Prepare For Sleep With Six Dimensions Of Relaxation

For a complete relaxation experience, we will explore the body, breath, emotions, thoughts, sounds, and awareness. Deeply relax all elements of your being with this journey through six dimensions of the present moment. Ideal preparation for deep and restorative sleep.

Transcript

So we'll spend some moments becoming aware and mindful of the body and see if we can really generate and allow a deep sense of relaxation to emerge in the body.

To begin with,

Just become aware of the body,

Have a scan through,

Maybe starting from the feet,

And slowly working your way up the body.

Whenever you come across any area of tension or discomfort,

Or even just a subtle feeling of holding the muscles,

And just having that thought,

That intention to release and relax and let go.

As you move up the body and the feet up to the legs,

And continuing up in your own time,

Become aware of that part of the body,

Notice any tension that might be there,

And having that thought and that intention to release,

Relax and let go.

I'll give you a few moments just to really explore the whole of your body,

To begin this process of allowing the body to completely relax.

As well as going through the body in this way,

I also find it really useful to get a sense of the body as a whole,

Feeling the whole weight of the body,

And having that sense of really letting go of the body,

Allowing that weight of the body to be supported by the floor,

By the ground,

Wherever you are.

I can really release the whole body,

I don't need to hold onto any muscles,

I don't need to hold any tension in the body.

I can allow the whole body to be released,

I let go of the body,

And feel that relaxation response throughout the whole body.

So when you've had time to scan through the body,

Notice any particular parts that are tense,

Just spend a few moments holding the whole body within your awareness,

Releasing,

Relaxing,

Letting go of the whole body.

Another thing you can try is to imagine any tension in the body,

Any tightness,

When it releases,

It passes out of the body through any parts of the body that are in contact with something else.

So feeling the sensation of connection with the body,

Just allowing any tension,

Any stress,

Any tightness,

Any anxiety,

To dissolve and flow out of the body,

Into the floor,

Into the ground.

So I'm going to move on to the breath.

If you need to spend a bit more time with the body,

Then feel free to do so.

Just take this relaxation in your own time,

Don't feel rushed to move on.

So for the breath,

To really relax the breath,

I'm not going to change the breath in any way,

I'm not going to try and breathe in a more relaxed way.

So I'm not going to try and breathe more slowly or more deeply.

I'm going to allow the breath to breathe just as it wants to breathe.

I'm going to give the breath freedom,

The space and the time to find its own rhythm,

Its own pace,

Its own depth.

So I'm going to let go of the breath,

In the sense of not trying to change or control the breath in any way.

What I am going to do is really feel the breath,

Feel the breath in the body.

Feel all the sensations that arise in the body as I breathe in.

Feel all the different sensations that occur in the body each time I let go of the breath.

So allow the breath in as much as it wants to and when the breath is ready,

Releasing and letting go of the breath.

And the more relaxed we've become in the body from the first part of this exercise,

The easier it will be for the breath to flow in and out of the body in an easy and relaxed way.

So a relaxed body and a relaxed flowing breath.

And the breath,

Particularly the out breath,

Can be another way to really feel any tension,

Any stress or anxiety leaving the body,

Leaving with the breath.

So each time I let go of the breath is a reminder to let go of any tension left in the body.

So a relaxed body.

As well as before,

Spending as long as you need with the breath until you get a sense that it's flowing nice and freely in and out of your relaxed body.

So I'm going to move on to the thoughts next,

The third element of this deep relaxation exercise.

I'm going to become aware of my thoughts,

Aware of the experience of thinking.

See if I can apply the same process and principle of relaxation as I have done with the body and the breath and see if I can apply that to my own thoughts.

So I'm not going to try and change my thoughts,

I'm not going to try and think relaxing thoughts,

I'm not going to try and think less or more slowly.

I'm going to give my thoughts space,

Freedom,

Time to find their own speed,

Their own depth,

Their own content.

So you can hear that true deep natural relaxation is about allowing,

Allowing any tension to unwind and ease in its own time.

So if you try to make relaxation happen,

Then there's a chance we'll actually be adding some tension.

If we just have the intention to relax and then have the patience,

That open,

Easy awareness.

Just allow the thoughts to flow freely through your mind,

Just as we allowed the breath to flow freely through the relaxed body.

So whatever the content of your thoughts,

Not trying to change them,

Just have that feeling of giving them space and freedom and time.

Very gradually unwind and ease and relax in their own time,

Without any effort.

A flow of thought through a relaxed mind and open awareness.

