Hello and welcome to this guided meditation.
My name is Rasa Lukosiute and I am so glad you've chosen to spend these final waking moments here with me.
Tonight,
This practice will help you to gently release the day behind you and to drift into deep,
Effortless and restful sleep.
There is nothing you need to do well here,
And nothing you need to get right.
You don't need to empty your mind.
And you don't need to relax on command.
All that's asked of you tonight is a willingness to be carried.
To let my words guide you,
Breath by breath,
Into the rest you so deeply deserve.
So before we begin Take a little time to settle in.
Make sure that any alarms you need for the morning are already set.
That your phone is silenced.
And that the room around you is dim and quiet.
Draw your blankets up to a temperature that feels just right.
And let your body arrive fully in the place you have chosen for sleep.
And now allow your spine to lengthen.
And then let it soften.
Let your shoulders drop away from your ears.
Let your hands rest open or gently curled,
Whatever feels most natural to you.
And whenever you feel ready,
Allow your beautiful eyes to close.
You have arrived here in your bed,
In this room,
At the close of the day.
But notice,
Perhaps your mind has not quite arrived yet.
It may still be back in a conversation from this afternoon.
Are already running ahead into tomorrow.
And this is entirely natural.
So let these first few moments be an invitation for your mind to catch up with your body.
To land here.
In the only moment that is truly real.
Which is this one?
You might help your mind to arrive by noticing the weight of your body against the bed.
By feeling the points where you make contact with the mattress beneath you.
Your head.
Your shoulders.
Your hips.
Your heels.
Or you might simply listen.
Opening your hearing to whatever sounds fill the space around you.
Near and far.
Without naming them or holding on.
And now let your attention come gently to your breath.
There is no need to change it or deepen it just yet.
Simply notice it as it is.
The cool air entering.
The warm air leaving.
The quiet rise.
And the soft fall.
When you are ready,
I invite you to take 3 slow,
Cleansing breaths.
Breathing in through the nose,
Drawing the air all the way down into your belly.
And releasing it with a soft sigh.
Let the day leave you on the exhale.
Again breathing in,
Filling and expanding.
And letting go.
And one more time.
A long breath in.
And a longer breath out.
Releasing anything you no longer need to carry into the night.
Now let your breathing return to its own natural rhythm.
Nothing forced,
Nothing strained.
It simply rises and falls,
All on its own,
The way it has done all day long.
Without you ever needing to think about it.
As you breathe.
I'd like to guide your awareness slowly through your body.
Welcoming a wave of relaxation as we go.
So begin by bringing your attention to the top of your head.
And imaginee soft.
Warm heaviness beginning to settle there.
Like the first weight of sleep.
Feel it spread across your forehead.
Smoothing away any lines of worry held there.
Feel it soften the small muscles around your eyes.
And release your jaw.
Letting your teeth part just slightly.
And let that warm heaviness flow down through your neck.
And into your shoulders.
Inviting them to release any weight they have been carrying through the day.
Feel it move down your arms.
Through your elbows.
Your rests.
All the way to your fingertips.
Until your arms feel heavy and entirely at ease.
Let this gentle wave move through your chest.
And your back.
Softening with every breath.
Let it pour down through your belly.
Your hips.
Releasing and loosening.
And let it flow down through your legs.
Your knees.
Your ankles.
Right down to the very tips of your toes.
Until your whole body feels heavy.
And warm.
And held by the bed beneath you.
No part of you left untouched.
No part of you left holding on.
And now that your body has begun to settle.
I invite you to come with me on a gentle journey.
A journey to lay down the weight of this day.
So that you may sleep entirely unburdened.
So in the space behind your closed eyes.
Begin to imagine that you are standing at the edge of a still and silent lake.
At the very end of the day.
The sky above you is deepening from gold into a soft and dusky blue.
And the first few stars are just beginning to appear.
The air is mild and gentle against your skin.
Carrying the faint,
Clean scent of water and evening grass.
The surface of the lake is perfectly calm.
So calm that it holds the colors of the sky like a mirror.
Unbroken and serene.
And as you stand here,
Taking it in.
You feel the ground beneath your bare feet.
Cool,
Soft and solid.
Holding you completely.
Take a long,
Slow breath here at the water's edge.
And as you exhale.
Feel yourself arrive a little more fully in this peaceful place.
Now you notice that you are not standing here empty handed.
