Hi and welcome to this 4-7-8 breathing for sleep meditation.
You don't need to do anything right now.
There's nothing to fix,
Nothing to solve.
And nowhere that you need to get to.
Just allow your body to begin arriving.
Into stillness.
Into support.
And to rest.
If it feels comfortable.
Gently close your eyes.
And if not.
.
.
You can simply soften your gaze.
Take a moment.
Feel the surface beneath you.
The pillow.
The weight of your body being held.
That be enough for now?
Tonight we're going to use a simple breathing rhythm.
Called the 4-7-8 breath.
It's a way of gently guiding your nervous system out of alertness and into rest.
Not forcing sleep.
But inviting your body to remember.
How to soften.
When we are stressed,
Overwhelmed,
Or overstimulated,
Our breath becomes shallow and fast.
And the body receives that as a message.
Stay alert.
Something might be wrong.
But when we slow the breath down.
And extend the exhale.
We send a very different message.
A message of safety.
A message that says you can let go now.
There is nothing you need to earn in order to rest.
Your body already knows how to do this.
We'll begin by simply noticing your natural breath.
Without changing anything yet.
Just observing.
Feel the air moving in.
And out.
I'll gently bring your awareness to the inhale through your nose.
And the exhale through your mouth.
Softening the jaw.
Softening the tongue.
Unclenching the space between the teeth.
We begin.
Inhale through the nose.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold the breath.
One,
Two,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Exhale slowly through the mouth.
Eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
Let your body relax a little more.
Inhale 1 2 3 4 hold the breath 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 exhale seven,
Six,
Five.
Forward.
Nothing to do.
Just letting go.
Inhale… 2 3 4 hold 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 exhale 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Notice if the body feels even slightly heavier now.
Inhale.
.
.
One.
3 Four.
Hold the breath.
One.
Two.
3.
.
.
4.
.
.
5,
6,
7,
8,
Exhale 8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1 You don't need to finish anything tonight.
You only need to rest.
Inhale 1 2 3 4 hold 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Exhale 8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1 Now you can let the breath return to its natural rhythm.
Accounting.
No effort.
Just breathing as your body chooses.
Let your attention soften into the body.
The forehead.
Eyes.
The cheeks.
The jaw.
Let everything around the eyes soften and sink back.
The neck and shoulders begin to release.
As if they're finally allowed to stop holding everything together.
The chest softens.
The belly softens.
And with every exhale.
.
.
You were letting go of one more layer of the day.
There is nowhere you need to go now.
Nothing you need to solve.
Nothing you need to prepare for just this moment.
Just this breath.
Just this body being held.
If sleep comes.
Allow it.
If it doesn't allow that to There is nothing to achieve here.
I'll leave you here Let your breath guide you deeper into rest
