Bedtime Poems And Affirmations

Twelve calm bedtime poems and twelve affirmations for a positive sleep mindset. Each poem is followed by a positive bedtime thought about releasing the day, dreaming, gratitude, and other thoughts that support sleep. The poems are public domain, some classics and some unique treasures.

Transcript

A wish is quite a tiny thing,

A wish is quite a tiny thing,

Just like a bird upon the wing it flies away,

All fancy free,

And lights upon a house or tree.

It flies across the farthest air and builds a safe nest anywhere,

Sleep is my reward for a day well spent.

Every day is well spent,

Every day,

In every way,

I am getting better and better.

I see the good in myself,

I see the good in others.

It is easy for me to do my best.

I understand that my best will change depending on the circumstances.

Today I did my best.

I am worthy of deep healing sleep,

The land of Nod.

From breakfast on through all the day,

At home among my friends I stay,

But every night I go abroad afar,

Into the land of Nod.

All by myself I have to go,

With none to tell me what to do,

All alone beside the streams and up the mountainsides of dreams.

The strangest things are there for me,

Both things to eat and things to see,

And there are many sights abroad till morning in the land of Nod.

Try as I like to find the way,

I never can get back by day,

Nor can remember plain and clear the curious music that I hear.

Natural rhythms are a part of life.

Being asleep is as important as being awake.

We are surrounded by rhythms,

The large rhythm of a year,

The pulses of the seasons within the year,

Weeks and months,

Days and nights,

Walking,

Running,

Our heartbeats,

Our breath.

I feel the rhythm of my breathing and feel safe.

I sleep peacefully through the night and wake up refreshed,

Eager for a new day.

There is a time for everything.

Now is the time to sleep.

I am ready to fall asleep easily now.

Little Brown Dog Once I had a little dog.

Its color,

It was brown.

I kept it in a music box just to sail the world around.

Its legs,

They were fourteen yards long,

Its ears so very wide.

Around the world and half a day upon it I could ride.

Sing,

Tattle all day,

Sing summer to May.

I found myself a spotted horse.

It took me everywhere.

Fields,

Forests,

Mountains,

Running wild it did not care.

It took me to those places where kings and queens do go.

One night he sailed right into my room and took me down to Mexico.

Sing,

Tattle all day,

Sing summer to May.

I am grateful.

Going to sleep with a grateful heart helps me sleep soundly and fills me with happy thoughts.

I am grateful for my family.

I say their names feeling grateful in my heart.

My friends,

I say their names feeling grateful in my heart.

I am grateful for things I have learned such as I am grateful for places I have visited like I am grateful for my amazing mind and ideas like I am grateful for running water and all the amazing things that are around me every day like I am grateful for my body and my health.

Things I love to do are I am grateful.

Going to sleep with a grateful heart helps me sleep soundly and fills me with happy thoughts.

The lobster quadrille.

Beneath the waters of the sea are lobsters thick as thick can be.

They love to dance with you and me my own,

My gentle salmon.

Will you?

Won't you?

Will you join the dance?

Will you?

Won't you?

Will you join the dance?

We toss them up,

We toss them down.

We take their claws and turn around.

We toss them back in the salty pond.

Fetch them back and a la mande.

Sharks and blowfish,

Crabs and seals all join in the lobster quadrille.

There is a garden in my heart.

When I turn out the lights,

I lie still and feel my breathing.

My breath goes in and out in its own rhythm like waves on the sand.

Sometimes it is steady and sometimes there is a long pause for a deeper breath.

I center my attention in my heart,

Feeling all the parts of my body that surround my heart being moved by my breath.

When I inhale,

The shape of my lungs expands from the breath.

My ribs release out and my diaphragm,

The thick muscle attached to my ribs,

Gently moves downward,

Changing the shape of my belly.

When I exhale,

The diaphragm gently moves upward,

Almost to my heart.

My ribs drape downwards and the shape of my lungs gets smaller as the air travels outward.

I use my imagination to visit the garden of my heart.

This is my own place and can look any way I'd like it to look.

It can look like a garden from a fairy tale,

Or an overgrown garden bursting with flowers,

Or even a vegetable garden.

It can look like a garden from Arabia with roses,

Beautiful tiles on the walls,

And a gentle fountain in the center,

Or a Japanese garden with ponds of goldfish and simple arrangements of flowers and trees.

I can spend my time visiting this garden alone or with a friend,

Resting,

Walking,

Lying down,

Sitting on a swing,

And I think of all the good things in the garden until I easily fall asleep.

