Welcome to this sleep meditation.
Meditation is a means for calming and grounding,
For letting go of your day,
Your drama,
And allowing yourself to see what is,
Openly and clearly.
It also helps us to cultivate calmness and harmony within our lives.
This in turn helps us to relax and rest so that we can get better sleep for the best life.
Let us begin by grounding and by sensing our connection to the earth and to things around us.
So find a comfortable seated position.
So whatever you choose to sit on,
A chair,
A meditation cushion,
Or maybe you want to lie down on the floor or the bed.
Find a quiet and supportive spot that gives you connection to the ground beneath you.
It begins by closing your eyes and resting here for a few moments.
Listening to your breathing.
Noticing the breath.
As you continue to focus on the breath,
The inhales and the exhales.
Notice how you're breathing.
Become aware of the quality of each breath without judging or criticizing.
Just bringing awareness to the breath.
Maybe noticing the belly rising on an inhale and the belly falling on an exhale.
Attending to the breath as it enters and then exits the body.
And as you hold your awareness here at the breath,
Start to take longer breaths,
Slower and deeper breaths.
So you may want to count the breaths as you inhale for a count of four.
And as you exhale for a count of eight,
It's prolonging that exhaled breath as it leaves the body.
Inhale.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Continue here for a few moments.
Notice how your body,
Your mind,
Are beginning to relax.
As your breathing becomes slower,
Softer.
Invite a gentle heaviness to the body.
Surrendering your body to the cushion,
The floor,
Chair or bed.
Allowing for heaviness.
Notice the body here and any sensations.
Any pressure.
Perhaps buzzing,
Tingling.
Maybe you're aware of temperature.
Noticing all of these sensations in the present moment.
Noticing that with the body and the breath there's just presence.
Without judging.
Without critiquing.
Just be present.
And if thoughts start to arise in the mind,
If the mind wanders,
Bring it back to the breath.
The anchor,
The foundation of your practice.
Or maybe bring it back to sensations in the body.
Maybe once again becoming aware of the grounding sensation.
That connection within the body.
When the mind wanders,
Just bring it back.
Come back to your foundation.
And bring it back to the body.
Soften.
And return.
Bringing your awareness back to the body.
Its contact with Earth,
Its connection to the Earth.
Bring your awareness back to the breath.
Gently open your eyes.
Namaste.
