MA 48 Sleep Talk-Down Guided Meditation

This track, scripted specifically to help you sleep better, is ideal for practice at bedtime. Follow the guidance to calm your mind and improve your sleep with this meditation from the Thai Theravada tradition that follows a modernized interpretation of Boran Kammatthana. This starlight-themed meditation starts with a sitting meditation and ends with the option to lie down and surrender into sleep.

Transcript

So,

If you haven't already done so,

You might like to settle yourself comfortably for meditation.

Slowly allow your eyelids to grow heavy and droop until your eyes are gently closed.

And you might adjust your body into a completely comfortable position.

Even if you're having a difficult time sleeping,

You should start out in a sitting position for meditation,

Only later letting your body slip down into a lying position when you're ready to go to sleep.

When we breathe in,

We breathe in peace.

When we breathe out,

We recognise a progressive drowsiness that pulls our body down into our supporting cushions or mattress.

For now we keep our awareness on our breathing and breathe in with ease.

No tension,

No trying.

Just a natural easiness in and out,

And we may notice that with each breath out,

We feel a little more relaxed.

We let our breath travel down to the full extent of our lungs,

Filling our lungs right up.

We might hold the breath at the deepest point just for a moment,

Noting the position of this point,

Before letting it flow out as we exhale.

We connect with the relaxed,

Easy feeling as we return to our normal rhythm of breathing.

At this point you might imagine that the ceiling and roof of the building where you're meditating together with all the clouds,

Gradually disappear to reveal a bible black but starry night sky.

So the beautiful night sky is clear,

With the moon softly lighting its own corner of the sky.

So on this magical,

Peaceful night,

Although you are alone,

But you feel safe beneath the velvety calmness of the night sky.

Noticing the multitude of twinkling stars shining down on you,

And the soft dark night blanketing you in warmth and peace.

The stars you see may be millions of miles away,

The further ones dimly lit,

The closer ones shining brightly down on you.

You know that as you look into the night,

You are looking deep into galaxy upon galaxy,

Beyond time and beyond measure.

And beyond what you can see are a myriad other stars,

Galaxies beyond those,

A rich and infinite expanse of planets,

Nebulas and stars.

And dwarfed by their grandeur you allow yourself to melt away into the starlight,

Becoming at one with that starlight,

As if there's no separation between you and this wondrous galaxy.

And as you just continue now to relax,

The soothing softness of the starlight begins to dissolve and melt away,

Every remaining ounce of the tension stored up from the day and all those leftover tensions will gradually melt away underneath the pure starlight glow.

As sensations of your deepening relaxation begin to wash through every muscle and nerve,

As the starlight continues to relax every part of you towards inner calm.

You can imagine various parts of you becoming ready to sleep like a baby,

As you allow yourself to go down and down into serenity,

While you imagine being touched by beautiful,

Soothing rays of starlight,

Full of that pure essence of deep sleep.

And at this point you might sense the promise of forthcoming sleep,

Now gently loosening and clearing away all the tensions across the crown of your head,

Your lightly tingling scalp,

Crossing your hairline and flowing like a tide of warmth or a wave of pure relaxation,

Down and down through your softening forehead.

The relaxation spreads softly across your eyelids,

As if all those tiny eye muscles feel themselves releasing their tension.

In this way you can imagine the relaxing starlight,

Gently alleviating any tension in the smaller muscles and nerves across your face,

And your features through your cheeks,

Under your nose and around your mouth.

Now the tide of relaxation makes its way all the way down through the jaw as the miracle of your own body's relaxation response continues down through your throat and through the muscles of your neck,

With a soft sensation of release as you let go.

You can sense the tension drain from your head,

From the upper vertebrae,

Down through the neck muscles as you welcome in the spacious sensations of ease as you sense or see starlight now loosening and untangling any tension in the tendons of your shoulders and shoulder blades.

The starlight continues to bring all of these wonderfully pure sensations of total release all the way down through your chest as tension is released from your lungs,

Breathing freely and calmly,

With this smooth transition into your most relaxed state.

And now your upper arms are relaxing and letting that relaxation flow down past your elbows,

And now it's your forearms,

Your wrists and your hands that melt into these restful sensations with a sublime sense of ease as more and more parts of your body absorb the calming,

Soothing starlight,

Lulling you gently towards sleep.

Meanwhile the shining starlight of your perfect relaxation continues to flow with waves of relaxation with a healing purity through your resting torso.

And now since you're doing really well,

You can just continue to imagine this miracle of pure starlight wrapping and enfolding you so lovingly with a sense of serene safety,

Bringing your deepest sensation of comfort all the way down through your back as you feel ease and health and relaxation,

All the way down into your very core,

As this starlight of sleep and healing relaxation reaches down into your tummy with each new breath.

And now this awareness continues to bring healing peace,

Always further down towards your core essence,

Continuing to perfuse us with the soothing light of total sleep down through your legs,

Gently cleansing away every tension and every care.

