.
You are welcome as you are.
Releasing all demands for perfection.
Tonight there is nothing to solve.
Embark on a journey of release and lightness.
No longer needing to scan or prepare.
Or rehearse for what might go wrong.
All of that is exhausting work.
And you deserve a time to feel safe and rest.
And as everything you've been quietly gripping.
Begins to soften and dress.
You may find it so very natural.
To drift across the bridge to sleep.
Luxuriate in that sweet space in between your waking and sleeping lives.
No longer standing guard and easing into the restoring promises of slumber.
It's time to dream away.
Welcome to Michelle's Meditation Sanctuary.
I'm Michelle and I'm so glad you're here.
Think of me as a steady companion.
A trusted confidant who knows what it's like when overthinking gives a false sense of feeling in control.
Celebrate making it through another day.
Learning,
Growing,
And at last unwinding in the sanctuary of your space and mind.
This is your sleepy journey.
And as I offer a pathway.
He may soften any details.
Customize any image or idea to meet what you need right now.
Fluid as a stream.
Following these words.
Finding peace in the silent spaces between them.
Let yourself arrive fully now.
Find a position your body can hold without effort.
Getting as comfortable.
As this moment will allow.
Feel what is beneath you.
The give of the mattress or cushions or ground.
The weight of the covers.
Cool or warm breaths of a pillow.
Let these surfaces do the holding.
You don't have to hold anything together.
And that brings a deep sense of trust.
And a wonderful feeling of being tended to.
When worry is present.
It's not always easy to breathe deeply.
It may feel like another challenging task on a to-do list.
So I invite you to engage with your breath however you choose.
Meets the breath where it is.
Start with a sigh as you exhale.
Releasing a sound.
It doesn't have to be deep or long.
It doesn't have to be right.
Even the smallest exhale is a beginning.
And this breath may carry a message.
Right now.
You are okay.
You are safe.
Simply notice the breath you already have.
Without asking it to be different.
Without asking anything of it at all.
And now,
If you can.
Let a yawn begin.
Even an imagined one.
Part your lips.
Let your jaw fall open.
And pretend.
If it doesn't come naturally.
A faked yawn often calls a real one forward.
And if it comes,
Let it.
Mega sound.
Sound that empowers your intention.
To breathe in serenity.
With each exhale.
Even the shallow ones.
Feel a strand of what you've been carrying.
Begin to loosen and drip.
You don't have to name it.
Or find it.
Knows how to leave.
Each breath out releases something.
With a natural loosening.
Of what no longer needs to be held.
So tightly tonight.
And with each inhale.
Draw in something different.
The safety of this room.
This quiet moment.
The peaceful intention that brought you here.
Let it travel.
All the way in.
Past the chest.
Past the ribs.
And let it settle somewhere deep.
And steady inside you.
Exhale and release another strand.
Inhale and draw your sanctuary closer.
And when you're ready.
Let your body take over the breath from here.
It knows what to do.
It has always known.
Since the very first breath your lungs ever drew.
Bring your awareness now to your body.
A body that carried you through another day.
But now may take a holiday.
Begin at your forehead.
Let the skin there smooth.
As if a fine invisible thread.
Has been gently loosened from within.
The small patterns of thought etched across it.
Begin to unravel.
Like a single filament slowly unspooling in dim light.
Feel your forehead widen.
As space returns with an easing.
Move to your eyes.
Now heavy with sleep.
No longer staying alert.
For tracking the world.
They can now surrender.
And those fine strands of tension are here as well.
Translucent fibers that soften.
And slip free.
Joining the other filaments.
Your jaw muscles melt like warm taffy.
No longer clenched.
Are needing to brace for the next moment.
Because the next moment promises softness.
Imagine a thread drawn taut along the jawline.
And now slowly loosening.
Fiber by fiber.
Until it falls into slackness.
Your tongue rests.
No words left to say.
This ease travels down through your neck.
How delightful it is.
No longer have to hold your head up.
Here,
Strands of tension often gather in overlapping lines of muscle.
Old pulls and finished reactions.
Subtle gripping.
Let's them begin to separate now.
When strands releases downward.
Another unthreads upward.
The release now meets your shoulders.
Here the weaving is denser.
Many strands intersect.
Layered from days.
Our weeks,
Or perhaps longer.
Lifted toward the ears,
They become knotted with invisible effort.
See those threads loosening at their crossings.
Each point of tension releasing its hold.
The weight doesn't disappear.
It unwinds.
