Imagine Into Sleep

In this guided meditation, listeners are guided through visualizations that help them release the stresses of their day, fully engage with the highlights of their day, then fully relax their body so that they can imagine themselves into the most comfortable and comforting situations that will help them slip off to sleep.
Music by Bensound

Transcript

Hello,

This is A.

Le Fay of Sylvanosity and I thought in this recording we might take the opportunity to imagine ourselves into sleep.

To prepare for this process I would like you to think of a board.

Perhaps you remember the old chalk boards.

This one is dusty and in need of being fully erased or maybe washed with a cool sponge.

Maybe the dust is yellow,

Maybe it's white,

Maybe you're like me and you loved using the colored chalk that your teacher rarely had and it's powdery blue or dusty rose.

Or maybe you're quite used to a large white board upon which you might be able to use dry erase markers.

If so,

Did you ever try the ones that were smelly,

Smelled of grapes or oranges or strawberries?

If you could choose an accurate smell of those markers,

What might they smell like when you rode out thoughts of sleep?

Maybe warm banana bread or cinnamon oatmeal?

Oh,

Hot apple pie or maybe your favorite kind of tea?

Mmm,

Imagine the teapot on the stove not whistling but boiling.

The soft rumbling sound.

It can be so relaxing,

Can't it?

Well,

Whatever board you imagine,

I'd like you to imagine it clean and open and receiving of ideas,

Images,

Whatever.

I'd like you to consider or imagine yourself writing on this board,

Write out your day.

Perhaps you might even want to divide your day into boxes.

You could choose one or two or none at all.

This is a flexible exercise.

You choose.

One side could be the good things that happened today.

The other side could be the difficult things that happened in the day.

Let's try that.

Write them out in your mind one at a time using the writing utensil of your choice.

Maybe you love gel pens and the way they feel in your hand and the way they smoothly glide across the page.

Remember,

This is an exercise in imagination so you could use anything you want.

You could even use permanent ink or perhaps you have discovered the skill of calligraphy and you can write the things out beautifully and smoothly without ever dipping your brush or pen back into the ink.

Anything can happen here.

Write out the difficult things that happened today one at a time.

Now take a moment and ask yourself the question,

Is there something to be learned from these things that were difficult to do today?

Hmm.

You know it's important when you're about to fall asleep not to dwell on them.

So this is what I would like you to do.

Take the eraser and wipe them out.

Take the eraser and wipe them out.

Imagine yourself just pushing them aside,

Letter at a time,

Tucking them away into your subconscious.

You might work with them later because now is a time to wipe out the things that have been worrying you and focus on the good things about today.

Now you don't even need to think about the specifics of those things.

Just remember the way they made you feel.

Warm,

Happy,

Elated,

Whatever those emotions may be.

If they are comforting and positive then dwell in them a little.

Allow them to speak to you,

To play over in your heart.

If you find that difficult things in your day start to play over again then imagine yourself wiping them out with the eraser or perhaps a worry or concern about tomorrow is playing in your mind.

If that's the case write it down and imagine the old kind of chalkboard where you could just slide it aside.

Write it out and slide it aside.

Because right now what we're experiencing,

What we're doing is a clearing of thoughts that might hold you back from relaxing and falling asleep.

So once you've wiped away the things that are stressing you,

Take a little more time to dwell in the things you enjoyed today.

Remember how they made you feel inside and out.

Dwell in those positive emotions a moment.

Imagine that tomorrow will be filled with even more of them or perhaps there's something you really enjoyed that you haven't done forever.

Remember how that feels.

Recall the sensations of it.

Remember how it made your mind feel.

Remember how it made your heart feel.

Remember how it made your body feel and relive it with your imagination.

Feel a yawn coming on.

Stretch right into it.

Mind,

Body,

And mouth.

Speaking of stretching,

You might stretch out your muscles a little.

Ressel down,

Nestle down into your favorite position in bed.

Maybe you need to fluff up your pillow a little.

Organize your blanket or your sheets.

Wiggle your toes.

Whatever you need to do to feel very comfortable and very rested,

Go ahead,

Snuggle right in.

Now let's talk about working with our muscles to teach them how to relax.

