Hello and welcome.
My name is Rasa.
And for the next little while.
I will be your guide while you let go of the day and settle into a deep and healing sleep.
You don't have to do anything right tonight.
All you need to do is listen and breathe.
And let yourself slow down.
I will take care of the rest.
Before we start.
See to the few small things that will let you rest without being interrupted.
If you need an alarm for the morning.
Set it now.
So your mind can stop keeping watch over the clock.
Lower the lights.
Close the curtains.
And turn your phone to silence.
And now find whatever position your body is asking for.
Whether that is on your back.
Are curled onto one side.
And let the mattress take your full weight.
When you feel ready.
Let your beautiful eyes close.
For a moment.
Just notice your breathing.
You don't need to change anything about it.
Only follow it as it moves in.
And as it moves out.
The same steady rhythm that has carried you through every day of your life.
Without ever asking for your attention.
Now take a slow breath in through your nose,
All the way down into your belly.
And let it out with a long sigh.
Your shoulders dropping as the air leaves you.
Again,
Breathe in,
Drawing the cool air of the room deep in your chest.
In and out.
Slower this time.
One more breath,
Filling from the belly all the way up.
And a long,
Easy release.
Now let your breathing find its own pace again.
There is no more effort to make.
As you breathe.
Picture a soft glow forming at the very top of your head.
Like the first light of morning landing on a hillside.
With each breath,
It begins to spread downwards.
And everywhere it travels.
The tension of the day starts to dissolve.
It moves across your forehead.
And smooths away the creases left by hours of thinking.
It loosens the small muscles around your eyes.
And lets your jaw fall open a little.
Until your face goes slack and easy.
Feel it flow down your neck.
And over your shoulders.
And they sink lower toward the bed.
Down your arms it goes.
Into your hands.
Until your fingers feel heavy.
And you have no wish to move them at all.
The glow fills your chest and your stomach.
Rising and falling along with your breath.
It sinks into your hips.
Then down through your thighs and knees.
Along your shins.
And out through the soles of your feet.
Taking the last of the day's tiredness with it.
And letting it drain into the ground beneath you.
Your whole body feels heavy now and slow.
Settled like sand on a riverbed.
After the current has passed over it.
From this stillness.
Your imagination starts to open.
Finding shapes in the dark,
The same as your eyes do when they adjust to an unlit room.
See yourself standing at the shore of a lake.
High in the mountains.
Late at night.
The air is cool and clean.
With a faint smell of pine.
The water in front of you is so still.
That it has turned to glass.
And every star overhead is mirrored on its surface.
Bright and clear.
There's a sky above your head.
And a second sky at your feet.
And you are standing in the silence between them.
No wind moves here.
The only sound is the occasional lap of water against stones.
You are alone and entirely safe.
No one can reach you in this place.
And nothing is being asked of you.
It belongs to you.
And to no one else.
Take a moment to be here properly.
Feel the cool mountain air on your face.
Breathe in the clean smell of pine and water and cold stone.
Notice the flat rock.
Under your feet.
And how good it feels.
To stand somewhere this still.
With no one wanting anything from you.
And nothing left for you to do.
As you stand at the edge of the water.
Notice a faint heat against your chest.
Right over your heart.
When you look down.
You see that you have been carrying a small handful of embers.
Like coals from a fire.
That burned low a long time ago.
Each one is a worry.
You have been holding on to.
Some have nearly gone cold.
Others still glow.
Perhaps you never realized you were carrying them at all.
And yet here they are.
And tonight,
Finally.
You are allowed to set them down.
See yourself lift the first ember into your palm.
You don't necessarily have to name it,
You can if you want to.
But you don't have to explain it or solve it right now.
You only have to feel its small weight and admit one simple thing.
You have been carrying this.
Perhaps the one that rises first is something from today.
Maybe a conversation that went sideways.
Or a task you ran out of hours to finish.
Perhaps it's older than that.
