End of the Day Meditation

During this meditation you will have the opportunity to reflect on your day and also experience deep relaxation, in so doing, cultivating a feeling of acceptance for both the joys and the challenges of your day. You will ask your heart what went well. Through breath, you will let go of the experiences of today that no longer serve you. This meditation concludes with a body scan than will leave you relaxed and ready to move with a gentle ease into the world of sleep.

Transcript

Good evening.

It is my pleasure to spend this time with you.

Often we arrive at the end of the day with a certain level of unease,

With an underlying feeling that somehow the day did not meet our expectations.

Perhaps we didn't get everything on our to-do list complete.

Perhaps we had an interaction at work or at home that left us feeling uncomfortable and with some emotional residue.

Maybe we have spent too much time on technology and too little time connecting with our friends and family.

We may find ourselves struggling with mild or strong emotions.

We may notice that our thoughts are busy ruminating about the day or planning for tomorrow.

For all these reasons and many others,

Sometimes the process of unwinding and drifting off to sleep can be a challenge.

This meditation,

Whilst not a formal sleep meditation or a yoga nidra,

Is designed to give you the opportunity to reflect on your day and also experience deep relaxation.

Through this reflection and relaxation we will cultivate a feeling of acceptance for both the joys and the challenges of our day.

We will have the opportunity to ask our hearts what went well and through breath we will let go of the experiences or events of today that no longer serve us.

Through this mindful reflection of our day we may put our day to bed,

So to speak,

And then we ourselves can move in a relaxed way and with a gentle ease into our own bed,

Ready for the comfort and restoration of sleep.

So let us begin by finding a comfortable position.

This may be seated or lying down,

Whatever feels good for you this evening.

Bringing to your awareness the idea that right now,

In this space,

You are free from harm,

You are safe.

Noticing the elements in your environment that provide safety,

Perhaps the door,

The roof,

Your possessions,

Your bed.

Allowing this feeling of safeness to sink in,

Breathing into it for a moment.

Closing down your eyes now if you like,

Shifting your awareness to your internal landscape,

The landscape of your breath,

Body and heart.

Moving our attention now towards our breath,

Noticing the air as it enters your nostrils,

Noticing the air as it leaves your mouth,

Noticing the rise and fall of your chest,

Noticing the soft expanse of your belly as the air flows in and out.

Just spending a few more moments here,

Being curious about your breath,

What part is capturing your attention.

If your mind has wandered,

That's okay.

Give your thoughts what they need and when it feels right for you,

Return to the sound of my voice.

Seeing now if you can soften a little on each exhale as if the air carries tension from your body.

Softening your shoulders from the inside out,

Softening your face,

Softening your tummy as best you can,

Breathing into any places of tightness or tension.

Noticing that with each inhale you are receiving fresh oxygen.

And with each exhale there is an opportunity to let go.

I wonder if there is something from your day that you would like to let go of now,

Something that no longer serves you.

Perhaps you had an interaction at home or at work that has left you feeling uneasy.

As you exhale,

Can you imagine the essence of this interaction leaving your body,

Mind and body.

Perhaps you are caught in cycles of planning for tomorrow.

Can you leave this now,

Leaving this until tomorrow.

As you exhale,

Let the planning of tomorrow go.

Spending a few moments now focusing on your exhale,

Seeing if you can make it smooth and slow,

Cultivating these feelings of letting go.

Can you feel thankful for this opportunity to let go of the parts of today that no longer serve you.

Can you bask in this felt sense of letting go.

Turning your attention now to your body.

Noticing the feel of your body as it touches the ground,

The chair,

Your bed,

Whatever surface you rest upon.

Can you relax your body a little more,

Allowing the ground to support you.

Softening into the idea of the earth taking your weight.

Surrendering,

Melting,

Letting go.

Feeling safe in this support.

Letting this feeling of safeness wash over you,

Like a gentle wave washes over the sand.

Right here,

Right now,

All is well.

When you are ready,

Bringing your awareness once more to your breath.

Noticing the way your body moves when you breathe.

Relaxing into the simplicity of your breath.

Feeling safe in the knowing that your body breathes on its own.

You are being breathed.

Resting now for a moment in the safeness of your breath.

Moving your attention now to your heart and the area around it.

