Welcome to this space.
Settle in.
Get comfortable,
Undo your blankets.
And let your body find its natural posture.
If your mind is running.
Or if you feel a restless hum beneath your skin tonight.
You don't need to fight it.
Restlessness is simply energy looking for permission to ground itself.
You don't have to force stillness right now.
For now,
There is nothing you need to accomplish.
Nothing to sow.
And nowhere else you need to be.
Tonight,
We give your nervous system something concrete to focus on.
Gentle intentional tension followed by the complete release.
Take a slow and easy breath in through your nose.
And release it with a soft,
Audible exhale through your mouth.
Let your shoulders drop away from your ears.
Again,
Inhale gently.
Let it all pour out.
Take your attention.
All the way down to your toes.
In the soles of your feet.
On your next breath in.
Gently curl your toes downwards.
Squeezing the muscles in the arches of your feet and calves.
Not to cause pain,
Just creating a firm squeeze.
And hold that gentle tension.
Three,
Two,
One.
And release.
Let everything go completely limp.
Notice that warm tingling wave of softness spreading across the soles of your feet.
Notice it spreading up through your calves.
And feel the difference between holding on and letting go.
Now bring your attention.
Up to your hands.
Just make gentle fists with both hands.
Clench your forearms slightly tight.
And shrug your shoulders up to your ears.
Hold that physical tension.
Feeling the energy contained in your hands,
Wrists and shoulders.
Hold it.
And exhale,
Releasing all of it at once.
Open your palms.
And let your fingers uncurl naturally.
Feel your shoulders melt deep down into the mattress.
With every breath out,
Let the bed take more of your weight.
Now notice the subtle tension around your face and head.
Gently press your lips together.
Furrow your brow slightly.
And cleanse your jaw with just a little pressure.
Notice attention.
The sensation of holding.
Hold it.
And let go.
Let your teeth part slightly.
Let your tongue rest gently behind your teeth.
Smooth out the space between your eyebrows.
And let the muscles across your cheeks completely soften.
There is nowhere you have to hold yourself together.
Feel your entire physical body resting as one connected heavy presence.
From the crown of your head.
Down through your neck.
You're back!
Your hips.
Your legs,
And down to your feet.
If a thought appears.
Let it pass.
Like embers rising into the chimney.
Or a wave rolling out to sea.
You don't need to engage with it.
Each time your mind drifts.
Gently bring your focus back.
To the heavy warms in your body.
Inhaling calm.
Exhaling restlessness.
Sinking down.
Deeper.
And deeper.
Into rest.
I'd like to say something about your mind.
Because perhaps you've spent too much.
Quite a lot of your life.
Feeling that your mind is somehow too much.
Too busy.
Too quick.
Too distracted.
Perhaps you've tried.
Almost everything.
To quieten it.
To control it.
To make it behave.
And sometimes,
Of course.
That can be exhausting.
Especially when you're trying to sleep.
Because the moment you decide that you must stop thinking,
Suddenly thinking becomes the most important thing in the world.
You notice every thought.
You notice every little distraction.
And then you start thinking about the fact that you're thinking.
Before you know it.
You're having a rather elaborate conversation with yourself.
Two in the morning.
So tonight we're going to try something different.
We're not going to make sleep another job.
We're not going to make.
Relaxation.
Another thing to be good at.
And we're certainly not going to treat your mind as the enemy.
Your mind is doing what minds do.
Reducing thoughts.
Making connections.
Remembering things.
Imagining thing.
Sometimes being wonderfully creative.
Sometimes being spectacularly unhelpful.
But you don't have to follow every thought.
You don't have to finish.
Every mental conversation.
And you certainly don't have to solve your life before you go to sleep.
A thought can simply be a thought.
Something that appears.
And eventually disappears.
Like a little spark from the fire.
You don't need to catch it.
You don't need to hold on to it.
Just let it go.
Up the chimney.
And come back to the sound of the flames.
Now allow the sound of the fire to become your companion.
A friend to soothe you.
Not something you have to concentrate on.
Just something that's here.
Perhaps you notice a little crackle.
A gentle movement.
Soft rustling sounds.
Perhaps there are moments when the fire brings silence.
And then a little sound brings your attention back.
You don't need to search for sounds.
Just to let them arrive.
And perhaps for a moment.
Imagine yourself in this cabin,
Warm and sheltered.
The world outside has grown quiet.
The day is finished.
There's nowhere you need to be.
Nothing waiting for you.
Nothing that needs your attention.
Just this gentle warmth.
This quiet room.
And the sound of the fire.
You might notice your thoughts drifting away from this place.
That's perfectly normal.
Perhaps you remember something from today.
Perhaps you start imagining tomorrow.
Perhaps your mind suddenly decides.
That now would be an excellent time.
To remember something.
You haven't thought about for 20 years.
That's alright.
You don't have to follow it.
You can just let it pass.
And whenever you notice the sound of the fire again.
Simply rest there.
No effort.
No concentration.
Just listening.
Perhaps the most important thing tonight is this.
You don't have to hold your attention in one place.
You can let it wander.
Let it settle.
You can let it wander again.
There's no failure in that.
You might hear the fire.
Than my voice.
Than a thought,
Than nothing in particular.
And perhaps you won't even know where your attention has gone.
That's fine.
You don't need to keep track.
You don't need to remember any of this.
Let the fire be here.
And let you yourself be here too.
Perhaps there's something from today that you're still carrying.
Something you said.
Something someone said to you.
Something you wish had gone differently.
Or perhaps it's simply a feeling.
A little tension.
A little restlessness.
A sense that there are things left unfinished.
That's okay.
Life is very rarely completely finished at the end of a day.
There will always be another email or conversation.
Another thing to think about.
But tonight,
You don't have to attend to any of it.
Can put it down.
Not forever.
Not because it doesn't matter.
Simply because this is not the time.
You are allowed to rest before everything is resolved.
You are allowed to sleep.
Even without finding all of the answers.
And you are allowed to have a good night's rest.
Even if today wasn't perfect.
Perhaps tomorrow will take care of tomorrow.
And tonight can simply be tonight.
Feel the weight of your body again.
The bed holding you.
The pillow beneath your head.
The quiet movement of your breath.
And the fire.
Perhaps there's a lovely simplicity in this.
Of body resting.
Of fire burning.
And mind doing whatever minds do.
And nothing that needs to be changed.
You can let go of listening now.
And you can let the words become distant.
Perhaps you hear them.
Perhaps you don't.
Perhaps this is Thor.
Then another.
And then the sound of the fire.
There's no need to come back.
No need to pay attention.
Just let yourself drift.
The womb.
The quiet.
The gentle crackling.
The feeling of being somewhere safe and sheltered.
Nothing to sow.
Nowhere to go.
Nothing to remember.
Just rest.
And if you're still awake,
That's okay.
There's no need to be disappointed.
You haven't failed.
Rest is worthwhile in itself.
You can simply lie here.
And allow the night to unfold.
