Sleep Well

This meditation practice is intended to help you relax the mind and body to unwind from the day and fall into a deep relaxed sleep. It is guided in a gentle way with a body scan theme to the practice and gentle background music. The meditation is best practiced before going to sleep or you can use the meditation to just relax.

Transcript

Hi and welcome to the three golden circles sleep meditation.

During this practice we'll be going through a body scan,

A method which can be used for relaxation as well as going through some simple sleep hygiene tips.

A lot of us can have trouble falling asleep especially in highly stressful times.

It's often when we stop,

Unwind and when we're in our beds getting ready for sleep that our minds can start replaying the entire day or even the entire week and going in just a little bit crazy.

Trying to solve all of our problems in that one night.

So to begin this practice I invite you to take a comfortable seat on a chair on the ground or you may like to lie down instead.

You may already be in bed getting ready for sleep.

Make sure that you're in a position where you won't have to move for the next little while.

They'll just give you a moment to get comfortable.

So to begin the practice I'll invite you to shift your focus to your breath.

Just noticing how your natural rhythm is.

Is your breath accelerated and short or is it quite relaxed and elongated?

Just noticing a few of your inhales and exhales.

And now to settle the mind and the body.

We'll take three deep breaths together.

I'll be counting you in on the inhale and on the exhale I invite you to drop the shoulders and allow the body to become heavy.

So we'll begin the first breath.

A deep inhale for a count of one two three four holding the breath and a nice deep exhale.

And on this next breath making a conscious effort to take a little bit more of a deeper inhale.

So inhaling for a count of one two three four holding your breath and a deep exhale and one nice breath together.

Inhaling for a count of one two three four holding the breath and exhaling.

Keep the focus on the breath.

Feeling your chest expand and feeling the chest contract.

Feeling your belly expand and the belly contracting.

And while I'm talking through some sleep hygiene tips keeping your focus on the breath while you're listening.

And if you notice the mind wonders just gently bring it back to your breath.

Or to my voice.

Sleep can too often be an elusive thing but something so essential for our mental well-being and overall healthy functioning.

So to maximize our ability for a deep sleep.

Avoiding heavy foods at least a couple of hours before sleep as well as stimulants and alcohol are good things to implement for sleep hygiene.

Our tech devices emit something called a blue light which negatively impacts the production of melatonin.

A hormone which controls our sleep wake cycle.

Reducing melatonin levels makes it harder for us to fall asleep.

So giving ourselves at least a half an hour break from actively looking at or browsing our computers phones or tv before sleep is best practice.

When we're also browsing or using our phones before sleep it can trick our brain into thinking it needs to stay awake.

So it's best to avoid phone activity before sleep.

Putting our phones or do not disturb or plane mode.

While we're sleeping prevents any chimes or vibrations from texts emails or calls.

Coming through at night and waking us up.

So once these are minimized we can focus on relaxing the body.

And when the body is relaxed our mind is also more relaxed.

And we're less likely to fall asleep with unsettled thoughts or thoughts of anxiety.

We'll now go through the full body scan.

Starting with our focus at our feet.

Through the body scan I'll be talking through different parts of the body and directing you to relax that area.

Bringing your attention to that part of the body.

So bringing your focus to your left toes.

The left big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth and fifth toe.

The top of your foot.

Your heel and your ankle.

Relaxing your left foot.

Bringing the focus now to your left shin.

The calf muscle.

Your left knee.

And left upper leg.

Releasing all stress and tension from the left leg.

You're now to the right leg,

The right toes.

The right big toe.

Second toe.

Third toe.

Fourth and fifth toes.

The top of the foot.

The heel and the right ankle.

Relaxing the right shin.

The calf muscle.

The right knee.

And the right upper leg.

Relaxing both legs.

Allowing all tension from the legs to mellow out.

Just allowing yourself to be present to this practice.

Allowing yourself to give your mind a break.

A break from having to think.

Just following my voice.

Relaxing the body.

And continuing with your breath.

Bringing the focus to your sit bones now.

Your hips.

And your lower back.

Breathing into your lower back.

And now your belly.

Releasing any muscle tension from the belly.

Noticing how it rises and falls with your breath.

And now taking your focus to your mid back.

Your chest.

And your upper back.

And now to the shoulders.

And the side of the chest.

And now to the shoulders.

Our shoulders are an area where we tend to hold a lot of stress.

So allowing the shoulders to be heavy.

Allowing the shoulders to drop.

As if they don't have a worry or a care in the world.

And now bringing your focus to your left upper arm.

The left elbow and the left wrist.

Relaxing the arm.

To your left hand now.

To the thumb.

Your second finger.

Third finger.

Fourth and fifth finger.

Bring the whole left arm now.

Now bringing our attention to the right upper arm.

The right elbow and the right wrist.

Relaxing the right arm.

And now taking your focus to the right hand.

The right thumb.

The second finger.

Third.

Fourth and fifth finger.

The palm of the hand.

And now relaxing the whole right arm.

Now taking the focus to the neck muscles.

The back of the head and the jaw.

This is another area where we tend to hold a lot of stress.

So allowing your jaw to unhinge and clenching your teeth.

Allowing your cheek muscles to relax.

The creases around your eyes,

Your eyelids,

Any squinting or frowning.

Relaxing the forehead.

And just easing all facial expressions.

Allowing the back of the head and the crown of the head to relax.

Now the whole face,

Neck and head to be heavy,

Mellow and relaxed.

Allowing yourself time and space to simply be.

There's nowhere else to be.

Nothing else to do.

Nothing which needs your immediate attention.

Nothing that you need to control right now.

Nothing you need to worry or stress about.

But simply be in the relaxed,

Easy state that you've cultivated.

When we're relaxed,

Everything flows and our body is in sync.

So now relaxing any tension which has crept up into the body.

And I'll give you a few moments here of silence.

Just to enjoy the space.

And your relaxed state of mind and body.

Just relax.

As we near the end of our practice.

You may like to bring some gentle movements back into your toes and your fingers.

See you rocking the head from side to side.

And when you're ready,

Opening up the eyes.

Thank you for going through this practice with me.

And I hope you have a very restful sleep.

Reviews

Wonderful guidance to winding down through breathwork, muscle relaxation & ....possibly more? At that point I was out for the whole night, after going to bed wound up. Thank you!

Absolutely loved this!! You're amazing!! Thank you 😊

Very well done. Gentle yet effective. Thanks.

This was a great relaxing scan,

Never heard the end! Got me straight to sleep. Thank you 🙏🏻

Wonderful

Very relaxing

A helpful review of the basics for sleep or a relaxing break. Thank you.