Welcome to this meditation for relaxation and sleep.
My name is Victoria and I'll be your guide.
We'll begin by settling in and getting really comfortable.
Finding however you would like to lay.
Whether it's on your side or on your back.
Letting yourself get cozy,
Tucking yourself in.
And settling in for a rejuvenating night's sleep.
Noticing your hands.
Noticing if they're warm or cold.
And then noticing your feet.
Checking the temperature of your feet.
And perhaps seeing if you want to shift your blankets around so that your hands and feet are warm.
And then taking a moment before you close your eyes to look around your room and orient yourself.
Reminding yourself that you are safe to relax here.
Noticing your door.
Noticing the windows.
Taking in the whole space.
Looking up at the ceiling,
Down at the floor.
And then when you're ready,
Gently allowing your eyes to close.
One practice for falling asleep in a really easeful way is the practice of rhythmic breathing.
So we'll do this together now.
If you're laying on your back,
Perhaps you can let one hand rest on your belly so you can feel the rise and the fall.
But you don't have to.
Breathing in deeply and sighing out,
Making a sound,
Letting go.
And breathing in,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
In,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
In,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
In,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Letting your breath be slow and deep.
As you give your body permission to rest.
My Buddhist teacher,
Thich Nhat Hanh,
Wrote a beautiful book called How to Relax.
And in that book,
He has a passage called Letting Go of Warying.
I'd like to read you this passage as you focus on your breath and on letting yourself sink deeper into your bed,
Into relaxation.
Our practice is to learn to take care of the present moment.
Don't allow yourself to be lost in the past or the future.
With good care of the present moment,
We may be able to change the negative things from the past and prepare for a good future.
We tend to worry about what will happen in the future.
The practice of meditation helps us to come home to the present moment,
To our body,
Our feelings,
To the environment around us.
When we breathe in and breathe out mindfully,
Our mind is brought back to our body and we are truly there in order to take care of the present moment.
If there's some stress,
Some tension in our body,
We practice mindful breathing in order to release the tension and that brings us relief.
If there's a painful feeling in us,
We use mindfulness to embrace our feeling so that we can get relief.
The key point is that you are fully there in the present moment,
In the here and now,
To take care of yourself and what's happening around you.
You don't think too much about the future or project too much about how it might be and you're not trapped too much in the past.
You have to train yourself to learn how to go home to the present moment,
To the here and now,
And to take care of that moment,
To take care of your body and your feelings in this moment.
As you learn how to be in the present moment,
You'll gain faith and trust in your ability to handle the situation.
You learn how to take care of your feelings and what's happening around you.
That makes you confident and as your confidence grows,
You're no longer the victim of your worries.
I invite you to remember that you don't have to be the victim of your worries.
They do not have to control you and take up all this space as you're trying to fall asleep.
Your worries will still be there when you wake up if you look for them.
But in this moment,
As you're letting yourself begin the process of falling into a deep,
Peaceful slumber,
There's nothing to do.
There's nothing to fix.
There's just simply space for you to be.
To be present with the feelings of warmth and openness that flow through you as you stay present,
Noticing your feet and letting them relax,
Drawing your awareness up into the ankles,
Relaxing your ankles,
Relaxing your calves,
Your knees,
Your thighs,
Your hips,
Your glutes,
Your reproductive area,
Relaxing all of your lower body,
Inviting in ease,
Inviting in rest,
Relaxing your abdomen,
Unclenching your stomach,
Relaxing your back,
Letting tension melt away,
Relaxing your chest and your heart center as they open and expand,
Relaxing your shoulders,
Putting down the weight of the world you might have been carrying,
Relaxing the neck and the throat and down the length of both arms,
Letting the arms be heavy,
Noticing the hands and letting them relax,
Letting this ease spread throughout your entire upper body and into your jaw,
Letting your jaw loosen,
Letting your tongue be heavy,
Letting your cheeks be soft,
Letting your eyelids be soft,
Unfurling your brow,
Letting your whole face relax,
Noticing the crown of your head,
Seeing what sensations are there and inviting in a sense of gratitude for this day you've had,
For this breath you're taking now,
For the people in your life who bring you joy,
For the food you have to eat,
For all of the possessions you have that make life more comfortable,
For all the progress you've made,
Gratitude for ending up right here,
Right now,
The only place there is,
Letting this gratitude wash down your whole body from the crown of your head,
And letting yourself melt into your bed as you drift peacefully to sleep.
