Today's meditation is on sleep.
Let's begin.
Find a comfortable seat or laying down position.
Wherever you are,
You can gently close or lower your eyes.
Begin by bringing your awareness to your breath.
So noticing the breath entering your nose and what that feels like,
The sensation of it.
Noticing the breath leaving your body through your nose.
Noticing what it feels like to pause,
To rest,
To allow yourself the grace of these next few moments.
Keep focusing on your breath.
And as we begin,
Letting your breath be easy,
Finding a normal and natural pace.
If your mind wanders through today's meditation,
Know that that is perfectly normal.
And it is actually this quiet quality of silent contemplation or observation of thoughts that improves our health and well-being,
Not meditation itself.
Notice what it feels like to have stopped.
To invite in some silence and some stillness into these moments before you go to sleep.
We all have a place inside us that is still,
That is quiet.
And our breath is a really easy and beautiful way to connect with that place.
The breathing technique that we are going to use for today's meditation is called the 4-7-8 breathing.
So it works like this.
So inhale through your nose for a count of four.
Then you will hold at the top for a count of seven.
And then you'll exhale really slowly for a count of eight.
I will count you for the first round.
So breathing in for 1,
2,
3,
4.
Holding at the top for 7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
And then exhaling for a count of 8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
So inhaling through the nose for a count of four,
Holding at the top for seven,
And then exhaling for eight.
Continue with this style of breathing at your own pace with your own counts.
There is no right or wrong in meditation.
Meditation is simply connecting with your breath,
Which you're doing right now.
So as you continue with that style of breathing,
I'm going to repeat three mantras for you.
As I say them out loud,
You have a choice.
You can either just hear them and listen and take them in,
Or you can repeat them silently to yourself after I say them.
Keep breathing.
Following the four,
Seven,
Eight counts.
I am calm and peaceful now that my day is done.
I am breathing slowly and deeply.
Everything is calm in this moment.
I am calm and peaceful now that my day is done.
I am breathing slowly and deeply.
Everything is calm at this moment.
After your final exhale,
Just take a deep breath in and let it out.
It might feel good for you to now come out of this meditation by opening your eyes and looking around,
Or you may want to keep your eyes closed and drift off to peaceful sleep.
Whatever it is,
Tune into this quality of stillness that is with you and accessible through the breath always.
Remember,
You are doing it right.
Thank you for meditating with me today.
