Hi,
This is Reena Davis and this is a sleep meditation including a progressive muscle relaxation.
To begin,
Lie in a comfortable position.
If possible,
Extending the legs out long and having the arms at the sides about 45 degrees from the body,
Palms up.
If that's not comfortable for you,
You could always bend the knees or put a prop underneath the knees.
And we're going to just notice the breath without needing to change it at all.
Now bring your mind to your day.
We're going to allow the mind to come into any sort of thoughts that come up without resisting them for the next few minutes.
Any worries,
Any anxiety,
Just let your mind go there just for these few minutes.
When you hear the bell,
It's time for the mind to let go of those worries and find peace for the night beginning now.
Continue to allow the mind to go where it needs to,
Making space for all of these thoughts and worries without resisting.
Okay,
Coming away from those thoughts,
I invite you to bring your awareness back into the breath.
And notice the temperature of the breath,
Perhaps the change in temperature from inhalation to exhalation.
Notice the depth of the breath without any need to change it.
No judgment of what's coming up or how the breath is,
Just experiencing it with your awareness.
You may be experiencing the breath more to one side of the body than the other,
Or more to the front or back of the body.
Maybe the breath comes into one nostril more strongly than the other.
This is completely normal.
Just be aware of it.
On each breath,
Simply being here,
Noticing.
You may notice a texture in the breath.
It could be very smooth.
It may have a catch.
Again,
Just having awareness of it with no judgment.
And then letting go of the breath.
Put your attention into your feet.
And we'll begin progressive muscle relaxation,
Starting by pointing the toes to allow the flux in the calf muscle,
Holding that as tight as possible.
Now we'll slowly release that tightness for 5,
4,
3,
2,
And 1,
Letting it completely go.
And then we'll move the feet in a flexed position so that the toes are pointing up towards the shins,
Holding that.
And then again,
We'll slowly release on 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
We're going to be doing this with various muscle groups through the whole body,
Beginning with the quadriceps next,
In the front thighs.
You might need to pull your kneecaps up towards your hips to make these quadriceps flex.
And holding tight,
Squeezing,
And then that slow release on 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Next,
We move to the glutes,
Squeezing hard in the glute muscles,
Holding,
And we release on 5,
2,
1.
Squeezing the stomach muscles next.
You might think about the ribcage and the hip bones moving toward each other slightly on the front of the body,
Bracing the abdominals,
Holding,
Holding,
And then we release for 5,
2,
And 1.
Move to the chest next,
Squeezing the pectoral muscles in the chest,
Maybe bringing the shoulders toward each other slightly so that you can do that,
And holding here as tight as possible,
And we release,
2,
And 1.
I invite you to make a fist with your hands and make it the tightest fist you can,
And then straightening the arms,
Holding every muscle in your arms tight,
Holding,
Holding,
And a slow release on 5,
2,
And 1.
Next,
We can draw the shoulder plates together on the back body,
Squeezing those muscles through the upper back between the shoulder blades,
And release for 5,
2,
And 1.
Shoulders are going to rise up towards the ears now.
Tight squeeze here through the shoulders.
A lot of us hold a great deal of tension here,
You might hear some cracking,
That's okay,
This is normal as well.
And then we let it go,
5,
2,
1.
And finally,
We come to our facial muscles,
Trying to squeeze all of the muscles on the face at one time,
Thinking about the tongue going to the roof of the mouth,
The jaw squeezing tight,
The eyes and the forehead,
Everything squeezing here.
And then we'll let it out with a sigh for 5,
4,
And 1.
Now notice anywhere that you need to adjust in the body to be ready for sleep.
Maybe adjusting so that you find that little bit more relaxation in the muscles,
A little bit more letting go,
Even if it's only 5% more.
Now bring your mind to a place that's either real or imagined,
That feels very calming to you.
Take a moment to figure out what that place might be for you.
Notice any objects that are in this space,
The colors you can see,
The textures you feel,
Any smells or sounds.
Notice everything you can about this space.
Notice any emotion that comes up here or a sense.
Does it feel peaceful,
Calming?
If that's not coming,
That peace and calm,
You can change the scenario to something better for you.
If you're having trouble coming up with a space,
Perhaps you can bring your mind to a room with soft lighting,
Beautifully colored pillows that you can fall into,
And a soft couch or chair,
Perhaps a blanket.
Wherever you find yourself,
The smell is the perfect one for you.
The temperature is perfect for you.
Perhaps you have a pet in this space that you love dearly.
There could be open windows overlooking the beautiful landscape or seascape.
Or maybe there's no windows at all.
Try to feel into the space that you've created in your mind with all of your senses.
And then I invite you to move your eyes side to side with the eyes closed to the left and right,
Left and right.
And continue that,
Just noticing this space.
Continue the eye movements left and right.
You can go slower or faster,
Whatever you need.
And then we can let go of those eye movements and notice how it feels.
If you're ready for sleep,
You can allow yourself to drift off.
If not,
We're going to come back to that peaceful,
Calm scene and begin those eye movements again.
Left and right,
Left and right.
Noticing the air in this space that you've created,
The textures on your skin,
The feelings that are coming up.
So peaceful and serene.
A beautiful scent.
Maybe very quiet.
Maybe there's birds or something else that sounds lovely to you.
And once again,
We're letting go of those eye movements and just noticing.
If you're ready,
Just take a nice calming breath and let yourself drift away into happy dreams and peaceful thoughts.
Feel free to repeat that as much as you need to.
And I wish you sweet dreams and a good sleep tonight.
Thank you for joining me.
