It's the middle of the night and you're awake.
Sometimes that happens.
Perhaps there was a noise,
Or maybe your dream woke you,
Or maybe there's a lot of stress around in the body.
Know that that's okay.
It's natural to wake in the night,
And it's natural to sometimes find it hard to sleep.
See if you can let go of trying to get back to sleep and instead focus on this middle-of-the-night rescue practice.
Allow the words to wash over you.
You don't need to understand or hear all of the words of this practice.
You'll hear what you need to hear.
And naturally,
There will be thoughts.
It doesn't matter.
Just allow your attention to focus on my words and on the body as we move through some different awareness practices.
And these are designed to calm the nervous system and hopefully to allow you to drift back off to sleep.
You might notice there are some strong emotions around right now.
And if so,
See if it's possible to allow them to be there just as they are,
Maybe focusing on whatever sensations you notice in the body rather than focusing on the emotions themselves.
And similarly,
There may be loads of thoughts around too,
Maybe about your dream or what tomorrow might bring or what happened yesterday or maybe just thoughts around not wanting to be awake.
And again,
Instead of getting caught up in those thoughts,
Carried away with them,
Can you instead focus on the body and the sensations that you notice there instead?
And over time,
Those strong emotions may become less intense.
They may dissolve.
See if you can cultivate a sense of allowing whatever's here to be here just as it is,
Without needing to change anything.
And whatever you notice is fine.
It's natural if you're feeling emotional that your mind will try to explain it or do something about it or solve it.
But there's no action needed right now.
It's the middle of the night and everything can get blown out of proportion and your mind can misinterpret things,
Make things seem more important than they really are.
So know that that may be going on.
And now is the time to rest.
Simply being present with whatever is going on,
Not trying to do anything about it,
Not resisting it,
Letting go of effort,
That can be restful in itself.
And you can even let go of the effort of trying to get back to sleep.
Letting go of that effort can be restful for the system.
So know that even if you're awake,
Your body's getting some rest right now.
Now is not the time to believe the stories of the dead.
Now is not the time to believe the stories of your mind.
So whenever a strong or urgent thought comes up,
See if you can redirect your awareness into the body instead,
Focusing on the body.
See if you can start to bring your awareness into the breath,
If it's OK for you to do so.
Maybe see if you notice where the body moves as you breathe,
What sensations are here as you breathe in and as you breathe out.
If it feels pleasant for you to do so,
You may take control of the breath,
Perhaps taking some deeper and longer breaths,
Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth,
Gently lengthening the inhale,
Lengthening the exhale,
Allowing the belly to rise as you breathe in and soften as you breathe out.
Conscious belly breathing.
Gently lengthening the inhale,
Lengthening the exhale.
And see if you can allow the body to soften and let go into the bed a little more with each out-breath.
Slow,
Deeper breaths.
Softly breathing in,
Breathing out.
Slowing the breath down.
Breathing in and letting go as you breathe out.
Focusing on the belly as it expands on the in-breath and softens on the out-breath.
And letting go of the conscious belly breathing now,
Allowing the body to take over,
Breath returning to its natural rhythm.
And we'll do a body relaxation,
So there may be some tension held in the body.
See if you can let go of the tension as you move your awareness through the body.
And we'll start down in the feet.
Noticing,
Being aware of the feet as they rest on the bed.
Can you allow the feet to soften and relax?
A sense of letting go down in the feet.
With the next out-breath,
Moving the awareness into the calves and the shins.
A sense of softening here,
Breathing into the calves,
The shins.
Letting go,
Relaxing the lower legs.
On the next out-breath,
Shifting focus into the thighs.
Allowing the thighs to soften,
To relax,
To let go.
With the next out-breath,
Letting go of the thighs and moving into the back of the body.
Allowing the lower back,
The middle back and the upper back to soften and relax.
Softening and relaxing the whole of the back of the body.
A sense of letting go of the back of the body,
Sinking into the bed.
Noticing the fingers,
Softening,
Uncurling the fingers.
Allowing the fingers,
The thumbs to soften,
To let go,
To relax.
Allowing the hands to soften and relax.
Shifting into the lower and the upper arms when you next take an out-breath.
Can you allow the arms to let go and relax into the bed?
And on the next out-breath,
Shifting focus into the belly.
Noticing sensations in the belly,
Maybe as you breathe.
Maybe a softening on the out-breath.
Can you allow the belly to soften and let go?
A sense of relaxation deep in the belly.
On the next out-breath,
Shifting focus into the chest.
Maybe noticing as it rises and falls.
Letting go of tension in the chest,
Softening,
Relaxing the chest.
On the next out-breath,
Shifting focus into the neck.
Can you relax and soften the neck?
Allowing the neck to soften and let go.
Allowing the throat to soften.
Allowing the throat to soften.
And on the next out-breath,
Shifting into the muscles in the face.
Allowing the facial muscles to relax,
Soften and let go.
Softening the jaw,
Cheekbones,
Eyebrows,
Forehead.
Relaxing and softening the face.
Allowing the head to sink into the pillow.
Allowing the whole body to soften and let go.
On the next out-breath,
A whole body awareness.
Softening and releasing any tension that's left over.
Breathing into any tight or tense areas in the body.
Softening the whole body,
Relaxing into the bed.
Whole body softening and letting go.
Whole body rests.
And without changing anything,
Beginning to witness the rhythm of the breath.
Resting in the changing sensations of the inhale versus the exhale.
And we'll start to add some counting to the breath.
Counting down from 21 to 0 with each exhale.
So breathing in,
Breathing out,
21.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
20.
And so on,
Continuing this silent count.
No strain,
No force,
Easy breathing.
And if your mind starts to drift and if sleep comes,
Let it happen.
But if not,
Continuing to count backwards.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Dropping in the count.
Knowing you're still allowing your body to rest.
And other than observing the breath,
Counting the breath,
There's nothing else to do here.
Letting go of effort as best you can and focusing on the breath.
Letting go of effort as best you can and focusing on the breath,
Moving freely through the body.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
If you reach 0,
If you lose count,
If you drift off and come back,
Then restarting at 21 once more.
Breathing in and breathing out,
Counting down from 21 to 0 with each exhale.
And allowing the mind to drift if that's what it wants to do,
Allowing the body to let go.
Not getting caught up in thoughts or ruminations,
Coming back to the breath if you notice that's happening.
And knowing that even if you're awake and even if you're alert,
You're allowing your body to rest.
Nothing else to do here.
Allowing the body to breathe,
Letting go of effort and counting backwards,
21 to 0.
Coming back to 21 when you lose count,
When you come to,
If you reach 0.
Allowing the body to let go.
Allowing the mind to drift into sleep.
Feeling the weight of the body on the bed,
A sense of softening and letting go even further with each out breath.
If it's helpful to continue the counting,
You can do so.
You can do so.
Or simply resting back into the bed,
Allowing the mind and body to let go and drift off.
