Hello,
My name is Sam and welcome to this meditation to help you fall asleep quickly and deeply.
At the end,
The music and my voice will gradually and imperceptibly fade away so that you can drift off into a deep and restful slumber.
The screen will remain completely black throughout so there's no light disturbance.
Let's get ready to sleep.
Climb into bed and snuggle down into the comfort of your mattress.
Feel the soft and supportive pillow beneath your head and let your head find the perfect resting position on this pillow.
Put your body into its favourite shape for sleeping,
Whether that's on your back,
On your side or on your belly.
Place your arms and hands wherever feels best for you.
If you're on your back,
That could be resting by the sides of your body with palms up or maybe placing your hands across your belly.
You can simply choose where you'd like those to be.
Take a moment to revel in the deliciousness of knowing that it's time to rest now,
To put aside any cares and worries and to find healing and regeneration.
During this time,
Our bodies will set to restoring anything that needs replacing,
Renewing the old.
Our eyes can take a break from the light and feel soothed by the darkness.
Our minds can take a break from the endless internal chatter and process any thoughts or feelings subconsciously while we sleep.
Oftentimes,
Answers will be discovered for later review.
To help your physical self settle more,
Let's take a deep breath in through the nose if possible and then slowly release the breath.
Try to extend your out-breath so that it's longer than the in-breath.
Then there's the pause.
Let's do that again.
Take a big breath in to feel your lungs and let it go very slowly.
Feel your body softening with the exhalation.
Notice how the mattress perfectly supports you,
Holding you,
Yet allowing you to sink deeper into the comfort.
Consider for a moment just how comfy your bed is.
What do you like best about it?
What do you like best about it?
Allow your body to feel heavy,
Relaxing down into the mattress some more.
Feel your muscles letting go of any tension or hold.
Soften your back.
Relax the shoulders down.
Relax the shoulders down.
Let go of your hips,
Buttocks and thighs.
Relax the arms,
The shoulders,
The shoulders.
Relax the arches of the feet and soften the toes.
Let your arms feel heavy too,
Releasing any tightness in the forearms,
Thumbs or fingers.
Let your arms feel heavy too,
Releasing any tightness in the forearms,
Thumbs or fingers.
Soften your belly completely and let the softness move inwards to relax your organs.
Visualise them relaxing,
Getting ready for rest.
Soften across your chest,
Releasing stiffness.
Relax your lungs and the space around your heart.
Relax your lungs and the space around your heart.
Let go of your head completely so that your neck can rest.
Align from the top of the shoulder up the side of the neck to just behind the ear and feel it releasing.
Slacken your jaw to release tension around the mouth.
Feel your tongue heavy in the bottom of the mouth and your lips soft.
Release the muscles in your face so that it becomes expressionless,
Smooth,
Supple skin without tension.
Relax the muscles around the eyes and be gentle with the eyelids closing.
Smooth out your forehead so that there are no signs of tension or stress on your brow.
Let go of your scalp and relax your hairline.
This feels really good.
Turn your awareness to the breathing and observe it for a moment.
There's no need to make any changes.
Notice the quality of the breath,
The pace,
The depth.
See if you can relax your breath more,
Softening the edges of the breath.
As we did at the beginning,
We're going to extend the out-breath so that it's longer than the in-breath.
Count how long the in-breath takes and try to double the time it takes to release the air.
You might count to three to breathe in and to six to breathe out.
Let's try one altogether and then you can go at your own pace.
Breathing in for one,
Two,
Three,
A slight pause.
Then breathe out for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six and a slight pause here too.
And again,
Breathe in for one,
Two,
Three,
Pause.
Breathe out for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Try that on your own for a few minutes.
And then breathe out for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Six.
And then breathe out for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Six.
Feel free to let go of the counting and allow your breath to return to its own natural rhythm.
Take a moment to enjoy this sensation of stillness and entering the limbo between awake and asleep.
It may be that your brain is trying to entertain you with thoughts and that's completely natural.
We're going to let it do its thing,
But we're going to mindfully release those thoughts.
So when a thought arises,
Transform it into a fluffy white cloud that's traversing through your mind.
You watch the beautiful cloud passing by,
But without getting caught up in its story.
It floats quietly away out of the picture.
Your clouds can be any shape or size that's up to you.
Just observe as they float through your mind's sky far away in the distance,
Completely silent.
It's so peaceful watching these clouds pass by.
Feel free to let go of the counting and allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm.
Gradually,
The clouds become fewer and fewer.
Further and further away.
Gradually,
The clouds become fewer and fewer.
Drifting away.
Gradually,
The clouds become fewer and fewer.
Fading away.
Gradually,
The clouds become fewer and fewer.
Gradually,
The clouds become fewer and fewer.
Dreaming away.
Gradually,
The clouds become fewer and fewer.
Gradually,
The clouds become fewer and fewer.
Gradually,
The clouds become fewer and fewer.
Gradually,
The clouds become fewer and fewer.
Gradually,
The clouds become fewer and fewer.
Gradually,
The clouds become fewer and fewer.
Gradually,
The clouds become fewer and fewer.
Gradually,
The clouds become fewer and fewer.
