Dear friends,
Welcome to this meditation which is designed to help you enter into a relaxed state before you go to sleep.
Some people have difficulty getting to sleep.
For others,
A five-minute sit before the TV or the reading of five pages from a book is all they need to bring about a feeling of drowsiness before they drop off.
Other people are worried about one thing or another and for them it might be helpful to remember the words of John Steinbeck.
John says this,
It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.
Words from John Steinbeck,
Very true words.
Remember that in the relaxed cocoon of sleep we often find the solution to many of our problems.
You know the expression sleep on it.
It's a wise suggestion.
So now can we bring ourselves into a state of relaxation?
Become aware of your breath,
You're breathing in and you're breathing out.
Breathing in the good air with gratitude and as you breathe out can you think to yourself just let things be,
Just let things be.
Do you notice any tension in your body?
If so,
Bring your awareness to it and see if you can manage to let that tension go with the thought for now just relax,
For now just relax.
All I have to do now is relax.
It might help to release the tension in your body if you can flex and tighten the problem part and then release that part and let the muscles relax.
You might like to try this in a body scan where you start at your feet and you tighten up and then relax each part in turn until you get to your face and head where you give a final big scrunch and then a big letting go.
Let's pause for one minute now to allow you to repeat that relaxing of your body part by part.
Welcome back.
Now I'd like you to turn your attention to your mind.
Notice what might be going on in your mind after the challenges of the day.
We need to relax our bodies of course but even more so do we need to quieten our minds.
We can have so many thoughts spinning around,
Regurgitating the past,
Planning how we will respond towards that might happen to be addressed to us in the future,
Speculating about so many things that might never happen.
Mark Twain famously said,
I've had a lot of worries in my life,
Most of which never happened and when you think about it I'm sure the same can be said for you and for me.
Naturally we have to look back to the past and take lessons from it and we have to work to bring about the future we desire,
We make plans but that's active thinking and real action in the here and now,
Not wasting the present by regretting the past and not ruining our future prospects by ignoring what we need to do in the present.
A one minute pause now so that we can give ourselves an opportunity to relax our minds.
Welcome back.
Sleep has just such a great power to restore us.
Shakespeare long ago described it as the innocent sleep.
He puts it beautifully when he tells us sleep knits up the raveled sleeve of care.
Just imagine knitting up the raveled sleeve of care.
Let us allow sleep to knit up the raveled sleeve of our cares.
He goes on to describe sleep as sore labour's bath,
A beautiful image.
Just imagine lowering your body into a bath of warm water at the end of a busy day.
Shakespeare describes sleep as the balm of hurt minds.
He tells us that it is great nature's second course,
The chief nourisher in life's feast.
Wonderful,
Rejuvenating sleep.
Let's allow ourselves another one minute pause to reflect on the great gift of sleep.
Welcome back again.
And we have to realise that rest is every bit as beneficial as sleep.
Some people who find it troublesome to sleep,
They become agitated with the effort to sleep and that very agitation prevents them from falling into sleep.
Whereas the very act of lying down to rest has a value all of its own.
Sleep will come in its own time and in the meantime we should enjoy the rest.
I think it will help as well if you try to fix a regular calming pre-bedtime routine.
Avoid last minute rushing about,
Avoid checking of emails or anything that would tend to generate worry or tend to wake you up further.
See if you can express gratitude for the many gifts of the day and generate feelings of goodwill towards the people in your life and help rest arise naturally through this practice.
And maybe sleep will arise in its turn as a result of your simply resting in a contented state.
So as an exercise just now see if you can recall with gratitude some of the events of this day.
We'll pause for 60 seconds to allow a little time for this reflecting back on some of the happy events of this day,
Some of the good events of the day.
Welcome back and now a 60 second pause to allow you to offer thoughts of kindness and goodwill to the people in your life.
For this exercise you don't need to seek out difficult people,
That's another day's work,
But just offer gentle thoughts to the people you like or love and the people who like or love you.
Express gratitude for them and wish them well.
A 60 second pause.
Welcome back again and now a blessing for you to end our reflection and following this blessing the music will continue for a little while to allow you to become more relaxed and more rested in preparation for sleep.
You can stop the recording whenever you wish in the course of the music,
But now the blessing.
May you be filled with gratitude as this day comes to a close.
May the kindness that you offer to other people be its own reward for you.
May you be satisfied with the work of this day,
Accepting the fact that you've done your reasonable best in all the circumstances.
Tomorrow is another day when you can try harder if you feel you need to.
In times of worry may you find comfort in the knowledge that everything changes.
Whatever the worry is this too will pass.
May you rest well.
May the gift of rest and the gift of sleep enable you to begin again tomorrow with renewed strength.
May all your days and all your nights be filled with peace.
Namaste.
Thank you.
