Guided meditation for calming the body when you wake up at the middle of the night.
We will do a meditation practice of feeling the body that is specifically helpful to ease your overactive mind,
So help you go back to sleep.
And well,
It's quite human to feel annoyed for waking up at this hour,
So even though you feel annoyed,
We can choose to relax and use this moment for spiritual practice.
But before that,
We might just help the body to calm down a little by doing a stomach and chest rubbing exercise and a breathing exercise that helps to lower cortisol levels.
It's also helpful to understand that in this particular situation,
When we wake up in the middle of the night,
Our cortisol and adrenaline levels have gone up,
Sometimes so high that we can feel our heart pounding,
Shortness of breath,
Sweating and the head racing with so many thoughts that it can bring emotions of worry and sometimes even panic.
So you might be noticing that your mind is racing at this moment.
And it's because our body and minds are connected,
So the flight and flight hormones activate the intense thought stream.
It's like a natural effect from the adrenaline,
From the cortisol,
To activate your mind to be alert and to protect.
You can observe if you are experiencing these thoughts of worry,
Anxiety,
Fear,
Or maybe thoughts that you're having are stressful.
So by acknowledging that the mind has this automatic reaction,
This natural way of searching for problems,
To find solutions when we are in fight or flight mode,
Gives a sense of peace even though our physical state is active.
So try to let those thoughts pass without being involved with them,
With no attachment.
Give them space,
Let them be there.
But know that you don't have to hold to that thought tonight.
That whatever has come up,
You can think of it again tomorrow and maybe take the action needed tomorrow.
So it's okay to let go.
On the other hand,
Maybe what we have is a lot of ideas,
Creative ideas.
So maybe it's okay if you want to write them down.
So now it's okay if we have an active mind.
We can still do these exercises,
Do this meditation,
And let the mind be as it is.
It's also important to acknowledge that our body is intelligent,
That it has woken up for a reason.
Whatever the reason,
We can choose to relax and be with our body and with our mind as it is at this moment.
So now I will invite you to follow these steps to bring your body into balance.
We are going to start doing a self-massage on the area of the solar plexus where your adrenal glands are located to help release cortisol and adrenaline hormones slowly and let them get back to normal.
If you can,
Sit down on your bed or stay laying down and massage your stomach 49 times in circular motions.
Now,
Massage your chest where your thymus gland is located,
Gland of your immune system.
And massage it in circular motions 49 times.
Good.
Now I invite you to do a breathing exercise to activate your parathympathetic nervous system.
This is the one that helps you relax,
That will help you calm your heart rate,
Calm your breathing and your mind.
And if you can,
Breathe through your nose and we begin by making two short gentle breaths in and one long gentle breath out.
Two short gentle breaths in and one long gentle breath out.
We repeat it one more time.
Now,
Breathe with your natural rhythm.
Now we continue breathing exercise,
But we are going to add a shoulder exercise to help release any tensions of your shoulders.
So when you breathe in,
You bring your shoulders to your ears.
You stay for a few seconds and when you breathe out,
You let go.
Air very slowly and your shoulders down very slowly.
So breathe in,
Shoulders up to your ears.
Stay for a few seconds and you breathe out and let go,
Shoulders and air long and slow.
To breathe in,
Shoulders up to your ears.
Stay for a few seconds and breathe out and let go,
Shoulders slowly.
Now breathe with your natural rhythm,
Always through your nose if you can.
I'm going to leave you for a few minutes so you can feel if there's any difference in your breathing heartbeat.
It's okay if you still feel uneasy and active and with an active mind.
You can just stay there and observe without judging.
Now I'm going to invite you to focus on the feeling of your body and give your full attention to your body.
We will start by feeling your face,
Your forehead,
Your eyes,
Your ears,
Your mouth.
Your lips.
Do you feel your lips tense?
You can let go of tension by smiling slightly.
Your jaw.
Let go of tension of your jaw.
Your neck.
Your shoulders.
Your chest.
Can you feel your breath,
The air coming in and out?
Your arms and hands.
Do you feel temperature?
Are they warm?
Now let's feel your torso,
Your stomach,
Your back,
Your lower abdomen.
Your hip.
Your thighs.
Your knees.
Your calves.
Your feet.
And the tip of your toes.
Are they warm?
Are they cold?
Now feel your whole body.
Feel the energy around it.
Feel the energy that expands from it.
Maybe one centimetre.
Or five.
Maybe you can feel your weight on the bed or where you are sitting or laying down.
Maybe you noticed a part of your body that felt tense,
Uneasy or uncomfortable.
Maybe you felt where you felt worry or fear.
Or maybe you felt nice,
Good and pleasant.
When you give time and attention to your body,
It helps balance your nervous system.
When you pay attention to any part that feels tension,
That tension starts to loosen up.
If you pay attention to a part that feels certain pain,
It will start to lower down.
I invite you to notice your stomach and feel how it fills up with air every time you inhale.
And the air goes out when you exhale.
It's okay if we have an active mind.
Let those thoughts pass without being involved with them.
Give them space.
Let them be there.
Whatever has come up,
You can think of it again tomorrow.
You don't have to hold to that thought tonight.
By paying attention to your body,
You are experiencing the present moment.
And you have given time to your body to self-regulate,
To balance and to calm down.
So that sleep can happen.
Every time you get distracted with your thoughts,
You can go back to feeling your body.
Do nothing for some minutes.
Experience how it is to just be,
Exist,
On a full natural awareness.
Accepting the moment as it is.
Feeling your body as it is.
And accepting your mind as it is.
A whole new world.
♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Thank you and see you in the next meditation.
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