Welcome.
My name is Melanie Kiss and here to guide you during part three of a Better Night's Sleep series.
Perhaps sometimes you may wish that there was an off button for your mind.
An overly busy mind can halt us in many ways throughout our lives.
And one of the main things a busy mind interrupts for millions of people around the world is a good night's sleep.
Almost every single night.
Why is this so?
To answer this,
Let's relax your mind just a little bit right now.
Imagine that your mind is represented by a river with waters that sometimes flow by slowly when there's a lack of rain or sometimes very quickly.
Depending on the weather and the time of year.
Your mind is the river.
Your thoughts are the water.
How quickly is your river of the mind flowing right now?
How fast are the thoughts represented by water flowing in the river?
Just watch this flow as you are sitting on the riverbank enjoying it.
Good.
Now just allow for the seasons to pass and the weather to change and watch your river change along with it.
The seasons represent your overall happiness in your life.
Are you achieving quarterly goals you set for yourself?
Seasons change,
But each one of them can be viewed as beautiful.
Seasons can be tough or they can be mild and enjoyable.
The water of the river represents your thoughts.
When you focus your thoughts on your goals and desires,
Your river slows and it becomes crystal clear.
The birds and the wildlife are able to see fish that they will catch to feed themselves and their offspring.
The fish can find sources of food because the waters have slowed enough to allow for bits of plants to settle on the water and soften.
Live bugs can land on the water for them to catch.
Now for a moment,
Imagine a storm of thoughts coming for your river.
See the waters rise and the animals scurry.
The fish hide in safer areas and there are no bugs flying around.
It is only rushing by a little faster now and yet the storm is building.
More thoughts you let into your mind,
The more the waters rush by.
It becomes a threatening river so quickly that you cannot sit on the bank watching your river any longer and observe its beauty.
You must seek shelter from the storm.
The storm of thoughts has taken the ability to observe and take away from you.
It takes a while for a storm of thoughts to pass and even longer for the after effects of the storm to calm.
The waters continue to rush at high speed for several days or so.
This is what happens when you allow a storm of thinking to enter your mind.
It interrupts you for some time until the waters can naturally settle.
You want to always remain on the bank of your river observing abundant nature and clear,
Calm waters.
We all know sleep is necessary and rejuvenating.
So why do so many people suffer to achieve restful sleep?
Because they do not take charge of their busy mind,
Moving it from worry to relaxation.
As I mentioned before,
Allowing a busy mind to get free is like never training a great horse.
The mind needs to be in control and needs you to train it on how to work for you.
A calmer state of mind allows you to not only sleep better,
But it eliminates anxiety,
Increases focus,
Treats depression,
Stops circular thinking,
And improves your memory.
Better relationships satisfy the body and increases emotional intelligence.
The key to attaining all these things is actually very simple and natural for all of us.
The key is to bring into your mind the awareness of all physical sensations and to bring into your mind your emotions and bringing into your mind your thoughts.
This is meditative and simply doesn't allow for bothersome thoughts to have any power over you.
Your ability to emotionalize and feel things is much more powerful than a busy mind.
Your ability to create and ponder new ideas in a new self-image supersedes a noisy mind.
All a noisy mind is good for is distracting you.
It doesn't achieve anything.
It doesn't build on any new ideas.
It doesn't emotionally connect you with others around you.
In fact,
An overloaded and out of control mind acts to disconnect you from others and from yourself.
A bustling mind is tiring,
Yet it doesn't allow for you to rest.
Giving up control of your mind is like feeding your child nothing but breads and sugar and candy.
They are going to lose control because of the unhealthy information they are taking into their system.
Let's put our minds now in the being mode.
Right now,
By implementing positive affirmations.
Say to yourself now,
Thoughts are only thoughts.
I live in the present,
Not in the past or in the future.
I draw from my past when I need to plan for my future,
But I always live in the present moment.
I'm in the present moment with one foot in the past.
I'm in the present moment with one foot in the future.
I take notice of my body often throughout the day,
Easing and relaxing my body by doing so.
I take notice of my surroundings to ease my mind.
When thoughts begin to swirl in my mind,
I have compassion for them and acknowledge them knowing they are simply thoughts.
My thoughts come and go.
Everyone's thoughts also come and go,
I am not different.
When I watch my thoughts like the waters of a river,
I never get caught in a thought.
I am just a witness.
Stopping my thoughts is impossible.
Instead,
I observe them.
I observe them arriving and I observe them leaving.
Instead of jumping into thoughts emotionally,
I observe which thoughts I want to cultivate more of.
I know which thoughts I put my energy into is what I create for myself.
By taking the time to practice these methods,
I really feel a difference.
I have the patience to retrain my mind.
I retrain my mind so I can get rest when I need it.
I have patience when I'm training my mind just as I would have patience training the most significant horse.
I am kind to myself with this new way of being.
I am kind to others and I never allow overthinking in the form of judgment to cloud my relationships.
I am persistent because I know the rewards are well worth the effort.
I see benefits right now from the very start of my practice.
Good.
Now remember that each day you practice mindfulness techniques,
The more restful and deep sleep that you will receive each night.
Just relax down even more.
Now letting your body make any last adjustments,
Any adjustments it needs so that you get the most restful sleep every night of your life.
Night.