In your arms,
You a-carrying the weight of your day.
And you may sense it as a small pile of smooth stones.
Each one holding something you have been carrying.
There is no need to examine each one or to know exactly what it holds.
Simply feel their weight in your arms.
And know that here,
At the edge of this lake,
It is safe to set them down.
So now,
One by one.
You begin to lower these stones into the still water.
And as each stone slips beneath the surface,
It sings slowly,
Gently.
Down into the dark and quiet depths.
Taken from you and held by the lake.
With the first stone,
You let go of a worry that followed you through the day.
And as it sinks now.
Feel a little lighter.
With the next.
Release something left unfinished.
Something that can wait now until morning.
And it too sinks away.
You continue in your own time.
Setting down each stone.
A frustration.
A regret.
A tiredness or tension you've held in your body without even noticing.
There is no need or value to judge any of it.
Each thing you set down is simply something you have outgrown for tonight.
Something you no longer need to hold while you rest.
And the leg receives it all,
Willingly,
Completely.
Drawing each weight down into its deep and patient stillness.
And now your arms are empty.
Feel them hang loose and light at your sides.
And the surface of the lake after the last small ripple fades.
Returns once more to its perfect,
Mirror-smooth calm.
As though it had never held a single thing.
Take a moment to feel this lightness in your body.
Feel how much easier it is to breathe.
Feel how the day's weight has lifted from your shoulders and your chest.
Leaving you clear and clean.
And ready for rest.
And as you stand here unburdened.
The water before you begins to glow with the soft silver light of the rising moon.
Now lifting gently above the trees on the far shore.
And something draws you closer to the water's edge.
A quiet sense that the lake has something to offer you in return for all that you have given it.
So you step forward.
And you find that the water is warm and welcoming and shallow.
And you wade in slowly,
Just to your ankles.
And then a little deeper.
Feeling this soft.
Sandy bed beneath your feet.
And the gentle support of the water.
All around you.
And here,
The lake seems to hold you.
The way the bed beneath your body holds you now.
Cradling you in the warmth that asks nothing of you at all.
You lower yourself into the water.
Until you are floating,
Weightless.
Your face turned up toward the deepening sky.
And the water carries you completely.
There is nothing for you to do.
Nowhere for you to go.
You simply flow.
Held and supported.
Gazing up at a sky now scattered with countless soft and shimmering stars.
And with each breath.
You drift a little further out.
Onto the still.
And silent water.
And with each breath.
You sink a little deeper into rest.
The boundary between your body and the warm water begins to blur and soften.
The boundary between waking and sleeping begins to gently dissolve.
And you let it.
You allow yourself to be carried.
Deeper and deeper.
By the gentle drift off the water.
And the slow rhythm of your breath.
Knowing that you are completely safe.
Completely health.
And that nothing can disturb the peace of this place.
Stay here now.
Floating beneath the stars for as long as you wish.
There is nowhere else to be.
There is nothing left to carry.
There is only the warmth of the water.
The soft light of the moon.
And the deep,
Quiet rest that is rising up to meet you.
And now as you float here,
Drifting towards sleep.
I will offer some gentle affirmations to carry you the rest of the way.
You don't need to repeat them and you don't need to remember them.
Simply let them drift past you.
Like soft ripples across the water.
Settling quietly into your resting mind.
I release the day.
And I welcome rest.
I have done enough.
And I am enough.
It is safe for me to let go now.
My body is heavy,
Calm and at ease.
I set down all that I no longer need to carry.
I AM HELMED and I am supported.
Sleep comes to me easily and naturally.
I breathe in peace and I breathe out tension.
There is nothing I need to do now but rest.
My mind grows quiet.
And my body grows still.
I am safe.
I am more.
And I am at peace.
I drift gently into a deep and healing sleep.
I release the day.
And I welcome rest.
I have done enough.
And I am enough.
It is safe for me to let go now.
I am Helm.
And I am supported.
Sleep comes to me easily and naturally.
There is nothing I need to do now but rest.
I drift gently into a deep and healing sleep.
And now simply let my voice begin to fade.
Like the last light fading from the sky.
Let the words dissolve.
Let the lake dissolve.
And let yourself sink down,
Softly and completely.
Into the warmth of your bed.
And the depths of your peaceful mind.
Restful sleep.
Rest now.
Sleep now.
You are safe.
And all is well.
