Lie down and get set up for sleep in whatever way feels best for you.
Know that if you drift off during this meditation,
That is absolutely okay.
Let your body lead the way.
Let's start by taking some deep breaths in through the nose and breathing out through the mouth with a slight sigh.
As you breathe in through the nose,
Fill the belly with air and exhale,
Let it go through the mouth with a gentle sigh.
Breathing in,
Feeling what it's like to expand,
Fill the belly with air.
Breathing out,
Notice what it's like to contract and have the air leave the body.
Breathing in to fill and expand.
Breathing out to empty and let go.
Breathing in to fill and breathing out,
Let go.
On your next inhale,
I want you to imagine that your breath could pick up any worry,
Fear,
Anxiety that you might be experiencing right now,
Scooping it up on the inhale and then fully releasing it on the exhale.
Breathing in,
Imagining your breath picking up what's not serving you right now and watching it as it leaves you on the exhale.
Breathing in,
Picking up,
Breathing out,
Fully releasing,
Letting go.
One more,
Breathing in,
Fully picking up anything that you don't need right now.
And on the exhale,
Giving yourself permission to let it go completely.
And I want you to start to feel the connection of your body to the bed or wherever you're lying down,
Noticing the points of contact starting at the backs of your feet,
Your legs,
Your lower,
Mid,
And upper back,
And the back of your head.
Noticing any sensations in these areas,
Textures of your body,
Your skin against the sheets,
The weight of the connection of your body.
Maybe you notice temperature differences at different areas.
Just taking in what it feels like at these points of grounded connection.
Continue to take in and notice whatever is present at these points of contact,
Feeling more and more grounded.
As you start to settle in and let your mind slow down.
We're not going to invite some relaxation into the body using our awareness as a gentle invitation,
Releasing tension and softening anything that needs to be softened.
And we're never going to force this relaxation,
But simply invite it to enter and spread through us.
Starting at the top of the head,
Noticing any tension in the crown or the forehead and inviting some relaxation to enter these areas,
Smoothing and softening.
Coming down to your eyes,
Your eye sockets,
Noticing any tension in this area.
And what's it like to bring relaxation into your eyes,
Letting them melt,
Soften and let go?
Bringing over your cheeks,
Your nose,
Your mouth,
Lips,
Tongue,
Bringing relaxation into all parts of your mouth,
Releasing and letting go.
Just bringing your awareness to your jaw,
Noticing any tension in the muscles and the jaw,
Inviting some relaxation to smooth and soften any tension that might be holding here.
Maybe you can even imagine some relaxation coming into your brain,
Watching it as it fills your brain,
Melting any tension,
Any fear or worry or anxiety that might be here.
It just melts away.
Coming now to your neck,
Noticing the muscles and the front,
Back and sides of your neck,
Inviting some relaxation to smooth this tension away.
Moving to scan over the tops of the shoulders,
Inviting a release as you move to the upper arms,
The lower arms and bringing your awareness into your hands,
Noticing if you can find any tension in the hands,
Letting some relaxation spread through each palm and into every finger,
Really letting go.
Moving up to your chest,
Noticing any tension that might be present in the chest and all the muscles around the chest,
Letting them relax and bringing your awareness as deep as your heart space,
Noticing all the muscles in and around your heart.
What's it like to bring relaxation to all of these muscles,
Softening the whole heart space?
Coming down to your abdomen,
Noticing your stomach,
Your intestines and all the organs held in your abdomen,
Inviting them to soften and deeply relax and rest.
Moving now into your hips,
Your pelvis and your seat,
Letting relaxation come in,
Melting through all of these areas,
Helping you release and soften.
Moving up to the upper back,
Really taking in any tension,
Any holding that you might notice in this area.
Watch as this tension mounts down into the ground below you,
Letting the earth absorb everything from your back body,
Scanning to the mid-back,
Noticing,
Relaxing and letting the tension melt away.
Moving to your lower back,
Once again noticing,
Inviting in relaxation through your whole lower back and then watching as it melts down into the ground below you.
Scanning to your upper legs,
Your quads and your hamstrings,
Scanning through,
Noticing any tension that might be here right now and watching as you invite the muscles to soften,
Releasing and relaxing.
Moving down to your lower legs,
Your calves and your shins,
Noticing what's here and allowing it to soften and coming to your feet,
Really noticing all of the muscles,
Maybe even noticing the ligaments,
The tendons,
The connective tissues in your feet and your toes,
Honoring the feet that carry you around all day and offering these feet some deep relaxation and release of whatever tension might be present.
Noticing the relaxation,
Enter into each toe and now bring your whole body into your awareness,
Noticing if you still can find any areas of tension and if so,
Maybe bringing a breath,
Inhaling into the tension and exhaling,
Letting it go,
Deepening the relaxation.
Then start to notice now where there is ease and relaxation present,
Paying attention to what these feel like,
These areas,
Maybe their vibrations,
Warmth,
Whatever sensations you notice associated with the ease present in your body.
Inhale into these areas,
Rest into these areas and let your body sink deeper and deeper into full relaxation as you allow yourself to drift off into sleep.