As your heart beats,

It is pumping blood with vital oxygen and nutrients around your body.

Perhaps you can feel your heart beating.

Is it soft,

Strong,

Fast or slow?

How is your heart feeling right now?

Big,

Small,

Open,

Shy,

Tentative,

Abundant.

Perhaps you don't feel much at all.

Whatever your experience is,

This is okay.

Offering your heart a few gentle,

Soothing breaths.

Can you ask your heart what went well today?

Was there something that made it sing?

Was there something that made it feel warm?

Was there something that made it feel open?

Allowing you a few moments to hear the messages from your heart.

Remembering there is no right or wrong here.

We are just exploring the idea of allowing our heart to speak.

Feeling grateful now for the capacity of our heart,

For feeling love,

Joy and delight.

Feeling grateful also for its capacity to feel pain and sadness and for its ability to heal.

As we move now into a relaxing body scan,

Can you allow the healing capacity of the darkness that will soon surround you restore your natural state of balance?

I will guide you with the phrase relaxing,

But you may prefer to imagine another phrase,

For example,

Letting go or noticing.

During this body scan use my voice as a guide only.

Feel free to tap into your own wisdom and guidance.

And of course,

Feel free to drift off into the world of dreams if it pleases you.

So beginning with your feet,

Noticing their temperature,

Any sensations.

The soles of your feet,

Your toes,

Relaxing your feet,

Your lower legs,

Noticing sensations.

Shins,

Calves,

Relaxing your lower legs.

Your knees,

Noticing the front and the back of your knees.

Your upper legs,

Noticing sensations,

Contact with the chair or the ground.

Relaxing your upper legs.

Your pelvis and hips,

Imagining the bone softening.

Relaxing your pelvis and hips.

Your tummy,

Letting go of tension or worry.

Can you feel a softening?

Relaxing your tummy.

Relaxing your heart,

Lungs and chest,

Feeling the area soften and spread.

Your shoulders,

Imagining both shoulders relaxing from the inside out.

Relaxing your arms,

Allowing this feeling of warmth and contentment to spread to your hands and fingers.

Noticing the length of your entire spine,

Noticing it relax.

Relaxing your neck.

Relaxing your skull,

Feeling your whole head soften.

Relaxing your jaw.

Your tongue,

Letting it soften.

Your gums,

Your teeth,

Let the landscape of your mouth become soft.

Your lips,

Can you turn them slightly upwards into a faint smile?

Relaxing your cheeks and your cheekbones.

Your eyes,

Eyelids,

Eyeballs.

Relaxing your eyebrows and the space between them.

Relaxing your forehead.

Relaxing your brain,

Your thoughts,

Allowing a soft rhythm and flow.

Allowing your whole body to bask in this felt sense of relaxation.

Can this sense of relaxation seep further into your body?

Picturing your organs relaxing,

Your bones softening,

Your blood moving gently around your body.

Breathing this feeling of relaxation into your entire being.

May the darkness and the wisdom of the night soothe and caress your tired mind,

Body and heart so that it may waken you tomorrow,

Ready to embrace the infinite possibilities that it will be.

Rest well.

Reviews

A superb meditation teacher thank you! 🙏❤️🙏❗️

The beginning was really soothing!! Then I fell asleep 😌

Grateful 🙏🏼

It was 20 minutes, but I know I fell asleep before- that’s how relaxed this helped get me! And that slumber last for hours

Just right! Thank you ❤️

Beautiful winding down and soothing way to end the day. Thank you. 🙏🏻

Thank you for this! Refreshing approach, very relaxed for sleep now.

Helpful gentle calming meditation
Quality as always
Thank you

Bueatiful words
Thank you
Namesta

Perfect! As always!!

Nice wind down meditation. Thanks!

Great balance of background and guidance.

Effective! Thank you! Will be keeping this one as a regulat :)

Excellent meditation to end the day on.

Thank you! It was GREAT🙏🙏🙏

Soothing and reassuring...

Such a relaxing style of meditation for the end of the day. I really enjoyed this and will use it again. Thank you

I really appreciated the calm voice and for creating a space to switch off from the thoughts and to get back to being in the moment.. through the connection of the breath and body😀🙏🏼 Excellent 🌟

Lovely and very helpful! Thank you!