Bedtime Worries (for Kids)

Sometimes, just before bed, worries like to sneak in. They can feel noisy, heavy, or even a little confusing. This calming meditation helps kids gently notice their worries, listen to what they have to say, and then learn how to let them go. Through imagination, children will gather their worries one by one, give them a little kindness, and then blow them softly away, like dandelion seeds floating into the night sky.

This bedtime journey teaches children that worries don’t have to stay forever. By meeting them with an open heart and then releasing them, kids can drift off to sleep feeling lighter, calmer, and safe in their own hearts.

Transcript

Hello,

It's me,

Tess.

It is so good to see you for tonight's Big Heart Bedtime.

So once you have brushed your teeth and put on your pajamas,

Washed your face and said goodnight to everybody that you love,

Come on back and get yourself nice and comfortable.

And let's start by finding our heart,

Put your hands in your heart and close your eyes and just see if you can hear your heartbeat.

And if you can hear your heartbeat,

Take a big breath in and reach your arms up over your head.

Ready?

And let it out.

Hands in your heart,

Listen to your heartbeat.

Big breath in,

Reach your arms up.

Let it out.

And hands in your heart and listen to your heartbeat.

That heart that is just beating all day long,

Loving you and loving you and loving you.

Do you ever find that right before you go to bed,

You start to get like worried feelings?

I know that sometimes when I go to sleep,

I start to have all sorts of big worried feelings.

And sometimes when I wake up in the night,

I get worried feelings then too.

Do you ever get that?

That's why I like to spend some time right before I go to sleep,

Moving those worried feelings away.

Here's something that we need to know about our worries.

When we are worried about something,

It's usually that we're thinking about something that's going to happen later,

Or we're thinking about something that has already happened in the past.

So our brains are either in the future or in the past.

And when we get really worried,

We forget about being right where we are.

And right where you are right now,

I can imagine that you are very safe right now and that there is nothing to worry about in this moment.

So a lot of the time,

Our brain likes to take us to the future or the past.

And we want to do things that can help bring us back to the present,

Which is right here,

You and me and our big heart journey.

So this is something that we can do to help move those worries out of our brains.

And maybe tomorrow we can revisit them and see if there's anything that we can do about those worries.

But for right now,

They're just going to get in the way of our sleeping.

So I want to invite you to close your eyes and just notice if there's any worries inside of you right now.

Worries might be thinking about something that might happen later or thinking about something that already happened.

And worry feelings are usually cloudy feelings,

So they don't feel that good inside of our body.

So just notice your body right now.

Are there any worries in there?

And if there is a worry or two in there,

Notice where they are inside of your body.

Sometimes my worries are right inside of my throat,

Or sometimes they might be closer to my heart or my tummy.

Sometimes I feel worries in my tummy.

Where are your worries tonight?

Where are your worries tonight?

Now imagine that you are actually going to put your hand where those worries are.

So find your worries in your body,

Whether it's your tummy or your throat or your heart or your head,

Where do your worries live?

Find them inside of your body and put your hands where they are.

You're doing a really good job.

Now imagine you're going to pull your hands away from your body,

And when you pull your hands away,

Your worries are going to be stuck to them.

Are you ready?

Breathe in,

Breathe out,

Pull your hands away,

And all of your worries are now on your hands.

Now let's look at those worries,

And can you say hello worries?

And now we're going to take these worries and we're going to blow them into the sky,

Knowing that we don't need them right now,

That you're going to be okay without these worries.

In fact,

You're going to have really good sleeps with happy dreams.

And then tomorrow,

If some of your worries come back,

I want you to take those worries with you and go find somebody that you love to share them with,

Okay?

But for right now,

These worries are just taking up space inside of your body,

And it's time to have a really good sleep.

So let's look at all those worries again out in front of you,

And can you say again,

Hello little worries?

Now you're going to take a big,

Deep breath in,

Ready?

And as you let it out,

Blow those worries into the sky,

Ready?

Ready let's try it again.

And big breath in,

And let it out,

Blow those worries into the sky.

Can you say goodbye worries?

So you watch them float away.

And just notice right now,

Put your hands in your heart and notice how your body is feeling and notice if there are any other worries in your body.

And if there are,

Let's do it one more time.

Take your hands,

Find where the worries live.

I think I might have one up in my head and another one in my heart.

So just notice where the worries are,

Take a big,

Deep breath in,

Let it out,

Pull the worries off.

Oh,

There they are in front of you and say,

Hello,

Little worries.

Good.

Now take a big,

Deep breath in and we're going to blow those worries into the sky,

Ready?

And say goodbye worries.

And you can do this again as many times as you need to.

You know,

Our worries are really better outside of our body than in.

And tonight before bed,

We practice blowing them out into the world.

And tomorrow,

If you find more worries come to visit you,

Make sure that you take those worries to somebody that you love and share them.

But right now,

I want to invite you to get right into bed and pull those covers up and put your hands on your heart as you close your eyes and prepare for a really good sleep.

And right before we say goodbye tonight,

Can you say,

I love you heart?

And just notice that heart beating inside of your chest.

You know,

There is nobody in the whole world with a heart just like yours.

I love you and I love your big heart so much.

Have a really good sleep with lots of happy dreams.

Good night.