Dear friends,
Welcome to this end-of-the-day meditation,
A time for you to lie back,
Relax and enjoy a period of rest.
I hope you enjoy this opportunity to let go of the concerns of the day.
This is your chance to allow yourself to think into the comfort and the gift of sleep.
You may have had a busy day and maybe not,
But anyway the contents of the day need to be swept away.
So let us begin by having a quiet period to allow you to wind down,
To bring you to a place of calm.
Just close your eyes and let the music and these thoughts heal your soul.
One of the most beneficial ways to end the day is to reflect back on some of the blessings of our lives.
By blessings I don't mean the winning of the lotto.
That might not bring the restful calm that we are looking for here.
Instead just think of the countless gifts that surround us day by day,
Even in the most trying of circumstances.
Meister Eckhart reminds us that if the only prayer we ever say is thank you,
It is enough.
For instance,
Today we all shared the gift of existence.
We all breathed in the good air.
Hopefully we have enjoyed shelter,
Security,
Food to eat,
Water to drink and hopefully family or friends to support us along the way.
When you stop to think about it you realize that many of the most important benefits of our lives are free.
So let us now consciously take in just one of those benefits as we breathe in fully some of the good air that sustains us every day.
Notice the rising of our chest as we breathe in,
The falling of our chest as we breathe out.
Let's give ourselves a minute to relax and enjoy the gift of our breath.
Welcome back.
We have the wonderful turning of the earth that brings us unfailingly from day to night and from night to day again.
The turning of the earth that invites all its inhabitants to let down the daily burden and to fall into the cocoon of sleep.
Shakespeare described this wonderfully.
The innocent sleep,
Sleep that knits up the raveled sleeve of care,
Sore labors bat,
Bam of hurt minds,
Great nature's second course,
Chief nourisher in life's feast.
It is in this period of rest during which our body recovers from the exertions of the day.
And if by chance you find you cannot sleep,
Don't let this worry you in the slightest.
Just remember you are enjoying the rare gift of a body at rest and appreciate that.
Just relax and be happy and notice that this gift of rest is yours.
And if in the course of noticing this you happen to fall asleep,
Well so much the better.
That's all right too.
We give thanks for the gift of the day now ending.
We give thanks for any good we may have done today.
We give thanks for our inspiration to do good.
Every good act reminds us that we are each of us a unique gift to the world.
Yes we all fall at times,
All of us,
And at this time of the day we express regret for any way in which we might have failed to live up to our ideals today.
But having said that,
We do not seek an impossible perfection.
But learning from our failures we resolve to be better prepared and to try our best to do better the next time.
Tomorrow is another day.
Let's be more gentle on ourselves and more gentle on others.
Spread a little gentleness.
What goes around comes around.
Now let the closing music of this meditation bring you to a place of calm and contentment.
May you rest well.
Notice that you are a good person,
A one-off.
Rest content in the assurance that the world is a better place because you are here.
May you arise invigorated to the gift of another day,
Another new day,
Accepting the invitation of Khalil Gibran.
Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.
Namaste.
You
