Relaxing into Sleep Meditation

This meditation can help us to access a relaxed attentiveness, or alternately, serve as a pathway to ease-filled sleep. Note there is no bell at the end.

Transcript

The following meditation is led by Tara Brach,

Meditation teacher,

Psychologist and author.

This guided practice is specifically geared towards relaxation,

Letting go,

Really resting with ease.

Become aware of this body breathing.

Begin to extend the in-breath,

Lengthening and deepening,

So that you are filling the whole chest and lungs.

So breathing in,

Deep in-breath and a slow out-breath,

Slowly releasing,

Letting go,

Letting go.

And again a deep full in-breath,

Expanding the chest,

Filling the lungs.

And a slow out-breath,

Evenly,

Smoothly releasing,

So you can feel the sensations of the breath as you exhale.

Long deep full in-breath,

You might begin counting with the in-breath to six counts.

And matching the out-breath,

Six counts out.

And if that feels like too long,

It is quite fine to do four counts,

But let the in-breath and out-breath be matched.

Breathing in this way.

Sense with the in-breath an opening to receive,

A yielding to the breath.

And with the out-breath a releasing,

A letting go,

A relaxing outward.

And a slow out-breath.

Continuing with this long deep in-breath,

Slow out-breath.

You might find that as you are breathing you can bring a slight smile to the mouth and soften the eyes.

And if the mind wanders,

You notice you have lost track of the breathing,

Just gently come back again,

Begin again.

You might sense with the in-breath how much it is possible to soften and open and receive.

And with the out-breath how much it is possible to release as if you are following the breath out into the space around you,

Relaxing outward,

Letting go.

Continuing with this full in-breath and full out-breath.

And sensing you can bring the breath and the attention to the small muscles in the face,

Softening,

Relaxing.

Letting the tongue fill the lower palate,

Relaxing at the root of the tongue.

Continuing with the breathing and sensing the possibility of relaxing more at the shoulders.

With the in-breath opening,

Receiving,

Feeling the space inside the shoulders and with the out-breath letting go,

Letting go.

Bringing the breath and the attention to the hands,

Letting the hands be soft,

Relaxing and letting go.

Feeling the breath and the awareness at the heart so that as you breathe in you open and receive,

Feeling the aliveness that is there and with the out-breath the letting go,

Releasing,

Letting go.

Feeling the breath deep in the torso,

Letting it fill the belly with the in-breath and with the out-breath the letting go,

Letting go,

Letting go.

Widening to sense the whole body breathing so with the in-breath you are filling every cell of the body,

Opening,

Receiving,

And with the out-breath releasing,

Letting go.

And now letting go of any controlling of the breath,

Allowing the breath to resume in its natural rhythm,

A relaxed attentiveness,

Aware of the gentle movement of the breath,

The sensations in the body,

The sounds around you.

Reaching back and just resting in this wakeful openness,

Letting life be just as it is,

Moment to moment to moment.

If the mind gets lost in distracting thoughts let your practice simply be to re-relax,

Re-relax open the attention,

Aware of the sounds that are here,

The background sound of silence.

Simply scan the body,

Perhaps re-relaxing the shoulders a bit,

Softening your hands,

Relaxing your heart,

Relax back,

Resting in the awareness that is right here,

Letting life be just as it is.

Imagining things that might happen in your wildest dreams outside in a multi-kind of place outside of.

You might ask yourself if it's possible to relax and let go just a little bit more.

Gently scanning to notice the habitual places of contraction,

Of tightness,

And with kindness and gentleness to soften in a bit.

Namaste.

Reviews

You are my favorite teacher! I have been listening to you on your website, Spotify and now here! Thanks for everything

I would like to receive past meditations from this therapist.

You just gave me the best experience by this meditation 🙏🏻

Very nice. Tara’s voice works so well without music in the background.

This meditation eased my anxiety & helped me to relax to sleep.

Exceptionally helpful! No more sleepLESS nights! VASTly appreciated by me and ALL who interact with me🥰! Namaste, ahimsa

“Relax Outwards”
I literally felt a shift in my brain.
Stellar meditation✨
Thank you Tara💜

Amazing thank you so much for your knowledge sharing 😊

This meditation helps me get to sleep every night now and I use the techniques at other times to calm the body and mind. So peaceful and wise.

Always love her meditations especially when in a lot of physical pain

I just connect so deeplu with your audios (I enjoy your podcast specially the addoction one. LOVE your teachigs. Greetingd from Spain

Wow. Incredibly relaxing. Thank you for this. Highly recommend:)

Such a relaxing meditation, I could have fallen asleep before it ended. Beautiful meditation. Thank you

Always the best for inner silence and finding peace…

I feel better this morning. Actually began my day listening to a talk about happiness. Thanks

You never fail to help me
Thank you for a terrific meditation

I like her. In fact I've been listening to this exact recording repeatedly from her podcast.

Love this Tara. Would love a version of direct, clear audio. 🙏🏼♥️

I find this mediation very helpful and typically fall asleep before it is over

I love this meditation & return to it regularly. Thanks 😊