Find a comfortable lying position.
Close your eyes.
Let your shoulders drop.
Unclench your hands and jaw.
Have your hands resting on your stomach or beside you,
The palms facing upwards.
Have the legs hit width apart and the feet falling out to the sides.
Have the chin slightly down and the neck soft.
Take a few deep breaths.
Breathe in for four counts.
Hold for seven and exhale for eight.
Breathe in for four,
Hold for seven and exhale slowly and evenly for eight.
Just take a few moments to appreciate the feeling of having nothing to do,
Nowhere to go and nothing to check.
Now take a big deep letting go breath.
Letting go more and more of the day that has just been with every exhale.
Center yourself in the present moment bringing your awareness to the body as it is right now.
Remain aware of what is occurring in the body.
Use the breath to bring mindfulness to the body and cultivate relaxation.
As you breathe in,
Feel the lungs fill with air and when you exhale feel the body soften into your mattress.
Picture yourself falling deeper into the mattress as the body relaxes with each exhale.
Start a body scan at the top of the head moving down the body to the toes.
As your attention rests on each part,
Relax it and soften into the bed with every exhale.
When you reach your toes return to the body as a whole and the practice of breathing deeply.
Continue softening.
Perhaps sometimes you may wish that there was an off button for your mind.
An overly busy mind can halt us in many ways throughout our lives and one of the main things a busy mind interrupts is a good night's sleep.
So let's relax your mind just a little bit right now.
Imagine that your mind is represented by a river with waters that sometimes flow by slowly when there is a lack of rain or sometimes very quickly depending on the weather and the time of the year.
Your mind is the river,
Your thoughts are the water.
How quickly is your river of the mind flowing right now?
How fast are the thoughts represented by water flowing in the river?
Just watch this flow as if you are sitting on the riverbank enjoying it.
Now just allow for the seasons to pass and the weather to change and watch your river change along with it.
The seasons represent your overall happiness in your life.
Seasons change but each one of them can be viewed as beautiful.
Seasons can be tough or they can be mild and enjoyable.
The waters of the river represent your thoughts.
When you focus your thoughts on your goals and desires your river slows and becomes crystal clear.
Now for a moment imagine a storm of thoughts is coming for your river.
See the waters rise.
The more thoughts you let into your mind the more the waters rush by.
It becomes a threatening river so quickly that you cannot sit on the bank watching your river any longer and observing the beauty.
You must seek shelter from the storm.
This storm of thought has taken the ability to observe away from you.
It takes a while for a storm of thoughts to pass and even longer for the after effects of the storm to come.
The waters continue to rush at high speeds for several days or so.
This is what happens when you allow a storm of thinking to enter your mind.
It disrupts you for some time until the waters can naturally settle.
We want to always remain on the bank of our river observing abundant nature and clear calm waters.
We all know sleep is necessary and rejuvenating.
We need to take charge of our busy mind moving it from worry to relaxation.
The mind needs you to be in control and needs you to train it how to work for you.
A calmer state of mind allows for you to not only sleep better but eliminates anxiety,
Increases focus,
Improves your memory,
Betters your relationships,
Satisfies the body and increases emotional intelligence.
The key to attaining all these things is actually very simple and natural for us all.
The key is to bring into our mind the awareness of all physical sensations and bring into your mind your emotions and bring into your mind your thoughts.
Let's put our mind now in the being mode.
Right now by implementing positive affirmations.
Say to yourself now thoughts are only thoughts.
I live in the present not in the past or in the future.
I draw from my past when I need to plan for my future but I always live in the present moment.
I take notice of my body often throughout the day easing and relaxing my body by doing so.
I take notice of my surroundings to ease my mind.
When thoughts begin to swirl in my mind I have compassion for them and acknowledge them knowing they are simply thoughts.
My thoughts come and go.
Everyone's thoughts also come and go.
I am no different.
When I watch my thoughts like the waters of a river I never get caught in a thought.
I'm just a witness.
Stopping my thoughts is impossible.
Instead I observe them arriving and leaving.
Instead of jumping into thoughts emotionally I observe which thoughts I want to cultivate more of.
I know that which thoughts I put my energy to is what I create for myself.
By taking the time to practice these methods I really feel a difference.
I have the patience to retrain my mind.
I retrain my mind so that I can get rest when I need it.
I am kind to myself with this new way of being.
I am kind to others and I never allow overthinking in the form of judgment to cloud my relationships.
I am persistent because I know the rewards are well worth the effort.
I see benefits right from the very start of my practice.
Now remember that each day you practice mindfulness techniques the more restful and deep sleep that you receive each night.
Just relax down even more now letting your body make any last adjustments it needs so that you get the most restful sleep every night of your life.
The music will continue to play for a few minutes if you would like to drift off to sleep.
Good night.