It slides downward through the body like silk pulled free from a loom.
Feel what opens as they descend.
Compression gives way to gracious space.
And lofty air replaces pressure.
Your easy breath helps find space in your chest.
As you inhale.
Find luminous strands here.
Begin to align themselves.
With the rhythm of your breath.
The ribs expand like curved lines.
Slowly separating.
Revealing quiet pockets of space.
Your persistent heart.
Continues to beat without instruction.
Keeping time spreading waves of surrender with each beat.
Threads of tension,
Loosen their grip and begin to reorganize.
Into something softer.
Something more open.
Moving on to your belly.
Where so many strands gather.
Interwoven with anticipation.
Withholding.
Through the instinct to brace.
Than tether.
Becoming untied and softened.
As the grip is gone.
Your hands open to all this restorative night may offer.
No longer holding anything.
Than a furrow with open palms.
Fine tension strands extend from the fingertips.
Briefly connected.
Everything they have been trying to manage.
And now those strands slip free.
Drifting downward.
No longer anchored to ever.
In your legs,
A weightlessness comes.
As the horizontal threads of tension release.
From your hips to your ankles.
These threads fall in a single downward direction.
Led by gravity.
Every part of you.
From the ground of your head.
The tips of your fingers and soles of your feet.
Has released these threads of tension.
Fine luminous strands.
Held in place.
By effort and concerns.
Now gently undulating into the space above.
From below you see them drifting together.
Magnetically pull.
Like,
Attract like.
Slowly and gracefully curly like the tendrils of a jellyfish.
They cross and weave.
Layering and intersections.
And all the tension now separated from you.
These light,
Airy strands.
Find one another.
For another purpose beyond you.
Thread by thread.
Something begins to take shape overhead.
First only delicate crossings of luminous strands.
A graceful lattice emerges.
Each thread finding its place.
Until a woven net.
Reveals itself.
Not crafted by force.
But by every exhale.
That shows softness.
Overholding on.
Warming without effort.
The net flutters above.
Ass.
And entirely your own.
And now your sanctuary.
The world.
Softens at the edges into something else.
A field beneath a white,
Moonlit sky.
You find yourself on a quilt.
Resting in this feel.
Peering up at the stars.
And the net now above.
The grass is tall and silver in the moonlight.
Swaying in a slow almost soundless rhythm.
Like something breathing.
The air is cool and clean.
As it caresses your skin.
Carrying the quiet of a nocturnal world.
It is finally.
At long last gone still.
It smells the way only night air can.
With a hint of dew.
Wildflowers something metallic into the cool earth below.
It is deeply.
Immediately calming.
The enormous sky showcases.
A gradient of deep navy and indigo.
Star Scatter lit by a moon so full and generous.
That it casts everything in a silver so soft.
It reminds you of the softness.
Within you.
The stars flicker ever so subtly.
Steady.
And ancient.
You feel the tall cool blades of grass that flow like ribbons in the breeze.
Of you softly brushing against your skin.
You feel an openness in your heart center.
As you look to a sky full of stars where dreams are cast.
Not worries.
The net appears above you.
Expanding and changing form in the gentle night breeze.
A net crafted by your own release.
It now waits patiently.
Catch your worries.
And the worries of the day and night.
Begin to drift here.
Circuitous thoughts.
Concerns that kept returning.
The steady buzz of anticipation.
And a sense of being on guard.
Followed you through.
Every room.
Every moment.
Release them without even trying.
Noticing their form.
Words typed on air.
Thoughts scribbled through time.
Imagines.
And projections.
Released into the net.
These worries don't announce themselves anymore.
They know they no longer serve you.
They find their way to the net,
Once more,
Like finding life.
The net is held at a distance from your body.
From your breath.
From the peace and quiet you protect.
Divine as self.
Delicate and unassuming.
These threads come together with strength.
And they are far too intertwined.
To let a single worry.
Escape the net's grasp.
And the worries that drift.
Begin to arrive in this net.
Suddenly change.
Their density softens.
Their certainty dissolves.
They no longer feed on your energy.
Now belongs exquisitely to you.
What felt so enormous?
And so urgent.
Hours ago.
Grows lighter here.
Loses its gravity.
Begins to scatter into something.
The vast net can haul.
Without any difficulty at all.
Some things drift and are caught.
Some things dissolve entirely once they reach the nest.
And some things live.
Slowly silently.
Taking their time.
But still unable to resist this release.
As if these worries knew all along.
They were not serving you.
Is when the last of your concerns are cast into the net.
