Namaste In olden days,
Once a young lady went to see moon through telescope.
When she was watching the moon,
Through next telescope,
A cardinal was also looking at the moon.
Both of them saw the moon's spots.
The cardinal said,
I am sure they are the spears of some churches which are on moon.
Nonsense,
Said the young lady.
I am sure they are the young lovers kissing each other.
So we are doing with this world.
When we are inside,
We think we are seeing the inside.
According to our mental conditionings,
We see the universe.
Fire in the kitchen is neither good nor bad.
When it cooks a meal for us,
We bless the fire and say how good it is.
And when it burns our finger,
We say what a nuisance it is.
It would be equally correct and logical to say this universe is neither good nor evil.
This is what it is and will be always so.
But by relieving others from their suffering,
By helping others,
We actually help ourselves.
According to Vedanta,
World is seen as the moral gymnasium,
Where I come to live up to my highest idol,
Which eventually takes me to my own true self,
To the reality.
With this,
Let's prepare to sleep.
Find a comfortable lying down position.
Lying flat on the bed,
With your head on the pillow,
Body relaxed.
Knees may be slightly bent.
You can keep a small pillow under the back of your knees.
Now gently close your eyes and start taking a few nice big deep breaths.
Breathing in and out through the nostrils only.
If you find it comforting,
You can just gently place your hand on your stomach as you breathe in and out.
Just to feel that movement along with the breath in the body.
Let go of the deep breaths now.
And as you lie there,
Just notice how the body feels.
Does it feel heavy or light?
Restless or still?
Does it feel as though body is ready to sleep?
Or there is still a little bit of winding down for it to do?
Either way,
We are just going to go through this practice.
Just slowly pointing the body and the mind in the direction of deep relaxation.
Now,
We are going to relive the day.
In this,
Mentally you will go through the events of the day,
Which you have lived from the time you woke up in the morning till the present moment,
Coming to bed.
Begin by thinking about the time when you woke up today.
In the morning,
Just like a movie,
See yourself waking up in the morning.
Try to remember what was your first action,
First thought.
And then afterwards,
What did you do?
Relive every moment.
Did you speak to someone?
What did you speak about?
How was the interaction?
And how did it make you feel?
See everything.
Remember everything.
Till breakfast,
Relive every moment.
Then you had your breakfast.
What did you eat in your breakfast?
Then what did you do next?
See that.
Any activity,
Any work,
Anything that you might have done in sequence till lunchtime,
See the whole thing,
As though you are watching a video fast-forwarding.
Relive moments till lunchtime.
Then you had your lunch.
What did you have for lunch?
And then what did you do after lunch?
How was your mood?
Relive those moments till dinner time.
Then dinner,
And after dinner,
How you spent the time till now.
Slowly coming back to the present moment,
As you see yourself getting ready for bed.
Getting into bed and starting with this program.
Take one deep breath in,
And as you exhale,
Begin to feel the body,
Just sinking into the bed.
Now,
We begin body scan.
I will name a body part.
You just become aware of that body part,
Feel it,
And then just move to the next body part which is named.
Become aware of the right hand.
Right hand thumb.
Fingers of right hand.
Whole right hand.
Whole right arm.
Right shoulder.
Right side of the chest.
Waist.
Hip.
Whole right leg.
Right foot.
The toes.
Now left hand.
Left hand thumb.
Fingers of the left hand.
Whole left hand.
Whole left arm.
Left shoulder.
Left side of the chest.
Waist.
Hip.
Whole left leg.
The left foot.
The toes.
Feel the both legs together.
The buttocks.
Stomach.
Chest.
Back.
Shoulder blades.
Arms.
The neck.
The head.
Forehead.
Eyes.
Nose.
Right cheek.
Left cheek.
Mouth.
Lips.
Chin.
The whole face.
The whole head.
The whole neck.
The whole back.
The whole body.
The whole body.
The whole body.
Again we will go through the whole body.
This time a little more slower and in detail.
Starting with the right hand thumb.
First finger.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Little finger.
Fingers and thumb together.
Palm of the hand.
Back of the hand.
Wrist.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper part of the right arm.
Right shoulder.
Right armpit.
Right side of the torso.
Right side waist.
Hip.
Right thigh.
Kneecap.
Calf muscle.
Ankle.
Heel.
Sole of the foot.
Big toe.
Second toe.
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth.
The whole right side of the body.
From toes to the fingers.
Fingers to the toes.
The whole right side of the body.
Now go to the left hand.
Now go to the left hand.
Become aware of the left hand thumb.
First finger of left hand.
Second finger.
Third finger.
Little finger.
Fingers and thumb together.
Palm of the hand.
Back side of the hand.
Wrist.
Forearm.
Elbow.
Upper part of the arm.
Left shoulder.
Left armpit.
Left side of the torso.
Left side waist.
Hip.
Thigh.
Kneecap.
Calf muscle.
Ankle.
Left foot heel.
Sole of the foot.
Big toe.
Second toe.
Third toe.
Fourth toe.
Fifth.
Whole left foot.
The whole left side of the body.
The whole left side of the body.
From toes to the fingers.
Fingers to the toes.
The whole left side of the body.
Now to the back.
Become aware of the lower back.
The right buttock.
And the left buttock.
Middle back.
Upper back.
Right shoulder blade.
Left shoulder blade.
Back of the neck.
Back of the head.
The whole back side together.
Now go to the top of the head.
The crown of the head.
Forehead.
Both sides of the head.
Right eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
Left eyebrow.
The space between two eyebrows.
Right eyelid.
Left eyelid.
Right eye.
Left eye.
Right ear.
Left ear.
Left ear.
Right side cheek.
Left side cheek.
Bridge of the nostrils.
Right nostril.
Left nostril.
Upper lip.
Upper jaw.
Tongue.
Lower jaw.
Lower lip.
Chin.
Throat.
Right collarbone.
Left collarbone.
Chest.
Right part of the chest.
Middle part of the chest.
Left part of the chest.
Upper part of the belly.
Middle part of the belly.
The navel area.
Lower part of the belly.
The whole of the right leg.
The whole of the left leg.
Both legs together.
The whole of the right arm.
The whole of the left arm.
The whole of the left arm.
Both arms together.
The whole of the back.
Buttocks.
Spine.
Shoulder blades.
The whole of the front.
Abdomen.
Chest.
The whole of the back and front together.
The whole of the head.
The whole body.
The whole body.
The whole body.
Become aware of your breath now.
Just feel the flow of your breath.
In and out through the body.
The breathing is natural,
Automatic.
We are not trying to change the rhythm of the breath.
We are not doing it.
Just witnessing the breath.
Maintain the awareness of breath.
Dual awareness of breath.
Now,
Keeping the awareness on the breath,
Start mentally counting down your breath from 54 As the breath comes in,
Count 54.
As it flows out,
54.
Breathe in 53.
Breathe out 53.
Like this,
Continue.
Not trying to form a sleep.
Just counting down the breath.
And knowing that,
It really doesn't matter too much when the sleep comes.
As you lie there in this way,
Both the body and the mind are getting all the rest that they need.
If you lose track of the countdown,
Come back to 54 and start over.
