This gentle guided meditation exercise will help to relax your mind in preparation for sleep.
In it,
We will imagine that your mind is like a river and that your thoughts are the water,
They can sometimes flow turbulently.
This gentle exercise will help you to slow your thoughts and relax.
Imagine you are sitting on the green bank of a clear river,
A tree casts its shade over you and the air is rich and fresh,
Upstream the river flows under the shadow of trees and the water looks dark and green downstream,
It runs through several green meadows,
Birds dip and swoop over the river,
The river flows calmly,
So clear that you can see the swaying rafts of waterweed and the fine gravelly bottom,
This is your mind when its at its calmest,
Filled with clarity and gentle thoughts,
In the sunlight,
The river gleams and glints like gold,
These kinds of thoughts are pleasant ones,
Exciting ones,
The anticipation of good things happening,
Now imagine a storm suddenly rises,
The sky darkens to iron grey,
The trees sway in the wind,
Rain begins hitting the water like pebbles,
Up in the hills,
The rain has been falling for hours and now it rushes down,
Frothing,
Tumbling,
Churning up the riverbed,
When your thoughts are like this,
They are as wild and stormy as the water,
They are unconserved no purpose,
Save creating greater anxiety and fear,
Caught in the storm,
People cannot think or concentrate on anything except surviving the storm,
However,
There are ways to train your mind and quiet the storms,
Focus on the river,
As if you had the power to stop the storm,
To calm the swollen waters,
Watch as the skies clear,
The clouds melting back,
Allowing the sun to shine through,
Raindrops drip from the trees,
And the scent of wet grass rises in the air,
Birds begin to sing,
River flows gently again,
And is clear,
You can see down to the bottom,
The fine gravel,
The faint drift of sand as it is drawn along by the current,
These thoughts are the calm ones,
The joyful ones,
When you focus upon them,
Your mind becomes crystal clear,
Like the water,
This state of mind will allow you to relax,
To sleep,
And is good for you,
Both mentally and physically.
Say now to yourself,
Thoughts are only thoughts,
I live in the present,
Not in the past,
Or in the future,
I am aware of myself,
My mind and body throughout the day,
I breathe slowly and i relax myself,
I take notice of my surroundings to ease my mind,
When a storm begins in my mind,
And i begin to lose control of my thoughts,
I acknowledge them,
But release them knowing they are only thoughts,
I observe my thoughts as i observe the waters of a river,
I am not part of them,
I sit upon the bank and watch them,
I do not allow my thoughts to draw me into the river,
As i watch,
I look for those thoughts i wish to have more of,
The good ones,
The happy ones,
The healthy ones,
The ones of excitement and anticipation of good things to come,
All of us have the ability to retrain our minds,
We just need to be patient and kind with ourselves,
Even a moment of peacefulness,
Of calm is beneficial,
We begin by simply fixing our mind upon something that fills us with peace,
With joy,
It might be a memory,
It might be something you deeply want to happen in the future,
Whatever it is,
You will know when you are within that wonderful feeling,
There is a warmth and brightness to it,
Now simply watch the peaceful beauty of the river flowing past,
Evening is coming down gently,
The sky blushes with soft colour,
The air is still and smells rich and calm,
Your thoughts are peaceful and comforting,
And clear as the water that flows past,
Let yourself rest within the kindness and slowly drift into sleep.