You watch the net begin to close on itself.
A finely woven orb.
Drifting higher and higher up.
Leaving you safely grounded on the quilt in the grass.
The universe is beyond large enough to hold them.
You don't have to anymore.
You watch as this closed net of worries continues to drift.
Like a hot air balloon.
Floating higher and higher up.
Disappearing beyond the silhouette of trees.
Rising toward the moon.
Effortlessly floating.
Into the infinite.
Awe-inspiring sky.
And what was once familiar?
Is no longer weighing you down.
There can be grief in letting go of the familiar.
Even when it wasn't serving you best.
And you can honor this feeling if it comes.
To make space for the relief that arrives.
You sense that you are safe.
You are doing so well.
The field grows quieter.
Stiller.
Grass sways The moon holds steady overhead.
And in the plush comfort of the grass.
You welcome the headiness and sleepiness that arrives.
When your guard is at last down.
As this tiredness takes hold.
Your gaze scans the field.
Noticing a warm light.
Just beyond the tree line of moonlit maples and conifers that impart a resinous perfume.
Your eyes slowly and stretched.
Walking toward it.
A lightness remains as you step on the grass.
Feeling each foot hovering in the air.
Before it effortlessly lands.
The light grows closer.
And takes on the shape and warmth.
And the particular quality.
Of a soothing place that has been waiting.
And as it comes into focus.
You recognize this dwelling.
Something that is yours.
Perhaps it is a storybook cottage.
Tucked beneath old trees.
Whose branches have grown together overhead.
To form a protective canopy.
Or maybe it's a farmhouse.
Our log cabin.
Solid.
Welcoming.
Honeyed light.
Out of the windows.
Onto the shadows of the forest floor.
Smoke rises in curly cues from the chimney.
Door is low and wooden.
And inviting in the way.
That only old time-honored things can be.
The details of the home reveal themselves.
Accustomed to what you need and desire right now.
So familiar?
So sturdy.
So safe.
The special dwelling.
Invites you to come.
Within its quiet.
And find refuge.
Whatever the details are.
You recognize them in a way.
Maybe not because you have been here before.
Because something in you has always held space for this.
A place that belongs to no one's expectations.
A place that is only and entirely yours.
You step inside.
And the door closes softly behind you.
And everything that was outside.
The vastness,
The feel.
Dissolving worries.
The pristine.
Night air.
Remains gently.
Firmly.
Mercifully out there.
The net holds it.
The stars hold it.
The night holds it.
You don't have to anymore.
And in this haven,
The air is warm and still.
The light is low and golden.
The kind that softens edges.
And makes everything feel slightly more forgiving.
More cinematic.
Slightly more possible.
There is nothing here.
That requires anything of you.
No task waiting.
No person needing anything.
New version of yourself.
That requires maintenance.
Your explanations.
It feels so good to arrive.
And there's a bed waiting for you.
Once more,
Something perfectly designed to support you.
To make you feel special.
You peel back the heavy quilt.
And cool crisp sheets.
Reveal themselves.
Smooth to the touch.
As you settle.
The weight of the covers is exactly right for tonight.
For this particular body.
For this particular kind of tire.
The pillows receive the full weight of your head.
Without judgment.
Without asking why you once carried so much.
Without needing you to ever explain.
As you sink into their support.
And as you settle.
Into this place of your own design.
Sanctuary of warmth and rest.
Another understanding.
Begins to arise.
You realize the beautiful truth.
It wasn't the woven net.
That kept you safe tonight.
The net simply carried away.
What no longer belonged to you.
The safety thou.
Has always been you.
The part of you that chose to pause.
The part that chose to breathe and make adjustments.
The part that knew peace was still possible.
Even after a difficult day.
You are your own safety net.
Not because you never worry.
But because you know how to return to yourself when you do.
You are the protector of your peace.
You are the weaver of nets.
That capture worries no longer desire.
And this very refuge you've imagined.
Holds you.
As you begin to dress.
Softly.
Breathe slowly.
To the arms of slumber.
My voice softens.
Begins to fade.
The words become less important.
And the space between them.
As these affirmations arise.
I am hell.
Even when I cannot hold everything in.
I can release.
What I was never meant to carry alone.
I can rest.
I am safe.
The net is there.
It has always been there.
End with this thought.
You may truly let go.
Finding stillness.
Finding softness.
Finding the safety net that is you.
Finding the quiet beneath it all.
Finding sleep.
It's time to dream away.
Good night.
You you