And with an immense sense of inner calm,

The flow of relaxation continues down,

Past both knees into your lower legs and along the entire length of your feet,

Relaxing you so completely as these pleasing sensations of ease and comfort reach the soles of your feet and the very tips of all ten resting toes.

So by this point you will find that relaxation has spread to every resting fiber of your being and every reposing nerve and cell throughout your body,

Your body feeling ready to curl up within this feeling and aching to drift off into a most peaceful,

Relaxed and wonderful sleep of the just.

As you are now resting completely and embody this important time for your rest,

Recovery and healing,

You can invite the starlight in turn to help relax our state of mind.

So we allow the starlight to disperse our conscious thoughts,

Simply dissipating them like clouds before the breeze and leaving the space for your mind to relax.

Or any issues that seem too big for the starlight to dissolve,

Rather like your personal backpack full of stones,

Permit yourself finally to put this down and take that weight of your mind,

As if each of those stones represented something that happened anytime in your near or distant past,

Any anger,

Negativity or regrets.

So while softening any attachments you might feel that you're removing each stone one by one from the backpack,

Taking a moment to realize the weight of each and then carefully placing it to one side,

Until not one single stone remains for you to carry,

Leaving you emotionally unburdened and unencumbered.

Because right now,

Since you are instead releasing yourself into that deep sleep,

All you need to do is surrender yourself to that rejuvenating sense of the infinite inner space,

As you drift into that much deserved miracle of soothing rest more and more.

You allow the thoughts to fade like a memory,

You fade into the unlimited space of the starlight,

While feeling at one with the present moment,

Under this wondrous illuminated starry sky,

With no past and no future,

But only the now.

And you might reconnect back to the feeling of an ideal night's wonderfully deep sleep,

Perhaps back in our younger days when it seemed so easy just to fall asleep,

Because our body knew how to access those wonderful,

Cozy sensations that would carry us off into sweet dreams,

Blanketed by deep sleep that replenished our awareness.

At this point you might simply allow some of those sleepier thoughts to travel freely,

Transitioning your responses to some of those much dreamier,

Calmer states in a natural progression towards your deeper sleep.

And throughout you remain as light as a cherry blossom,

And yet as grounded and stable as the roots of a majestic tree.

Remember if thoughts about the day continue to arise in your awareness,

Replaying themselves like a movie on repeat,

You simply take mental note before slowly releasing them.

If at any point you become overwhelmed by thoughts or feelings,

You simply remember your anchor,

The contact of your mind with the centre of your body.

If any sounds break through into your bubble,

Then you can just let them flow on by.

As we turn now to our visualization,

To help us remain mindful and reach beyond the events of the day,

Within our awareness we connect our calming mind with that wonderful sense of drifting or floating,

Or just move away through that enchanting starlight and imagining within our mind's eye a soft and resplendent starlight,

Illuminating you from the inside,

As if your body were just an empty structure with a gossamer thin outline.

And for a moment we slowly internalize the awareness of the mind and let it rest inside,

Softly and gently within the empty space of our body.

We do this slowly and softly,

There's no need to rush this relocation of the awareness at all.

We let the feeling become soft and still,

Somewhere inside the abdomen,

Or if you feel more comfortable,

Anywhere else inside the body.

Let the awareness remain there for the time being,

With the lightness of a tiny feather floating down from the sky and touching upon a water surface,

Without even disturbing the mirror-like stillness.

For now we maintain this soft awareness of the mind,

Inside the body,

Comfortably and continuously.

If we like we might visualize the image of an everyday object,

Like the sun,

The full moon,

Or even a shining star,

Whatever we feel the most comfortable with.

We let the image remain in the mind naturally,

So nothing else will have a chance to interrupt,

While retaining a sense of comfort and without worrying about the passing time.

If the visualization leads to discomfort,

We can reapply the mind more gently at any time.

When distractions occur,

We just bring our mind back to the visualization until our mind starts to feel settled.

If there are thoughts still remaining in the mind,

We can do our best to ignore them.

If ignoring them seems ineffective,

Instead we can silently repeat that traditional mantra to ourselves,

With the words,

Samma Arahang.

Samma Arahang.

Samma Arahang.

Over and over again,

As we maintain our mind in meditation for a few more moments in silence.

And if it's sleep that we are particularly interested in,

We might instead make use of the mantra,

I am willing to let go.

I am willing to let go.

I am willing to let go.

Letting go of the contents of the mind is not always easy,

But it begins with a sense of willingness.

So,

As we move through the rest of this practice,

Be patient and compassionate with yourself.

You can regard the practice of letting go as a softening of attitudes or an unfolding journey.

So we continue with our meditation,

Calming our mind down towards the center,

Either for focus or for sleep,

For a few more moments in silence,

Before we come to the appropriate time.

