In order to get to sleep,
You have to realize that sleep isn't anything that you can get to.
It's not a destination.
It's not something or somewhere that you have to struggle to get to.
Sleep is a natural function of your body.
Sleep is necessary to renew you,
To repair you,
To give you the rest and relaxation that you need and long for.
Trying to get to sleep is one of the problems that many of us find affecting our attempts to fall asleep.
Trying to get to sleep is something that you need to let go of.
Sleep is a function of the body,
But it's a function of the mind to focus on striving to get to sleep.
The body knows what it needs.
The body knows how to sleep.
So we have to get out of our minds and into our bodies.
You have to get out of your mind and into your body.
So before going to bed,
You need to wind down.
Put aside any tasks that are focused on the activity of your mind.
Put screens away.
Turn the television off and do something that allows for you to begin the process of relaxing.
So that as you get to bed,
You're already beginning to give yourself permission to leave everything else behind as you get into the bed and fall asleep.
So whatever's on your mind,
Let it go.
You bring your attention into your body.
You focus on your body.
One of the best ways to do this is to focus on your breathing.
Focus on your breathing and on your breath.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Breathing in and breathing out.
And as you focus on that simple rhythm of your breathing,
Any thoughts that arise in your mind,
You simply let them go.
It's okay to acknowledge them.
Don't allow your attention to be drawn away into those thoughts.
Instead,
Bring your attention right back to your body and to your breathing.
Notice that as you do this,
You begin already to feel more relaxed.
Feel that sense of deep tiredness begin to wrap itself around you gently.
Your body begins to relax.
A sure way of being able to recognise this is just to feel that heaviness,
That weight of relaxation in your muscles.
Just now as you let that tension go.
Often a good place to start is just around the eyes.
You can notice your eyelids getting heavy.
Or if they're already closed,
Then you can sense as they flutter just a little.
As you fall more deeply into a state of relaxation.
And then you feel that heaviness spread through your face,
Down through your cheeks and your jaw and into your neck.
And across your shoulders,
Down through your arms,
That deep sense of heavy relaxation.
And before you know it,
Your body is just drifting into a deep and heavy relaxed state.
Finding its own level of rest and calm.
And your body knows how to relax.
And you just let your body do the work while you drift into sleep.
There's nothing difficult about this.
There's no magic.
It's just you letting your body do the work while you drift away into sleep.
There's no secret.
It's just a case of drifting out of your mind,
Letting thoughts go and bringing your focus into your body to learn from your body.
How to let go and how to let sleep come to you now.
And as the sounds and the words continue,
Allow yourself to drift away into sleep.
Knowing that by giving yourself permission to let your thoughts go and your body relax,
You can enter into a deep sense of stillness and relaxation.
And you can allow yourself to fall into a deep,
Peaceful and refreshing sleep.
Now.
