Hi,
I'm Wren.
This practice is designed to help you drift off to sleep.
Find a comfortable position to lie down.
It might be lying on your side,
Your back,
Your front,
Wherever you rest best.
Gather in blankets,
Pillows,
Duvets,
Sheets,
Whatever keeps you supported.
Anything that helps the body feel held.
Maybe the eyes close,
Or at least the gaze softens.
Settling here might take a little bit of time.
There might be wriggles and adjustments.
You might stay in one place for a bit and then change and that's all okay.
Perhaps together we take a deep breath in through the nose and sigh it out through the mouth.
We repeat this two more times.
In through the nose and out through the mouth.
In through the nose.
Letting that sigh out be a signal to the body that we're ready to rest.
We're ready to sleep.
You don't have to hold yourself up here.
You've been holding yourself all day.
Allow yourself to feel held now.
Sinking into the support of your bed or wherever you lie.
Notice the parts of your body that touch the mattress or whatever you're resting on.
The contact points between your body and the support.
It might be down the side of your body,
The front of your body,
Or the back of your body.
Allow gravity to do the work here as you slowly soften.
If it feels right,
We might repeat a little intention.
Not something to fix,
Not a goal.
More of an affirmation.
I'm ready to rest.
I deserve to sleep.
This sleep will be nourishing.
Choose your words and repeat them to yourself.
Let them land softly without effort.
Notice the sensation between your fingers.
Where each finger joins to the next.
Notice where your palm becomes your wrist.
And the inside of your elbows.
Notice the top of your shoulder.
Trace it all the way along your collarbone to the centre of your chest.
Trace that line down,
Down,
Until it becomes your belly button.
From your belly button,
Notice the top of your hips.
Right at the very top of your hip bones.
From the top of your hips,
Follow all the way down the thigh bone.
Settling at the front and the back of the knee.
Continue running down the shin,
Across the foot and into the webbing between each toe.
A piece of skin joining toe to toe,
Toe to toe.
Find the heels and follow up the back of your body,
The back of your legs.
All the way up your spine.
Find the start of your hairline.
Across your scalp.
Softening the muscles across your face.
Relaxing the root of your tongue.
And releasing any tension from the jaw and the throat.
Sense the whole body as one.
One field of awareness.
Notice anywhere in the body that is feeling heavy now.
Anywhere grounded and sinking.
Then notice the places that are light.
Buoyant,
Floating.
Bring awareness to areas of the body that feel warm right now.
Gentle warmth spreading across the body.
Then notice anywhere that's cool,
Soothing,
Fresh.
Become aware of where you are still.
And where there is little movement.
Life pulsing through you.
Notice how both of these things can exist at once.
Without choosing one of them,
Both are welcome.
We're going to now take a little wandering.
You can start to notice soft ground under your feet.
Soft earth,
Leaves.
A path appearing that doesn't ask anything of you.
You don't have to be anything.
You don't have to shrink or translate.
Just you,
Walking step after step down this path.
The air around you feels cool and clean.
So you can breathe easily.
As you look around,
There are tall trees surrounding you.
They've been here a long time.
And there is no urgency in them.
They allow a dappled light to filter through their branches.
As you walk,
There isn't anything that you're looking for.
There isn't anything you need to achieve.
You just notice the way that your body softens into the repetitive rhythm of step by step.
And you can choose.
You might stay walking,
Just pottering along this path.
Or you might choose to turn right to a little clearing.
Where you can sit or lie down for a while.
Held by the space around you.
Sometimes we need stillness.
And other times we need movement.
You can choose.
Wherever you are,
Whether you're in the clearing,
Resting.
Or whether you're still walking down that path.
The light filtering through the trees rests against your body.
Warming you.
Soothing you.
And everywhere it touches,
The body receives the same quiet message.
You don't have to stay in this place.
And you don't have to leave.
Just rest for a moment.
Held by this space.
And your own breath.
Now release the imagery of that forest and that path.
And allow yourself to rest here.
In your body.
There's nothing you have to do.
You're allowed to rest.
You are okay.
Everything else can wait.
It's time to rest now.
Sleep tight.
Thank you.