I find it helpful when relaxing the thoughts and the mind,

But also consciously relax the head,

The face,

The brain,

Allowing all these physical counterparts to also relax and release any tension.

So giving your mind as much time as it needs to allow the thoughts to gradually relax,

Being open and patient and allowing.

Checking the breath and the body is still nice and relaxed.

The next step is to see if we can apply this same approach to relaxation,

To how we're feeling,

To our emotions.

First of all,

Just becoming more aware of how you are feeling right there.

And if there is any stress or anxiety,

Any tension in how you're feeling.

And seeing what happens if,

Instead of trying to change that or get rid of that feeling,

Seeing what happens if we give that feeling,

That emotion,

All the space and time and freedom it needs to gradually resolve itself,

To not unwind,

To ease and release.

So we give space,

That space of awareness to our emotions and we allow them to flow through us and work themselves out in their own time,

Releasing and letting go of whatever emotion and feeling you come across.

And just as we relax the head,

The face and the brain,

When we were relaxing our mind and thoughts,

You might want to try really relaxing the chest and heart area,

As you have this intention of relaxing the feelings and emotions.

Okay.

Allowing thoughts,

Emotions and breath all to flow freely in the open space of your awareness and flowing through your relaxed body.

Okay.

So we're now really relaxing the whole of ourselves,

Our mental,

Emotional and physical aspects.

Getting a sense of your whole self in all these areas,

Easing,

Releasing,

Letting go and relaxing.

So the fifth step is to turn our attention to the sounds that we can hear.

So we're now moving beyond the self and into our environment and seeing if we can allow ourselves to relax within our environment,

Completely relax in the space where we find ourselves.

Allowing your awareness to open,

Widen,

Broaden and begin to notice all the different sounds that you can hear in the environment around you right now.

Noticing the more obvious sounds,

The louder,

The closer sounds.

Noticing any continuous background sound.

Keeping your awareness really nice and open and alert,

Noticing quieter and more distant sounds and occasional sounds.

I find this can really bring an even deeper level of relaxation,

A deeper experience of relaxation as we're holding the environment and the sounds in our environment within our relaxed and open awareness.

So there's that feeling of security and safety being connected and in harmony with our environment.

Not being disturbed by anything that's happening around us as we're welcoming all sounds within our awareness,

Allowing them to be just as they are.

So there's no tension or conflict there.

See if you can get a sense of that relaxation spreading beyond the body,

Beyond your thoughts and feelings.

Allowing your whole environment,

All the sounds that you can hear,

Everything to be easy,

Flowing and relaxed within your open awareness.

Noticing the more obvious sounds,

The louder,

The closer sounds.

You can begin to get a sense of the deep relaxation that goes even beyond yourself,

Extends right out into the environment around you.

So there,

The final stage of relaxation is to get a sense of your own awareness,

Your own consciousness.

Aware that you are aware,

Conscious that you are conscious.

Feeling yourself to be this open space of awareness within which all your experiences are happening.

Each moment is coming and going within your open awareness.

So your whole experience,

Gently held within your relaxed and open awareness.

The whole of the present moment held lightly within your relaxed awareness.

So now allowing your deepest self,

Your higher self,

Your conscious,

Aware self.

Allowing yourself on this deepest,

Most profound level to also completely relax.

Relaxing your whole self,

Your spirit,

Your soul,

Your pure consciousness,

Your essence.

Relaxing your whole self,

Your spirit,

Your essence.

And as we relax the body,

The breath,

The thoughts,

The emotions,

The sounds of our environment,

We relax our true essential nature.

With all these aspects more relaxed,

They are more aligned and more connected.

Tension and stress separates,

Distances,

Lots of barriers,

Relaxation brings together.

We can feel whole and connected with all our aspects,

From the body all the way to the soul and back.

We can feel that deep relaxation.

Our pure consciousness flow all the way into the relaxed body.

I'll leave a few moments of silence now,

Just so you can really enjoy totally relaxing your whole self and all aspects of yourself.

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Reviews

Thank you 🙏 Stephen! This sleep recording is so good I don’t know how it ends. That means it did what you designed it to do I! I really appreciate the range of sleep recording ( and all your recordings for that matter) to keep it fresh, so you don’t get bored doing the same thing night after night. I think you said that in one of those recordings. Thanks again!

A nice natural approach to falling asleep. Very useful for improving your ability to sleep without any bells and whistles.

Excellent! Will most certainly add this to my sleep playlist right now! That you get much for this great meditation😀

Thank you, this practice carried me into a deeply refreshing and much needed sleep.