At the zoo,

First I saw the white bear.

Then I saw the black.

Then I saw the camel with a hump upon his back.

Then I saw the gray wolf with mutton in his maw.

Then I saw the wombat waddle in the straw.

Then I saw the elephant,

A waving of his trunk.

Then I saw the monkeys.

Mercifully,

How unpleasantly they smelt.

I begin my sleep with a smile.

As I lie in bed,

I smile.

I feel how that smile changes the way I feel in a positive way.

I imagine my smile is made of light,

Maybe a white light or golden or mint green or soft blue or lavender.

I imagine I can shine that smile light inside my body.

First,

I shine it on my forehead.

I remember to breathe as I shine the smile light.

Then I shine the smile light on my throat.

I shine the smile light in my heart,

Feeling it fill my heart with beautiful light.

I shine the smile light right above my belly and below my ribs,

Letting the smile light melt away any worries or bad memories.

Clouds,

White sheep,

White sheep on a blue hill.

When the wind stops,

You all stand still.

When the wind blows,

You walk away slow.

White sheep,

White sheep,

Where do you go?

I choose my dreams.

Tonight,

As I notice my breathing,

I let my mind travel through the day.

With every exhale,

I release something that happened.

Good or bad,

They're done now,

And I prepare for sleep.

Now I observe my breathing by counting.

One for the inhale.

Two for the exhale.

Three for the inhale.

Four for the exhale.

Up to twelve.

I trust that what I want to dream about,

Flying,

A trip I'd like to take,

The solution to a problem will come to me by the time I am done with the twelve breaths.

When I am done,

I whisper out loud,

I wandered lonely as a cloud.

I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high over vales and hills.

When all at once,

I saw a crowd,

A host of golden daffodils.

Beside the lake,

Beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine and twinkle on the Milky Way.

They stretched a never-ending line along the margin of a bay.

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced,

But they outdid the sparkling waves in glee.

A poet could not but be gay in such jocund company.

I gazed and gazed,

But little thought what wealth the show to me had brought.

For oft,

When on my couch,

I lie in vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye which is the bliss of solitude.

And then,

My heart with pleasure fills and dances with the daffodils.

I am in a circle of caring.

Tonight,

As I close my eyes,

I see myself standing in a green field.

I go through my day,

Thinking of everyone I saw,

And one by one,

Imagine them joining me in a circle.

I include friends and family that I didn't see,

But who texted or called me.

I include friends and family that I thought about today.

Even the animals in my life come and join the circle.

I stand and look around and notice how big that circle of caring has become.

I ask for a white light to shine on us all.

I feel the earth under my feet and notice how we are all supported by the earth.

I connect each one of us with the white light,

Like beads on a bracelet of light.

I am in a circle of caring.

I met a little elf man once,

Down where the lilies blow.

I asked him why he was so small and why he didn't grow.

He slightly frowned,

And with his eye he looked me through and through.

I'm quite as big for me,

Said he,

As you are big for you.

I tense and relax my muscles for better sleep.

I go through all the muscles in my body,

First tensing them and then releasing them.

Starting with my toes.

Curl my toes under and release.

Flex my feet upwards and release.

Tighten my calves and my knees,

Hold it.

Tighten my thigh muscles in the front and the back,

Then release.

Tighten all the muscles below my waist,

Tighten,

Tighten,

And release.

Tighten my stomach,

Hold it,

And release.

Tighten the muscles in my back,

Tighten my jaw,

Put my teeth together,

Then let it all go and release.

Tighten my face,

All the muscles in my face,

Then release.

I tighten and squinch my eyes,

Hold it,

Then relax and release.

I tighten my hands into fists and all my fingers.

I tighten my forearms,

Tighten my upper arms and shoulders,

And hold it.

Now I will tighten my entire body,

Toes,

Feet,

Calves,

Thighs,

Muscles below my waist,

Stomach,

The moon.

Oh,

Look at the moon.

She is shining up there.

Oh,

Mother,

She looks like a lamp in the air.

Last week she was smaller and shaped like a bow,

But now she's grown bigger and round as an O.

Pretty moon,

Pretty moon,

How you shine on the door and make it all bright on my bedroom floor.

You shine on my playthings and show me their place,

And I love to look up at your pretty bright face.

And there is the star close by you,

And maybe that small twinkling star is your little baby.

I ask the right questions to sleep peacefully.

