Welcome to this meditation to prepare for sleep,
Inspired by hiking in the beautiful mountains of Switzerland.
Tonight I'll be using my voice to gently guide you down into a deep state of consciousness residing somewhere between wakefulness and sleep.
We'll be resting there in this place of harmony and peace and then at the end of the recording I will guide you to drift off into a deep and healing sleep.
Practicing yoga nidra right before bed helps your mind and body unwind from the busyness of your day.
It down-regulates your nervous system and makes it more likely that you will fall asleep quicker and have deeper sleep.
Let's begin by creating a container of rest,
Gathering whatever you need to ensure that you feel safe,
Warm,
And ready for sleep.
Covering yourself with warm blankets,
Supporting your head with pillows,
Maybe using an eye covering to block out the light,
Taking all the time you need to make yourself comfortable in your bed.
Let's start by closing down both eyes,
Then taking a deep breath in through your nose,
Holding your breath in for a moment as you squeeze and tighten your hands and fists.
Then exhale,
Letting go with a sigh,
Allowing your hands and feet and your whole body to soften.
Again,
Taking a big sip of air in through your nose,
Holding your breath as you squeeze your hands,
Feet,
And now your face,
Squeeze everything tightly,
And then exhale it all out with a sigh,
Relaxing your whole body.
One last time,
Taking a big breath in,
Holding it at the top of the breath,
Squeezing and contracting now all the muscles in your body,
Squeezing everything as hard as you can,
And then exhaling,
Letting the whole body soften,
And letting your breath settle back into its natural rhythm,
Whole body softening down into your bed.
With each exhale,
Can you begin to surrender down even more to the weight of gravity,
Allowing the outside world to fall away,
Releasing all thoughts of the past or the future,
And just being here now,
In this moment in time,
Gently beginning to part your lips,
Your teeth,
Allowing your tongue to be heavy,
Softening your cheekbones and both sides of your jaw,
Allowing your eyes to drop back towards the center of your head,
Smoothing out the lines on your forehead,
Actively softening your forehead from the inside out,
Unfurling all ten fingers,
Softening all ten toes,
And then releasing any clenching or tightness in your chest,
Your ribcage,
Your diaphragm,
Your low belly,
Whole body releasing down into your bed,
Continuing to remain in this present moment by just noticing any and all sensations that are rising,
Present with your entire physical form,
Welcoming everything you feel,
Knowing that your nature is skylight,
Limitless,
Whole and complete,
And peace is always available to you.
Starting to bring all your attention now to your heart space,
Space right in the center of your chest,
And from this heart center,
You start to invite in an intention or Sankalpa,
Any statement that deeply resonates with you,
Allowing an intention to radiate from your heart,
Such as I am love,
I am peaceful,
I am creative,
I am whole and complete,
And bringing this intention into your awareness and amplifying its potency by repeating it silently to yourself three times,
Continuing to surrender to the experience of deep rest,
Being still and experiencing each moment as it unfolds into the next,
Welcoming all parts of yourself with a loving awareness,
Dropping away even further now from the thinking mind,
And beginning to rotate your consciousness through your body,
Noticing any and all sensations present in each body part as I call them out by name,
Starting with the very crown of your head,
Noticing any and all sensations swirling and flowing through the very top of your head,
And noticing any sensations in the very center of your head,
The sides of your head,
The back of your head,
And deep inside your head,
Imagining you can sense both hemispheres of your brain stem alive with sensation,
And then flowing your awareness down through your forehead,
Coming to rest right between your eyebrows,
Noticing sensations arising in this space,
And then flowing your attention over to your right eyebrow,
The right eye socket holding your eye,
The eyelid and eyelashes,
And then bringing your awareness over to your left eyebrow,
To the left eye,
The left eye socket cradling the eye,
To the left eyelid and eyelashes,
And then the entire left eye,
Moving over to the right ear,
Noticing any sensations in the right ear,
The right ear listening and receiving sounds,
Bringing your awareness now to the left ear,
Noticing any sensations in the left ear,
The left ear scanning for sounds,
And then focusing all your attention on the tip of your nose,
The base of your nose,
The tip of your nose,
Noticing the sensation of the air flowing in and out,
Bringing your attention now to the roof of your mouth,
The bottom of your mouth,
The entire mouth alive with sensation,
And bring your awareness down to the middle of your throat,
The base of your throat,
And then over to your right shoulder,
Your upper arm,
The right wrist and palm as a mass of energy and sensation,
The tip of the right thumb,
The tip of the second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
And then all the fingertips and fingernails of the right hand,
Back to the center of the palm,
The right side of the chest,
The heart center,
And over to the left side of the chest,
The left elbow,
The left wrist,
The very center of the left palm,
As a mass of energy and sensation,
Awareness now to the left thumb,
The second finger,
Third finger,
Fourth finger,
And fifth finger,
And then all the fingertips and fingernails on the left hand alive with sensation,
Blowing your attention back to the center of the left palm,
Shoulder,
The left side of the chest,
And the heart center,
Dropping down into the diaphragm,
Noticing it rising and falling as you take each breath,
Sensing down towards the low belly,
The pelvic bowl,
And over to the right hip,
Down past the right knee,
The right ankle,
And the sole of the right foot,
Awareness to the big toe,
The second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
And fifth toe,
And imagining all the nerve endings in your toes and toenails alive and radiant with sensation,
Blowing your attention back to the center of the foot,
To the right ankle,
Knee,
And right hip,
The center of your pelvis,
And then over to the left hip,
Down the left knee,
And the sole of the left foot,
Awareness to the left big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Imagining all the nerve endings in the left toes and toenails alive and pulsing with vibration and energy,
Back to the center of the left foot,
The left ankle,
Left knee,
The left hip,
The center of the pelvis,
The low spine,
Mid spine,
Upper spine,
The right shoulder blade,
Left shoulder blade,
The back of the neck,
The center of the forehead,
Resting all your awareness now at the space between your eyebrows,
Your mind's eye center,
And then your whole body at once,
Aware of any and all sensations flowing through your whole body from head to toe,
The whole body alive with sensation and resting deeply,
Preparing for sleep.
