Hey,
It's Doug.
If you're anything like me,
My mind loves the quiet and calmness of bedtime to begin to think about everything other than getting some sleep.
It's like the lack of stimulation causes my brain to produce its own stimuli,
And it's always the type I don't actually want.
Tonight,
Though,
We're going to use the power of mindfulness to alleviate the mind of its worries and allow us to get some deep rest.
As always,
Get yourself as comfortable as possible.
Do what you gotta do,
Move what you gotta move.
And then when you're ready,
Start by becoming aware of how your body feels in this bed and how comfortable you are.
Notice how your body feels in this lying down position.
Maybe for the first time become aware of how your body feels touching the sheets or the duvet or your pajamas.
Notice how your weight slowly sinks into the bed below you.
Let go of any tension or need to hold yourself up and simply let gravity just pull you down into that bed.
Each exhale,
Just sinking deeper and deeper into the mattress below you.
Take a nice,
Slow,
Deep breath now.
Fill up those lungs,
Hold it for a moment,
And then exhale through the mouth.
Release any tension,
Any stress.
One more time together.
Slow,
Deep inhale through the nostrils.
Exhale out any tension and allow yourself to sink into that bed just a bit more.
One on your own now.
Great job.
Now gently bring your awareness into the present.
You can do that by noticing the sounds around you.
Sometimes sounds can really frustrate us at night,
But tonight we're just observing.
There's no judgment,
No analysis,
No narrative of why that sound is being made.
Simply noticing.
Becoming aware of the soundscape that is around you.
Maybe it's the hum of a car outside.
Maybe it's the rustling of the sheets.
It doesn't matter.
Just becoming aware of the things your ear is quite rightly picking up through the magic and the privilege that is sound.
All these things just adding to your experience.
As you breathe naturally,
Maybe you notice how your breath sounds and just being comfortable with whatever your ears pick up.
As you continue to breathe naturally,
Begin to notice how your body feels.
Scanning yourself from head to toe,
Observing any areas of tightness or discomfort.
Maybe places of relaxation and calm.
Just like with the sound,
Just acknowledging without the need to change or resist them or build a narrative about why.
You're just an observer tonight.
Now bring your attention to your breath.
Observing the gentle rise and fall of your chest or belly.
Noticing the direction of travel on the inhale and the reversal of that direction on the exhale.
The breath just falling into its natural pattern and you just watching it.
Like a person on the shore watching waves come in and going out with no control over the pace or even the direction but enjoying the show nonetheless.
Become aware now of the cool air coming in through the nose and the warm air exiting as you exhale.
This beautiful ebb and flow of breath.
Rhythmical,
Calm and natural.
If the mind goes back to any of the concerns,
You just gently guide it back.
Noticing what you hear,
What you feel or even your breath.
This is your moment.
The time you've carved out for relaxation and letting go.
Remind yourself of that.
Let's move now to relax any tension from the body.
Starting with those toes.
Each exhale,
Imagine the muscles of your toes softening,
The skin around it actually softening and the toes themselves getting heavy.
And then when you're ready,
Do the same to the feet.
Moving now to the ankles and letting that awareness and heaviness move to the calves and the knees and then to the hips.
At this point noticing your legs and lower half of your body as soft as they can be.
Like butter melting into your bed.
We continue this journey up the body,
Bringing our attention to our abdomen and chest and with the next exhale,
Switching off each and every muscle in this area.
Muscles soft,
Tendons soft,
Even skin is soft.
The awareness moves into the shoulders and the arms.
The exhale making it soft,
Calm,
Relaxed.
The next inhale driving up towards the neck and the head and the exhale here,
Letting it all calm down.
Feeling the muscles in the neck and in the face.
Give in and just relax.
Noticing your jaw,
Your forehead,
Your eyelids and even your mouth.
All surrendering.
Giving up the need to hold any tension.
The need to do anything.
Letting all just go soft.
Be dragged down by gravity.
And as you do,
Noticing how your head is heavier and can sink into that pillar a little bit more with each exhale.
Your next inhale brings awareness of this entire body.
Heavier than it has been all day.
More relaxed than it has been all day.
Slowly giving in to sleep.
Feeling the warmth,
The support,
The peace of your relaxed state.
You remind yourself you have nowhere to be and nothing to do.
Being grateful for your bed,
For this relaxed state and the ability to be safe.
Just allowing the body to do what it needs to do.
To hear what it needs to hear.
To feel what it needs to feel.
And be where it needs to be.
This is your rest.
This is your place for sleep.
All that is left to do is let it in.
Sleep well.
