Welcome,
This is Daphne.
If you've woken up and your mind feels active right now,
Let's take a few quiet minutes together.
If your mind is still active,
That's okay.
This is something many nervous systems experience during the night.
Sometimes the mind simply becomes aware for a while.
For the next few minutes,
There's nothing you need to solve.
Nothing you need to figure out.
You're simply allowing your body to settle again.
Sometimes the mind wakes up and begins searching.
Planning.
Remembering.
If that's happening,
Your body may simply need a little support as it finds its way back toward rest.
Begin by noticing the surface beneath you.
The bed supporting your body.
The places where your body makes contact with the mattress.
Your head.
Your back.
Your hip.
Your legs.
Let yourself feel that support.
You do not need to hold yourself upright now.
You are being held.
You might notice the weight of the blankets over you.
The feeling of warmth.
Or softness.
Or gentle pressure.
Let your awareness rest there for a moment.
Just noticing the body in the bed.
The bed beneath the body supporting you.
Quiet around you.
Now bring a little awareness to your breathing.
There is no need to breathe in any special way.
Let the inhale arrive naturally.
And let the exhale leave in its own time.
Inhaling gently and exhaling softly.
Nothing forced.
Just the breath moving in and out.
The mind is still active,
That's okay.
The mind may keep offering thoughts.
It may keep reaching for answers,
Or trying to understand.
To plan and prepare.
Each time you notice that happening,
You can gently come back to something simple.
The feeling of the bed beneath you.
The weight of the blankets.
The breath moving quietly through the body.
Allow your awareness to settle into those sensations.
As thoughts arise,
You might silently say to yourself,
This can wait until morning.
Now gently bring your attention back to your body.
Let your forehead soften.
Let the muscles around your eyes rest.
Let your jaw release a little.
You don't have to clench or hold.
Let the tongue soften in the mouth.
Let the throat be open.
Allow the shoulders to grow heavy.
The arms resting.
The hands softly.
The fingers.
Small places where your hands touch the bed,
Your body,
Or the blankets.
There's nothing to do with the hands.
Nothing that needs to be fixed.
Bring your awareness down into the chest.
You might feel the breath moving there or you might simply notice stillness.
Whatever you notice is okay.
Let yourself be held Let the heart space soften even just a little.
Now bring awareness to the belly.
And let the belly be soft.
There's no need to pull in,
No need to protect yourself.
You might notice the belly rising and falling with the breath.
Let the body know,
In this moment,
I can rest.
In this moment,
I can soften.
Feel the back of the body.
The weight of the head resting.
Shoulder blades.
The spine.
The lower back.
The hips.
The whole body resting into the bed.
Let the bed receive a little more of your weight.
You do not have to carry the night.
You do not have to plan for tomorrow.
Just for now,
You can let all that go as you allow the body to be heavy and supported.
If thoughts come again,
You might imagine them like leaves floating on water.
Appearing for a moment drifting.
.
.
Moving on in their own time.
You don't have to follow them.
And you don't have to push them away.
You can notice the thought.
And return to the body.
The breath.
The bed.
Sometimes in the middle of the night,
The mind wants certainty.
It wants to know what will happen.
Or it wants an answer.
But right now your body does not need an answer.
Your body needs support.
It needs softness.
And your body needs permission to rest even while some things remain unresolved.
You can rest without knowing what comes next.
You can rest without solving.
You can rest without finishing every thought.
Whatever needs your attention can wait for the light of day.
Right now,
There is only this breath.
This bad.
This moment.
Notice the legs.
The weight of the thighs.
The knees.
The lower legs.
The ankles.
Of feet.
Let the legs be heavy.
Let the feet soften.
There is nowhere you need to go right now.
Nothing you need to move toward,
And nothing you need to escape.
You are here.
Resting.
Supported.
Notice the breath.
Inhale arriving.
.
.
The exhale releasing.
Maybe the exhale softens the body a little more.
Maybe it doesn't.
Either way is okay.
You are not trying to create a perfect state.
You are simply giving your nervous system a few quiet signals of safety.
The bed is here supporting you.
A breath is here.
The body is resting.
If sleep comes,
You can let yourself drift.
You do not need to stay awake to hear the end of this practice.
And if sleep does not come right away,
That's okay too.
Allow yourself to rest here.
Softening is still support.
Even lying here with less effort is a meaningful shift.
Let the whole body be held now.
The head.
The shoulders.
The arms.
The chest.
The belly.
The back.
The hips.
The legs.
The feet.
The whole body resting in the bed.
There is nothing you need to do right now.
Nothing to figure out.
Nothing to become.
Nothing to prove.
You are allowed to be exactly as you are in this moment.
Tired.
Awake.
Restless quiet.
Softening All of it is welcome here.
Let the night be simple.
A body resting.
The breath gently moving.
The bed holding you.
The dark of night surrounding you.
If the mind reaches for something,
You can gently return to resting,
Knowing this can wait until morning.
Your body already knows how to rest.
Your mind already knows how to return to sleep.
And you do not have to make that happen.
You can simply create the conditions and allow sleep to come in its own time.
Let yourself rest here.
Held by the bed.
Held by the quiet of the night.
Held by the gentle rhythm of the breath There's nothing to solve and nothing to force.
Just resting.
Trust.
Breathing.
Allow yourself to drift now.
And sleep can come in its own time.
