Relaxing before sleep,
A meditation.
I invite you to lie down on the floor,
On a yoga mat or on a bed and get comfortable and start feeling the contact of the body with the surface where you are lying on.
And see if you can find your breath,
Where it's going in and where it's going out.
And where do you feel your breath the most vividly in your body?
And once you have found that,
Just focus on that and take it as an anchor.
And now,
As you are lying on your back,
Let's begin with a series of tensing and relaxing exercises.
Let's begin with the feet.
Let's pull the feet towards ourselves.
Pull them up,
Tense them up and let go.
Feel the tension leaving your feet.
And now,
Let's continue with the coughs.
By pushing and pointing the feet away from our torso,
Tensing them up and let them go.
Feel the tension leave your coughs.
And now,
Let's move to the upper part of the legs,
The thighs and the quads.
And tense them up whichever way is comfortable to you.
Tense them up.
And let them go.
Feeling the tension leave the upper part of your legs.
Now,
Let's move to the pelvic area and the butt.
Tensing the pelvis and tightening the butt cheeks so that that area of your body lifts a bit above the surface you are lying on.
Tensing it up and letting it go.
And just observe,
How does that feel?
Is it getting heavier?
Is it light?
Is there still tension?
Or is it nice and relaxed?
Let's move to the tummy area.
Tighten it up.
Make it hard as if you are expecting a punch.
Just make it hard for a little bit.
And let it go.
Feel it go soft.
And notice how that feels.
And now,
The chest.
Move your shoulders to the front and tighten your chest area a bit more.
And let it go.
Feel what happens to your chest area.
Does it feel more open,
Relaxed?
What happens to your shoulders?
Now,
Your shoulders.
Pull them up towards your ears.
Tense them up.
And let them go.
Feel them go back to their natural position in a more relaxed manner.
Now let's move to your biceps.
Your upper arms.
Tense them up.
Lift your lower arms if you need to.
Nice and tight.
And let them go.
And now,
Your lower arms and your hands.
Put your right hand open away from you.
And your fingers on your left palm.
And pull it towards you to get a nice stretch.
And let it go.
And now,
With the left hand,
Just massage your right palm for a moment.
Your fingers.
See if you can give them a little bit more attention.
And now,
With your right hand,
Make a fist.
Make it really tight for just a second.
And let it go.
Now let's switch hands.
Put your left hand open and away from you.
And the fingers on your right palm.
And pull your right palm towards you to get a nice stretch.
And let it go.
And now,
With the right hand,
Just take a moment to massage your left palm and fingers for a moment.
See what there might be tension or it will just feel nice.
Now make a fist with your left hand.
Make it really tight for just a second.
And let it go.
Now feel your palms and your hands.
How do they feel?
With less or even maybe without tension.
And remember,
There is nothing more to do at this moment.
Everything that had to be done has been done.
And you can just let yourself relax.
And even if it doesn't happen at this very moment,
It will come by itself in due time.
And with that thought,
Let's move to the head and face.
Let's start with the eyes.
Press your eyes shut as if you don't want to see what's in front of you for a moment.
Put tension on there and let them go.
Feel your eyes and your surroundings become soft and relaxed.
Now let's move on to the jaw.
How does your jaw feel right now?
Is it tense or loose?
And now put a little bit of tension on your jaw.
Now a little bit more.
Maybe bite your teeth together for just a few seconds.
And let that tension go.
Let your mouth open or whatever it wants to do for the jaw to fully relax.
And now notice your forehead.
Put a little tension on there as if you wanted to create a worry wrinkle.
Just lift your eyebrows and let it go.
Observe it become soft.
And see if you can make your temples go soft along with your forehead without being forceful,
But just letting go with a little nudge.
And now the back of your neck and your throat.
Feel it relax and become soft.
And now let's give the whole body another scan with curiosity.
Starting with the feet,
Seeing if you can find any tension.
When you find it,
If you find it.
See if you can release it just bit by bit.
And as you move up,
Start feeling how your body starts relaxing more and more.
Looking further into the bed or the floor where you are lying.
Your feet,
Your calves,
Your thighs,
Your bum and pelvic area,
Your tummy,
Your chest,
Your arms,
Your hands,
Your shoulders,
Your back.
Feel the contact.
Your throat,
Your neck,
Your eyes and the top of your head.
Whatever tension there still might be,
Just let it go.
And remember there is nothing else you need to do today.
Nothing at all.
You don't even have to try to go to sleep because that happens by itself when the body and mind are ready for it.
Enjoy your rest.
