Thought Pot - Visualisation Practice For Sleep

Allow yourself to be guided through the process of creating your own sacred "thought pot", a place where you can store your unhelpful thoughts that arise while you're trying to sleep. This is a practice to allow mindful awareness of your thoughts as you drift off to sleep.

Transcript

Lying down comfortably in bed taking a few moments to get yourself into a good position for sleeping releasing any tension in your body and breathing deeply noticing your breath as it flows in and out the intention of this exercise is to build you a thought pot that you may use at night whenever you need it this pot will hold your thoughts,

Your plans,

Your worries and ideas to keep them safe for you until you wake,

Helping you to release all thoughts from your mind and focusing only on relaxing your body and on being present in this moment until you drift off to sleep you do not need to try and control your thoughts doing so is likely to keep you awake the way to free yourself from overthinking is to stop engaging with your thoughts as they arise making peace with the arrival of each thought and simply making a new home for it in your thought pot which you are about to create taking three long slow breaths in and out now seeing yourself in a grassy field with small rolling hills beyond it through the middle of the field is a dusty path walking along the path through the field the path travels up over a rise to reveal a small quarry ahead of you on the path you see a one-story high cliff and beyond that you notice a workshop shed at the bottom of the cliff is an area where you can dig out clay by hand you see some tools and a little pool cart here too spending a few moments digging out some chunks of this moist clay and placing them on the cart using the shovel the pick or the trowel to dig out the perfect bits of clay to make your own unique thought pot when you have enough clay on your cart pulling it towards the workshop as you approach the workshop you notice that it is filled with light from the big windows and as you walk inside you see a workbench a pottery wheel and at the back of the shed a small kiln for firing your pot when it's finished choosing where you'd like to work either at the pottery wheel or at the workbench selecting a portion of your clay from the cart to get started making your pot all the pottery tools you might need are available or you might choose to simply just start molding the clay with your hands there is no right or wrong way to make your pot just start creating in your own way your pot can be any shape that you choose you might like to make a vase shape with a narrow hole at the top or you might like to make more of a bucket or a bowl shape that's wide and open at the top whatever you choose will be right for you and you can always come back and make a new pot if you wish you don't need to worry about the size of your pot whatever size you make there will be plenty of space for all of your precious thoughts even if it's small and if your pot is big knowing that you will be able to carry it and move it around easily even if it looks heavy spending a few minutes now shaping and finishing your personalized pot now it's time to take your pot over to the kiln this magical kiln will dry and harden your pot in just a few minutes so place it inside and close the door while you wait wandering over to the workbench and opening a drawer underneath it to reveal paints of every color and brushes of every size selecting the paints and brushes that you would like to use to decorate your pot and setting them up on the bench resting at the bench while your pot finishes firing and taking a moment to visualize how you'd like your finished pot to look hearing the click of the kiln door opening letting you know that your pot is now dry set and ready to paint carrying your pot over to the workbench and allowing yourself to be present with the creative process of decorating your thought pot watching the paint as it glides over the surface of the pot and add colors and patterns weaving your intentions into your designs thinking about how you'd like this pot to keep your thoughts safe to help you to slow down your racing mind and ultimately to assist you to get to sleep faster and more easily when your pot is finished and dry carrying it with you in your arms out of the workshop and turning to continue down the path that travels behind the shed up ahead in the middle of the path you see a door as you approach this door you realize that it looks familiar to you you notice that this door looks exactly like the door to your bedroom noticing the color texture anything special about it the doorknob or handle this is your door leading to your bedroom as you reach the door it opens for you inviting you into your cozy bedroom along with your thought pot seeing your bedroom exactly as you like it set up for bedtime perhaps the blinds or curtains are closed and maybe you have a bedside lamp sending some calming light into the room seeing your room exactly as you'd like it for a restful sleep carrying your pot around to your preferred side of the bed and finding a special place for it to sit on the floor beside the bed or on a nearby piece of furniture even if there isn't realistically enough space for your pot allow yourself to energetically create space for your sacred thought pot so that it can have a permanent home beside your bed you might even like your pot to magically hover in the air next to your bed lying down in your bed now and getting comfortable becoming aware of the presence of your new pot beside you in the room remember that this pot will always be with you when you're here in your bed or trying to sleep in any place knowing that your pot will be right there beside you now that you have installed your pot you will always have access to its support this pot that you created with your own hands awaits the arrival of your unhelpful thoughts as you are drifting off to sleep if you find yourself struggling with thoughts that are keeping you awake you can send them into this pot to be cared for until you're ready to access them again bringing your attention to your breathing now noticing your breath as it moves gently in and gently out of your body keeping your focus on your breath but when you notice yourself thinking,