This muscular letting go is a very useful approach to showing our body that now is the time to relax.

As we do this,

We should focus on breathing deeply.

In through our nose,

Out through our mouth.

Extend them out as deeply as you can and as long as you can.

I'm exaggerating my breath so that you can hear them,

But you can focus on being soft and relaxing.

The yawn comes.

Stretch into it.

Now you can choose where you'd like to start,

But I recommend your feet and your legs.

You pull the muscles in.

Count to six or seven or ten.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Release.

And again,

Pull the muscles in.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Release.

Move up your body slowly and repeat the count.

Pull the muscles in.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

And release.

Repeat this process until you feel your muscles grow heavy with relaxation.

Pull in.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Release.

Pull in.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Release.

Move all the way to the top of your head,

Pulling in your neck muscles and your shoulder muscles and imagining your head tightening.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Release.

Take a few moments to repeat the pattern.

If there are any thoughts creeping into your mind that do not allow you to focus on relaxation,

Fold them up like a piece of paper until they're as tiny as a snowflake or those little tiny scraps of paper that appear on your desk when you pull out a piece of paper from a spiral notebook.

Place it on your open palm in the mind's eye and blow them away.

Right now our focus is on relaxation,

Is on releasing tension,

Is on telling our body it is time to slip into sleep.

Now let's work on using our imagination to help us slip into sleep.

First,

Picture yourself stretched out in the most comfortable place you've ever been.

Perhaps it's a bed in a hotel room that you paid a little extra for and it had the best pillows,

The most comfortable feather bed,

The most luxurious comforting bedspread.

And there were no sounds outside your room and the only sounds inside your room were the comforting sound of your own breathing.

Perhaps it is a bed from your childhood that you so enjoyed sleeping in.

Maybe you like me and completely enjoy snuggling into a warm bed with a furry companion who might moan with comfort or purr you into relaxation.

The most important thing is that you feel yourself sinking into the sensation of a warm or cool but ultimately comfy,

Comfortable,

Relaxing bed.

As you do this,

Imagine your muscles,

Your limbs,

Your body soaking up the comfort of this bed and becoming heavy with sleep.

Nestling into the comforts of this bed.

Breathe deep.

Allow your body to sink deep into the comfort of this bed.

Imagine nothing more than comfort and ease.

Here's another possible image to consider.

Picture your body as a collection of balloons.

The balloons in your feet have developed a leak and slowly,

Slowly,

Slowly they let out all of the air.

And now they're flat and weightless.

Move up to your calves and let the air slowly release.

Until now you are entirely relaxed and comforted and ready to drift off to sleep.

And if that is not relaxing enough,

Then move on to the next chapter.

Imagine the most relaxing,

Comforting experience you ever had.

Perhaps you were lying on the side of a hill in a park.

The melodic sounds of laughter as someone flies a kite in the distance.

A soft breeze.

The warmth of the sun.

Heating your clothes and reminding you of when you would take your clothes out of the dryer and snuggle down into the couch and pile those clothes on top of you.

Smelling the heat and the warmth and remembering how soothing it feels.

Picture a place of comfort.

Perhaps it is curled up on the floor on a pile of pillows before a crackling fire.

Your feet in cozy socks feeling the warmth of the flames not far away.

A soft crackling in the near distance soothing you into sleep.

Hold these images as long as you can.

Notice the details,

The comfort,

The smells,

The sounds and let them thin.

Allow your mind to recede,

To let go,

To relax and slip into sleep.

If you find one image is not as working well as another,

Move on to a new comfortable position,

To a new comforting image,

Memory or imagined place that gives you comfort,

Solace and a sense of peace.

Dwell here until you can slip off to sleep.

One of my favorite images is to imagine myself on a warm summer's night lying on cool cotton sheets.

The windows open,

The gauzy curtains blowing in a soft wind.

A rumbling thunderstorm travels across the horizon in the distance,

Never coming closer,

Always low and rumbling.

A comforting sound right before the rain comes and the rain is soft and lasting and dripping off the eaves of the house,

Lulling us off to sleep.

This has been A Lafay with Imagining Sleep.

Goodnight.