Meditation for Bedtime

Welcome back to practice. We now have a meditation for sleep. You're welcome to sit with me and treat it as a meditation or perhaps even better. Come to lie down. Lie down on your bed or anywhere it's comfortable for you and treat this as a contemplative practice. You need not do the whole thing with me if you fall asleep. The intention is to allow yourself to rest. What I'll do for now is show what could happen on a mat, which is to put a pillow underneath the head. I love a pillow underneath my knees as well, really relaxing for the back. And then a blanket can come over the belly or where you're at. Tuck yourself in with your covers. Take a few adjustments so that you know you're comfortable. I'll be coming to sit. No obligation on your part to follow me. Please be at rest. Once you're there, try and inhale and then sigh it out your mouth. Again inhale and let that go. Allow the eyes to gently close and begin to guide your awareness to your right thumb. Only noticing where the right thumb has ended up and allowing the right thumb to relax completely. Relaxing second finger of right hand, third finger, fourth finger, and fifth finger. Noticing palm of right hand, back of right hand, entire right hand is released and relaxed and letting go. Guiding awareness within your wrist and letting go of any holding, control, or tension there. Awareness to elbow, release and relax your elbow, allowing relaxation to seep down into the right forearm. Noticing now the front of your right shoulder and the back of your right shoulder. Completely releasing and relaxing your right shoulder, entire right arm, released, relaxed, letting go. Guiding your awareness to your left thumb. Noticing where it's at and allow it to let go. Releasing second finger of left hand, third finger, fourth finger, and fifth finger. Noticing palm of left hand, back of left hand. Completely releasing and relaxing your left hand. Let it go. Awareness within the left wrist, letting go of any holding, control, or tension. And then noticing your left elbow, allowing the left elbow to release and relax. Relaxation moving down into the left forearm, letting go. Guiding awareness to front of left shoulder, back of left shoulder, entire left shoulder is released and relaxed, allowing the entire left arm to let go. Both arms are settled and relaxed. Nothing to do, letting go. Deliver your awareness down to your toes, allowing the toes to completely relax, allowing the feet to follow, feet becoming heavy, nowhere to go for a while, letting go. Guiding the awareness within your ankles, ankles are released and relaxed, allowing the feet to go wherever gravity wants them to go as you let go. Notice top of knees, back of knees, entire knees, release and relax, letting go. Allow that relaxation to move down into the calf, the shins, washing out any tension of the day.

Guiding your awareness to your thighs. Relaxation moving from the skin into the muscles of the thighs, into the bone, deep into the marrow of the bone. Relaxing the floor of the pelvis and your glutes as well, entire lower limbs released and relaxed and letting go. Feel the weight of the pelvis settling into the earth, letting go. Feel the ease in the belly as it breathes for you and allow that ease to melt into your low back. Feel the gentle openness across your chest. Imagine that openness in your lungs. Then deliver your awareness to your physical heart, just to the left of center, allowing the many vessels of the heart to be open and free. Peacefulness moving throughout the body as you let go. Feel your back settling into the earth. All the many muscles of the back are melting, nothing to pick up, nothing to move. Only rest now, only rest. Allow the throat to relax and your jaw, your lower lip, your upper lip. Muscles of the face are smooth and relaxed, beautiful at peace, relaxed. Eyes are soft, sinking gently to their cradles. The brain itself is parked and settling in. The entire body is at ease and relaxed and letting go. Guiding your awareness to your heart center, the emotional heart, right behind your breastbone, that place where all kids in the world point and touch when they say me. Bring your awareness to that me place in the center of the chest. And imagine as you breathe in, you breathe in from this place and breathe out from this place as well. Breathing in peacefulness, breathing out peacefulness, breathing in calm, breathing out calm. Continue breathing from your heart. Scrolling through our day. As you breathe through your heart, bring your awareness to the last person you saw today. It could be a family member or someone you saw at dinner or in your commute home. Try to visualize that person's face. Were they at peace? Keeping them in mind. Continue to breathe in that peacefulness through your heart and send it to them on the exhale. Breathing in peace and ease, sending peace and ease to this person with every exhale. Keep practicing. And then notice if this person's face looks a little different.

If your meditation partner here has received any of this peace, this ease you have tonight or today. And then send them on their way. Say your see you later and allow their vision to leave your mental space. Rewinding back in the day, bringing the awareness to someone you saw in the afternoon. This could be someone at work. Someone you saw around lunchtime. Maybe someone you saw in the news. Visualizing that person and practicing your heart breathing. Breathing in this feeling of peace and ease and breathing it out as well. Begin to send that peace and ease to your next person. With every exhale.

And as you practice know if and notice if your person now can receive any peace and ease. Has their eyes softened a little bit? Are their shoulders a little more relaxed? Please wish them well one more time. And in your visualization, allow them to move on their way. Scrolling back now, earlier in the day.

Someone you interacted with in the morning. Someone at work or on your commute. Family member. Or if you've had a quiet day, just someone who has come to mind. Visualize the look on their face. Any tension in their upper body. Are they hurried?

Breathing in this peacefulness and ease. Send it out to them on the exhale. Breathing in your ease and sharing it on the exhale. Noticing if your person has been able to receive this today. Thinking them and visualize them moving away. Enjoying that heart breathing.

Ease in. Ease out. One more step back in our day. Bring your awareness back to those first moments when you got up and went to brush your teeth or wash your face. Ease. See yourself in the mirror. See yourself in the mirror. See yourself in the mirror.

Wishing yourself ease and rest. Breathing it in. Letting it out. Breathing in. Breathing in.

Seeing now the ability to receive that ease in your own faith. Feel the softness in the shoulders and the breath. These two visions melding into one. Wishing yourself ease. Wishing yourself rest. Namaste.