Wandering,

Planning,

Creating,

Fantasizing or going over the course of the day's events recognize that a thought has arrived in your mind and see if you can visualize this thought inside a bubble or a circle that's small enough to fit into the top of your pot see the thought traveling out from your mind and floating through the air and down into the pot with every thought that arises doing the same visualize each thought in a bubble or a circle or just see it as a small orb of light and watch it as it moves from your mind and in through the top of the pot every thought that lands in this pot is respected cared for and kept safe until you need it again some thoughts are helpful like the ones that remind you about things that you need to remember for tomorrow or the days ahead if you find yourself distracted from sleep by thoughts that are helpful thank them for their presence and if you need to take the time to make a note or write yourself a reminder so that you can release these thoughts into the pot come back to your breath come back to resting and relaxing for sleep when it's time for you to sleep most thoughts are unhelpful unless they are somehow helping you get to sleep your job is to notice that thoughts have arrived releasing your attachment to them and letting them go gently into the thought pot where they will be nurtured until you have a more appropriate time to revisit them if you feel any frustration or strong feelings about the amount of thoughts you're having or the content of your thoughts then see if you can transform that feeling into gratitude feeling thankful for your bed for your pillow and blankets feeling grateful for your bedroom and the roof over your head feeling thankful for your thought pot and for this meditation helping you get to sleep even feeling grateful for the thoughts themselves as they arise saying to your mind thank you for another thought now is not the best time for this thought I'll place it in my pot until I need it there might be some thoughts arising that don't just have unfortunate timing but that are actively destructive for you negative thoughts or beliefs worry memories of traumatic events or even fears if these types of thoughts arise thanking your mind for these two saying thank you for this thought it is of no use to me particularly at this time I'll place it in my thought pot where it can remain if you never want to go back and revisit a thought that you've placed in your pot then that's totally fine you can leave it there and your pot will guard you from it even if you have to put that same thought into the pot over and over your pot has the capacity to hold all of your unwanted thoughts it can never become full so don't worry about it overflowing every time a thought floats into the pot it is contained without taking up physical space your pot has the potential to hold an entire lifetime's worth of thoughts for you following your breath allowing yourself to drift into a sleep state if you're feeling tired you if you find yourself thinking to seeing that thought drifting from your mind into your pot and if your thoughts are quieting down now that's good just focusing on your breathing listening to the sound of my voice the music being present letting sleep come to you when you are ready and if you're still experiencing lots of thoughts that's okay too thoughts cannot be stopped or controlled attempting to do so will only stress you out and wake you up remaining peaceful remaining patient remaining willing to mindfully notice every thought that drifts through your mind and to send it lovingly into your pot there beside you EST breathing Relaxing,

Resting your body,

Allowing sleep to come,

Allowing dreams to come,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

And with every thought that tries to distract you,

Just sending it into the pot,

Seeing it floating from your mind and landing in your pot where it will be safe.

Remembering that you don't need to worry yourself with these thoughts now,

It's ok to let them go,

To let yourself sleep.

Continuing with this practice until you drift off to sleep.

Relaxing,

Relaxing your body,

Allowing dreams to come,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

And with every thought that tries to distract you,

Just sending it into the pot where it will be safe.

Relaxing,

Relaxing your body,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

And with every thought that tries to distract you,

Just sending it into the pot where it will be safe.

Relaxing,

Relaxing your body,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

And with every thought that tries to distract you,

Just sending it into the pot where it will be safe.

Relaxing,

Relaxing your body,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

And with every thought that tries to distract you,

Just sending it into the pot where it will be safe.

Relaxing,

Relaxing your body,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

And with every thought that tries to distract you,

Just sending it into the pot where it will be safe.

Relaxing,

Relaxing your body,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

And with every thought that tries to distract you,

Just sending it into the pot where it will be safe.

Relaxing,

Relaxing your body,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

And with every thought that tries to distract you,

Just sending it into the pot where it will be safe.

Relaxing,

Relaxing your body,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

And with every thought that tries to distract you,

Just sending it into the pot where it will be safe.

Relaxing,

Relaxing your body,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

And with every thought that tries to distract you,

Just sending it into the pot where it will be safe.

Relaxing,

Relaxing your body,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

And with every thought that tries to distract you,

Just sending it into the pot where it will be safe.

Relaxing,

Relaxing your body,

Allowing yourself to drift off,

Allowing yourself to drift

Reviews

Hi Naomi , Ali I can say is “ that was splendid “
Thank you once again for doing what you do best .
Namaste
🙏
Stunning for the 3rd time

Fabulous!

Loved this visualisation!

Not sure how this ends!

Thank you, a beautiful visualization I will take with me throughout the day as well.

Really enjoyed meditating today. Thank you 💚🎶

Love this. Have done it twice and don’t get to the end of it. 🙏🏽

Really nice sleep meditation 🙏🏻🙏🏻

Such a nice way of letting go of ones thoughts and calming the mind for sleep!!! 😊

As a potter I loved making my thought pot! What a great idea. It’s sitting above my bed, ready and willing to be refilled every night. 🙏

Wow! What a wonderful concept and it worked so well for me. I was able to put my many thoughts into the thought pot and fell asleep using this meditation. I will bookmark this meditation for future use. Thank you so much. ❤️

Have literally never finished this as I've fallen asleep before the pot is put into the kiln. Thank you so much I rarely get sleepless nights anymore