Welcome to this Breathing into Sleep meditation.
In this session you'll be gently guided to use your breath to encourage your body's natural ability to let go and rest.
When your sleep is disturbed it can be really helpful to learn to use your natural breathing response to allow your nervous system to calm and settle.
So to begin with,
Finding a position for your body to lie or sit in that feels a little more comfortable just now.
Whatever you need to make yourself just a bit more at ease,
Knowing too that you can make changes to your posture at any point as your body begins to unwind and muscles begin to soften.
So how would it be just in this moment to let go of trying to go to sleep,
Releasing any sense of struggle or effort just for now and simply be here with whatever's happening,
Whatever's here for you right now,
With my voice,
Perhaps noticing too any thoughts or feelings that arise,
Maybe resistance or unpleasant feelings or perhaps a little more ease.
Whatever's here,
Allow yourself to simply soften the body a little,
Perhaps just around the edges like ice just beginning to melt to water.
Now gently bringing your awareness to the places where your body meets whatever you're lying on,
So perhaps being curious about how it is to be held by the warmth of the bed,
The pillows,
The comfort of cushions,
Being aware of textures,
Softness or firmness of the mattress,
Any sensations of fabric against your skin,
Inviting yourself to let go a little more into being held by the bed or the seat as best you can without effort.
You don't have to try and get this right.
There's nothing to get right.
You're just being in this moment.
You may like to take a couple of deeper,
More intentional breaths,
Perhaps allowing a slightly longer exhale,
A longer out-breath each time,
Allowing your body to settle and release into being held and then letting go of any sense of directing your breath and simply being aware of it,
The rise and fall of your belly or chest each time the body breathes itself,
Returning over and over to resting in the movement of the natural breath,
Just breathing,
Just being,
Just being breathed moment by moment by moment,
Nothing to fix,
Nothing to do,
Simply meeting the rise and fall of the breath in the belly or the chest or perhaps bringing your awareness to the inflow and outflow of breath through your nostrils or in the back of your throat,
Perhaps inviting a little more softening,
A little more releasing in the body at the end of each out-breath.
And we're going to introduce an element of counting now as we continue to return our awareness to the breath,
Just gently counting in your mind if that feels okay.
So with the next in-breath,
Counting to four for the length of the in-breath,
Then perhaps holding the breath for a moment and then breathing out to a count of four and release,
Perhaps waiting a moment at the end of the out-breath and again,
Breathing in to a count of four on the inhale,
Holding for a moment and then breathing out to a count of four.
And if it feels okay for you,
Perhaps doing two or three more cycles of this in for four,
Hold,
Out for four.
Or if the counting isn't helpful for you right now,
You may like to simply rest in the natural process of breathing,
The body breathing itself at whatever pace feels okay for you right now,
As we take a moment or two's quiet to explore letting go into the breath,
Whether that's through counting or simply noticing and remembering you can't get this wrong.
And then coming back for a moment,
Allowing the breath to simply do what it naturally does.
You may even like to rest in the sensations of the body being held by the bed,
By the bedding,
Mattress,
Pillows,
Treating yourself with as much kindness and compassion as you can right now.
And now if staying with the breathing is helpful for you,
Beginning to extend the count,
This time breathing in for a count of four,
Holding for a count of four and breathing out for a count of six.
There's no need for those counts to be particularly slow,
As long as the count is steady and even.
Again,
Breathing in for four,
Holding for four,
Breathing out for six this time.
You may like to repeat that pattern.
You may also like to notice the moment at the end of the exhale,
Waiting to feel your body's impulse to take the next in breath in for four,
Holding for four,
Breathing out for six.
You may like to repeat that pattern two or three times,
Noticing any sense of effort or striving and releasing the body,
Releasing the muscles.
And that if at any point you need to tend to your well-being by letting go of counting and simply allowing the breathing body to be as it is,
That's just fine.
The invitation here is to attend to your well-being,
Moment by moment,
With lightness and ease,
Whatever you need right now.
Now staying with the counting,
The breath,
If that's working for you right now,
As we extend the count again,
Breathing in for a count of four,
This time holding for a count of seven and then breathing out for a count of eight.
Again,
There's no need for the counts to be really slow,
As long as it's steady.
Breathing in for a count of four,
Holding for a count of seven,
And breathing out for a count of eight.
If you come to the end of your breath before you reach eight,
That's simply fine.
We're simply offering ourselves the opportunity to really extend the exhale and by the process of doing this,
Allow the nervous system to reset,
Sending a direct message to your body that you can let go,
That you're okay,
That it's safe,
Safe to relax.
If you find yourself drifting off to sleep at any point,
Halfway through the practice,
Well that's just great.
Our aim here is not to get to the end,
But simply leaning into what might help us sleep.
So again,
The offer is to stay with the breath,
Breathing in for a count of four,
Hold for a count of seven,
And breathe out slowly to a count of eight.
Now as I allow some space to explore,
The choice is yours to stay with counting the breath,
Or simply letting go of the breath,
Allowing yourself to be breathed and be held in this moment.
Whatever's here for you right now,
Can you just allow this moment to be what it is,
As best you can,
Softening,
Breathing,
Resting,
Nothing to achieve,
Softening,
Breathing,
Resting,
Nothing to achieve,
Letting go of any effort or striving.
And then if you have been following the breath with counting,
Simply releasing the numbers in your mind,
And the invitation now is to rest your awareness on the out-breath only,
At the end of each out-breath,
Inviting acceptance as a kind of softening in the body.
The body breathes in and out,
And with each out-breath,
Perhaps allowing all the muscles,
Tendons,
And bones to rest,
Soften,
Be held.
The body knows how to rest,
The body knows how to sleep.
Sometimes if we get tangled up in thoughts,
The system simply needs reminding,
How to do this,
How to let go and simply be.
And in that process,
Can you offer yourself as much kindness,
Friendliness,
And warmth as you can just now?
The body breathing and being held,
The body knowing how to breathe itself,
The body knowing how to sleep,
As we slowly bring this meditation to a close,
By giving yourself deep permission to rest.
Goodnight.