A worry that you have turned over so many nights,
It has started to feel like part of you.
Whatever it is,
Sweet soul.
You don't need to work it out tonight.
The lake isn't asking you to understand it.
It is only asking you to let it rest on the water for a while.
See yourself crouch at the edge of the lake.
And rest the ember on the surface of the water.
As you do.
Something quiet happens.
The water won't let it sink.
And it won't let it burn.
And stand in a single moment.
It cools the ember into a smooth,
Pale stone of light.
Round and weightless.
Watch the stone as it sits on the surface for a breath or two.
Then the lake draws it slowly down.
Into its dark depths.
And as it sinks.
It changes once more.
Rising back up as another star in the sky beneath your feet.
Your worry hasn't been erased.
It's been turned into something quiet.
And set safely among the stars until morning.
Take all the time you need.
One by one.
Lift each ember from your heart.
And lay it on the water.
The heavy ones and the small ones.
The sharp worries and the old familiar ones you have carried so long,
You had stopped noticing their weight.
There's no rush.
And there's no wrong way to do this.
Each time you release,
The leg accepts and turns into light.
And your chest grows a little lighter.
Your breath a little slower.
And the water at your feet fills with a few more stars.
If a worry feels too big to lift all at once.
That's okay.
Put down only as much of it as you can tonight.
The lake will keep the rest for you.
That's what it's there for.
And now.
When your heart is empty of embers.
There's nothing left over it but a clean,
Open space.
So see yourself sit down at the shore.
And simply breathe.
And now.
From somewhere deep in the middle of the lake.
A current begins to rise.
It is warm.
And it moves towards you across the still water.
Like you long.
Slow breath.
When it reaches the shore.
It doesn't soak you or chill you.
Instead,
It rises up into your body.
Feeling you the same?
As light filling a room at dawn.
This water seems to know exactly where to go.
It moves first to wherever your body has been holding its tiredness.
Maybe a lower back.
Maybe behind your eyes.
Maybe that space over your heart.
And it gathers there.
Soothing what aches and easing what feels worn out.
Feel it move through every part of you.
Leaving each one cleaner and calmer than it was.
If there is one place in you that needs more than the rest.
Send your breath there.
Breathe in.
And let the warm light pool in that spot.
Breathe out.
And feel whatever was tight begin to loosen and settle.
Stay with it for a few slow breaths.
Until it asks for nothing more.
Then it rises into your mind.
Wherever a thought has been circling.
The current loosens it and lets it drift free.
Until your thinking grows as still as the lake.
And now feel it to reach the deepest part of you.
The part underneath all thought and all worry.
And it tells you something you have always known.
That you are safe now.
And that you have done more than enough for one day.
Stay here as long as you like.
Floating in this calm life.
There's nothing to do.
And nowhere to be.
Only your breath.
And the warmth.
And the white silence of the night.
And now as you grow heavier and more peaceful.
Begin to notice that the line between the two skies is fading.
The stars above and the stars below are blurring into one.
You can no longer tell which way is up.
You are simply floating,
Weightless.
With starlight on every side of you.
The lake has become the night.
And the night has become your bed.
And you can feel the blankets around you.
And the mattress underneath.
Cradling your body the same as the lake did a moment ago.
So let the whole scene fade now.
Dissolving like mist off the water at first light.
There's nothing left to release.
There is nowhere left to go.
As you drift towards sleep.
Let a few simple thoughts settle over you,
Like a blanket.
What I carried today,
I leave at the water's edge.
I am safe.
And I am cared for.
My body knows how to heal while I rest.
I let go of the day with every breath out.
It is alright to let go now.
All is well.
And everything will keep until morning.
You don't have to stay awake for these words.
Let them sink down into the still water of you.
And wait there for when you awake.
There's nothing more to do tonight.
Only to drift.
And to rest and to sleep.
Sleep well now,
My precious one.
Good night.
Sweet dreams.