So we continue to keep our mind on track at the center of the body,

The whole of the time.

If we find our mind slipping away onto other things,

Each time we realize we just bring our mind back again each time.

If our inner object disappears,

We can conjure up a new one.

But if it changes,

Then we just follow and observe the way in which that inner object transforms,

With no need to change it back again.

Some people who have had trouble getting to sleep,

Claim that they've tried everything to get more sleep,

Following advice like spending time winding down before bed,

Or curbing their screen time,

But still they struggle.

The problem is that when it comes to insomnia,

Unlike most other areas of our life,

The more we try to sleep,

The less likely we are to succeed.

This is because sleep is a passive process like breathing or digesting.

It cannot be controlled and nothing we can do can force it to happen.

However,

As soon as we stop trying,

Sleep will naturally follow.

But not trying to sleep is extremely hard,

Especially when you recognize the need to rest.

And to use reverse psychology,

You can simply embrace just being awake,

Or just being okay with the guilt about being awake.

And in that way,

We will gradually reduce any pressure we may feel to fall asleep.

The paradox of intention was recognized by Viktor Frankl who said,

Sleep is like a dove,

Which has landed near one's hand,

And stays there as long as one does not pay any attention to it.

But the moment one attempts to grab at it,

It quickly flies away.

We can also breathe more gently,

Or more intentionally,

Slowing down our breathing in a way that not only helps us feel calmer generally,

But also reduces the energy levels we have to deal with at night.

If you've developed an elaborate wind-down routine that takes up your whole evening but doesn't actually lead to a good night's sleep,

Maybe it's time to simplify it.

If you look forward to having a bath at the end of the day,

Then restrict yourself just to that enjoyable experience before bed,

Making sure you only spend time doing relaxing and enjoyable things that set the scene for a restful night's sleep.

Another quick way to counteract stress hormones is to smile yourself to sleep.

Smiling releases hormones that promote relaxation.

As you turn the light out at night,

Try to think of something funny and smile to yourself in the dark.

Even if you wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep,

A smile will help.

It doesn't even have to be a genuine heartfelt smile.

Even a fake smile is enough to send a message to the brain that reduces stress and lowers your heart rate.

One of the most time-honored wind-down routines before going to sleep is to recollect all the good deeds that you've done throughout the day,

Or to spread loving-kindness from your center with the thought that it will help us to sleep in peace,

Have only sweet dreams and eventually wake refreshed.

Up to this point,

You may have been sitting to meditate,

But at this juncture you may decide whether you're going to continue meditating or surrender to sleep.

If you want to meditate,

Then create brightness at your center.

If you want to transition from meditation into sleep,

Then gradually lay yourself down to go to sleep,

While letting your awareness remain at your center.

So going back to our starlight relaxation,

We pick up on the positive feeling of the things we are proud of having accomplished in our everyday life.

By connecting selectively with those positive energies,

Inwardly we'll attract wholesome and restful states almost effortlessly.

The real miracle of healthy sleep is allowing ourselves to become more open to everything that helps and supports our healing and rejuvenation of body and mind.

The center of the body is the key to this,

Because it is where our mind falls asleep and wakes up.

It is this point that is pivotal for our dreams.

So we can make our nightly slumber easier by meeting the resting mind halfway at the center of the body,

Unfamiliarizing the mind with this point whether sitting up or lying down.

Within these happy stretches of our deep sleep,

We'll have the confidence that we'll greet the new day,

Calmer and fully rested,

Because we have allowed ourselves all this replenishing time to recharge deeply from the inside.

As soon as you choose to lay your head on that familiar nightly pillow,

You know that all you have to do is center your body and cast your mind back to this glimmering starlight for our very own miracle of sleep,

To wash over us with its cleansing,

Restful tide.

Leaving us replenished as we rest and sleep,

Because we're always learning how to sleep better every time we allow ourselves to embrace and be embraced by the ocean of peace energy within.

An enchanting sense of calm in our heavenly inner world,

Which continues to carry us gently,

Safely,

Completely,

Entering deeper and deeper within the sanctuary of our slumber of that starlight's blissful calm,

As a deep sense of an entire universe shimmering with soothing starlight,

Lightening all our loads.

So,

May you always be revitalized,

Rejuvenated and deeply healed throughout this sacred sleep time.

May this really be the time to rest deeply,

As the beautiful starlight lights the way toward your growing contentment,

As you continue to attract the most positive of things,

As you reach toward your most contented replenishment.

While feeling wondrously connected to the universe,

But yet deeply connected to the physical world,

You realize that you have reached your sweet spot of equilibrium.

Anytime the mind starts to wander,

Just gently and compassionately invite it back to the center again,

Whenever necessary.

Know that you are safe,

As you slowly drift towards the land of naught,

Sinking deeper,

Releasing the day completely,

As you rest and restore for a little longer now in silence.

Thank you.

.