How did it get to be so easy to fall asleep?

When did I learn to enjoy sleeping soundly?

What made today such a great day?

Why am I so comfortable and calm?

How is it I am so happy and relaxed?

Why do I feel at ease and successful during my day?

Why does everything come to me so easily?

Kitten's Night Thoughts When human folk put out the light and think they've made it dark as night,

A pussycat sees every bit as well as when the lights are lit.

When human folk have gone upstairs and shed their skins and said their prayers,

And there is no one to annoy,

Then Pussy may her life enjoy.

No human hands to pinch or slap or rub her fur against the nap,

Or throw cold water from a pail,

Or make a handle of her tail.

And so you will not think it wrong when she can play the whole night long,

With no one to disturb her play,

That Pussy goes to bed by day.

I send good wishes to the world.

I imagine that I am standing on a mountain.

It is beautiful.

The weather is perfect.

Not too hot or too cold.

Too windy or too still.

And I am very safe.

There is a magic telescope near me.

When I look into it,

I can see my school.

I look at the teachers and students,

The desks,

All the people who work there.

And the magic telescope surrounds them in a glowing pink light of safety and care.

I move the telescope a little bit and now I see my town,

Village,

Or city.

I can see families,

Workers,

Farmers,

Streets,

Cars,

And bikes.

There is a library,

A town hall,

And a park.

I gaze at all these things and the magic telescope surrounds them all with a glowing pink light of safety and care.

I move the telescope again and can see my country.

All at once.

Rivers,

Valleys,

Other mountains,

Lakes,

And more towns,

Villages,

And cities.

Those who make the laws.

Those who protect us.

Those who heal people when they are not well.

And those who grow our food.

I see wild animals,

Birds,

Fish,

Reptiles,

And insects.

I see farm animals and pets.

As I scan along all of this with the magic telescope,

A soft pink glowing light of safety,

Care,

And peace surrounds everything.

And now the magic telescope can see the entire planet Earth.

Our blue home swirling with clouds.

The same soft glowing pink light of peace,

Harmony,

Safety,

And care covers the planet Earth.

I breathe in the light along with all the living things on the planet.

Oceans,

Rivers,

Mountains,

People,

Animals,

All rest in its glow.

As I fall asleep with peace,

I sent good wishes to the world.

A wise old owl.

A wise old owl sat in an oak.

The more they heard,

The less they spoke.

The less they spoke,

The more they heard.

Why can't we be like that wise bird?

I think good thoughts about me.

I am capable.

I can calm myself.

I can soothe myself.

Everything is better after a good night's sleep.

Bedtime is a new beginning.

Morning is a new beginning.

I release everything that upsets me.

The best thing I can do for myself is easily fall into a deep sleep.

I am falling into a deep sleep.

I relax my mind.

I relax my muscles.

My relaxed mind and muscles have me fall into a deep sleep.

I am yawning and so sleepy.

Sleeping is taking care of myself.

I take good care of myself.

I am capable.

I am.

I look forward to a new day.

Be kind and tender to the frog.

Be kind and tender to the frog and do not call him names as Slimy Skin or Pollywog or likewise Ugly James or Gappa Grin or Toad Gone Wrong or Bill Bandy Knees.

The frog is justly sensitive to epithets like these.

No animal will more repay a treatment kind and fair.

At least,

So lonely people say,

Who keep a frog.

And by the way,

They are extremely rare.

Each night is a new beginning.

What do I need to let go of today?

Was it something someone said to me?

Was it seeing or hearing about something that made me sad?

Was it seeing or hearing about something that made me mad?

Was it seeing or hearing about something that made me scared?

Was there a time when I felt misunderstood?

I can talk this out with my parents.

I trust that they will listen and understand.

I trust that everything is all right.

I trust that I am loved.

I see proof that what happened didn't last very long.

I choose to breathe it away,

Releasing any thought or memory that doesn't support me every time I exhale.

During the day,

I can take a walk and walk it away.

I can take a bath or a shower and wash it away.

I can write or draw or dance or music it away.

Because when I am expressing myself creatively and positively,

I am at my best.

I let go of everything because each night is a new beginning.

Reviews

This was so soothing .It was like having my mom put me to sleep . I have been doing so well on my meditation journey and today was a really rough day . I was being hard on myself which I haven’t done in a long time and these simple lulling childhood poems and affirmations helped me to fall deep asleep 15 minutes in. Thank you so much 🙏💜 bookmarked and recommended !💫💫💫💫💫