Preparation for sleep.
Notice when you breathe in.
Notice when you breathe out.
Now,
Take your mind to your toes.
The toes of the left foot,
The toes of the right foot.
Let the mind be spacious,
Focused,
But not tight,
Almost like a dream.
Cultivate a feeling of gratitude towards your toes.
And on each out-breath,
Allow your toes to rest and relax.
Feel your toes becoming warm as they enter restfulness.
Connect to your heart and send kindness to the soles of your feet.
Allow them to rest as you breathe out.
Have a moment of appreciation for them.
Now move your mind to the top of your feet.
Bathe your feet in appreciation and gratitude.
Experience them at rest,
Warm,
Soft,
Like baby's feet.
Have a moment appreciating your ankles.
On the out-breath,
Spread relaxing kindness through your ankles.
Draw peace into your feet and ankles on the in-breath.
Glide the mind to the lower legs,
The calves and shins.
Open your heart in deep appreciation and gratitude for this part of you.
Feel a relaxation arising deeply in the muscles of the calves.
Let them become soft and fluid and warm.
Allow them to rest.
Dance the mind to the knees.
Take pleasure in spending time with your knees.
Allow them to rest,
Release and soften.
Whenever you experience tension or pain in any part of your body,
Take your mind directly to that tension or pain.
Spend time with it and make it your friend.
Kindly dissolve it from its center.
Flow your attention to your thighs,
Offer gratitude to their power and strength.
Feel the out-breath encouraging your kind and compassionate heart to open,
Allowing your thighs to relax and rest.
Experience the enjoyment of both legs being warm,
Soft and rested.
Be kind to yourself and adjust your position so they are free of tension and can rest in comfort.
Take your attention and gratitude to your fingers and thumbs.
Feel a softening and warmth arising through all their complicated joints as they bask in your heart's kind focus.
Open your awareness to the palms and backs of your hands.
Feel the palms opening and softening,
The back of your hands smooth and rested.
Offer gratitude.
Feel both hands at rest,
Warm and relaxed.
Move your kind heart and mind to your wrists.
Give them both permission to rest.
Feel the rest arising in your forearms.
Go deeply into them and rest,
Rest,
Rest.
Rest your elbows.
Rest the upper arms.
Offer gratitude and send kindness to your elbows and upper arms.
Flow this thought through both arms to your fingertips,
Deepening your appreciation and gratitude as you do so.
Breathe in peace.
Breathe out a smile.
Now focus your attention on your lower body to the belly,
Back and the floor of the pelvis.
Allow this whole area to rest and relax.
Experience your breath deep in your belly.
Allow your belly to expand with each in-breath.
Let it relax back into your body with each out-breath.
Experience an unraveling and releasing deep inside you.
Move the mind to the waist.
Notice the waist expanding on the in-breath and contracting slightly on the out-breath.
Send deep appreciation to all your internal organs.
Take your mind directly to any ache or tension in this part of the body.
Spend time with any discomfort and send kindness to it,
Allowing it to soften and ease with each out-breath.
Flow kindly to the upper body,
The chest and upper back.
Feel the chest relaxing into the body almost becoming hollow and the back widening between the shoulder blades.
Offer gratitude to your lungs and heart.
Spend time with your spine.
Discover how it wishes to rest and adjust your posture accordingly.
Breathe kindness into each shoulder.
Breathe away any tensions.
Celebrate your shoulders through your heartfelt appreciation.
Rest the back of your neck.
Feel it soften and release.
Free your throat through a heartfelt relaxation.
Take your mind to your jaw.
Feel a space arising between the teeth,
Especially at the back of the mouth.
Relax the tongue.
Allow your lips to be as soft as the babies.
Relax your cheeks and temples,
Your brow and forehead.
Feel the everyday mask of tension falling off your face.
Experience your face as relaxed,
Sleepy and resting.
Experience your eyelids as heavy and shuttered.
Allow yourself to drift into their darkness.
Experience sleepiness in your ears,
Scalp and mind.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Allow yourself to relax into sleepiness.
Empty your body and mind of all concerns.
Feel yourself being filled with sleepiness.
Take your time.
Make yourself comfortable and allow yourself to rest.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