May you start to bring your awareness back to your breath,
Breath flowing effortlessly in and out,
And might you start to imagine now that you could breathe in and out of the soles of both feet,
So just imagining that you could breathe into the very center of the base of your feet and then exhale out from this place,
So breathing in through the soles of your feet and exhaling out,
Coming back to your natural rhythm,
Allowing the breath to move in an effortless way.
Can you start to imagine now that you could draw a line down the center of your body,
And then imagining the whole left side of your body dropping down into darkness,
And then bringing all your attention just to the right side of your body,
The whole right side filled with awareness and sensation,
And sensing the whole right side of your body from the top of your head to the tips of your toes,
Whole right side filled with awareness and sensation,
And then allowing your awareness to slowly start to flow over to your left side,
And imagining that the right side of your body would fall away into darkness,
And the whole left side is now saturated with awareness and sensation,
Alive and aware of your whole left side,
Aware of the whole left side of the body from the tips of your toes to the top of your head,
Bringing your awareness back to both sides of your body,
Sensing the whole body at once,
Whole body resting deeply,
Preparing for sleep.
As you continue to rest and listen to my voice,
I invite you to start to imagine,
Sense,
Or visualize that you're walking on a mountain trail high up in the alpine mountains of Switzerland,
Walking along a well-worn rocky trail surrounded in all directions by tall snow-capped mountains reaching up towards the endless expanse of blue sky.
As you make your way up this trail,
Feel the earth underneath you,
Imagining each step rounding and connecting you into the earth,
Or to imagine all the sounds that you can hear in the distance,
Perhaps the sound of glacial streams fed by melting snow,
Or pure water cascading down over rocks as it winds its way down from the high mountains into the valleys below,
Perhaps imagining that you can hear the sounds of cowbells,
The sounds of cowbells tinkling and clanging in the valleys below you,
Each bell creating its own sound and then combining to create a melody of sounds,
Imagining these tranquil sounds washing through you and over you,
Bringing in a deep sense of peace,
Timelessness,
And connection.
As you begin to climb up the mountain trail,
Noticing the alpine villages nestled far below you,
Tiny villages resting in the vast embrace of the mountains,
And you imagine now that the rocky trail is giving way to soft meadow grasses,
Grassy meadow fields filled with wildflowers,
Thousands of brightly colored flowers swaying in the mountain breeze.
The fragrance mingling with the crisp mountain air.
Continuing your journey as the trail winds higher and higher until you eventually come to stand at the very summit of a mountain peak,
The world stretching out before you in all directions,
Feeling the solid ground beneath your feet as you take in the views of the valleys and peaks below you.
With each inhale,
Feel the energy of the mountains infusing you with a sense of strength,
And as you exhale,
Imagine yourself radiating your light out into this vast expanse,
Inhaling in the strength of the mountain,
And exhaling out,
Visualizing your light expanding outward in all directions,
Sending waves of love and compassion reaching out to the furthest corners of the horizon,
Your energy illuminating the landscape below you with its radiant glow.
Allow yourself to bask in this moment of pure presence,
Feeling as vast and open as the highest mountain,
The oldest glacier,
The deepest ocean,
Recognizing your true essence is limitless.
And from this place of peace,
Might you once again welcome in your intention.
You might feel it as a sensation,
Or you might whisper it three times,
Resting deeply and basking in the truth of your intention,
Allowing all worries to fade and fall away,
Releasing all thoughts of tomorrow.
It's time to allow your body to recharge after a long and busy day.
It's time to let go of any remaining awareness.
It's time to drift off into a deep and healing sleep.
