Hello and welcome to this mental relaxation for sleep guided meditation.
Perhaps sometimes you may wish that there was an off button for your mind.
An overly busy mind can halt us in many ways throughout our life and one of the main things a busy mind interrupts for millions of people around the world is a good night's sleep every single night.
Why is this so?
To answer this,
Let's relax your mind just a little bit right now.
I want you to imagine that your mind is represented by a river with waters that sometimes flow by slowly and other times very quickly.
The flow of the water depends on the weather as well as the time of year.
Your mind is the river and your thoughts are the water.
Let's observe.
How quickly is your river of your mind flowing right now?
How fast are the thoughts represented by water flowing in the river?
Just watch this flow as if you're sitting on a riverbank enjoying it.
Good.
Now just allow for the season to pass and the weather to change and watch your river change along with it.
The seasons represent your overall happiness in life and each season change can be viewed as beautiful.
Even the seasons that can be tough and the ones that are mild and the ones that are enjoyable.
The waters of the river represent your thoughts and when you focus your thoughts your river slows and becomes crystal clear.
Now picture birds and wildlife by your river.
With this water slowed,
The birds and the wildlife in the wildlife are able to see fish that they can catch to feed themselves and the fish can find sources of food because the water is slowed enough for bits of plant to settle on the water and soften and a place for bugs to land on the water for them to catch.
Now for a moment imagine a storm of thoughts is coming for your river.
See the waters rise and the wildlife begin to scurry.
The fish hide in safer areas and there are no bugs flying around.
The river is only rushing by a little faster now yet the storm is building.
The more thoughts you let into your mind,
The more the waters rush by.
It becomes a threatening river so quickly that you cannot sit on the bank and watch your river any longer.
You must seek shelter from the storm and this storm of thought has taken the ability to observe away from you.
It takes a while for the storm of thoughts to pass and even longer for the after effects of the storm to come.
In fact,
The waters continue to rush at high speeds for several days.
This is what happens when you allow a storm of thinking to enter your mind.
It can disrupt you for some time until the waters can naturally settle.
We want to always remain on our bank of our river observing abundant nature and clear calm waters.
We all know that sleep is necessary and rejuvenating.
So why do so many people suffer to achieve restful sleep?
It's because they do not take charge of their busy mind.
They don't take the time to move it from worry to relaxation.
Like we mentioned before,
Allowing a busy mind to go free is like never training a great horse.
Your mind needs you to be in control and needs you to train how to work for you.
A calmer state of mind allows for you not only to sleep better,
But to eliminate anxiety,
Increase your focus,
Treat depression,
Stop circular thinking,
Improve your memory,
Better your relationships,
Satisfy your body,
And increase your emotional intelligence.
The key to attaining all these things is actually very simple and natural for all of us.
The key is to bring into our mind the awareness of all physical sensations and bring into your mind your emotions and bringing into your mind your thoughts.
This is meditative and simply doesn't allow for bothersome thoughts to have any power over you.
Your ability to emotionalize and feel things is much more powerful than a busy mind.
Your ability to create and ponder new ideas and a new self-image supersedes a noisy mind.
All a noisy mind is good at is distracting you.
It doesn't achieve anything.
It doesn't build on any new ideas.
It doesn't emotionally connect you with others around you.
In fact,
An overloaded or out of control mind acts to disconnect you from others and most importantly from yourself.
A bustling mind is tiring,
Yet it doesn't allow for you to rest.
Giving up control of your mind is like feeding your child nothing but bread and sugar and candy.
They are going to lose control because of the unhealthy information they are taking into their system.
So let's put our mind now in the being mode and let's implement some positive affirmations for you to say to yourself right now.
Thoughts are only thoughts.
I live in the present,
Not in the past,
Or the future.
I draw from my past when I need to plan for my future,
But I always live in the present moment.
I take notice of my body often throughout the day,
Easing and relaxing my body by doing so.
I take notice of my surroundings to ease my mind.
When thoughts begin to swirl in my mind,
I have compassion for them and acknowledge them,
Knowing that they are simply thoughts.
My thoughts come and go.
Everyone's thoughts also come and go.
I am no different.
When I watch my thoughts like the waters of a river,
I never get caught in a thought.
I am just a loving witness.
I am just a loving witness.
Stopping my thoughts is impossible.
Instead,
I observe them arriving and leaving.
Instead of jumping into my thoughts emotionally,
I observe which thoughts I want to cultivate more of.
I know that which thoughts I put my energy to is what I create for myself.
By taking the time to practice these methods,
I really feel a difference.
I have the patience to retrain my mind,
And I retrain my mind so that I can get the rest that I need.
I have patience when I'm training my mind,
Just as I would have patience training the most magnificent horse.
I am kind to myself with this new way of being.
I am kind to others,
And I never allow overthinking in the form of judgment to cloud my relationships.
I am persistent because I know the rewards are well worth the effort.
I see benefits right from the very start of my practice.
Now remember that each day that you practice mindfulness techniques,
The more restful and deep sleep that you'll receive each night.
Relax even more now,
Letting your body make any last-minute adjustments it needs so that you can get the most restful sleep every night of your life.
Good night.
