Sleep is a time when we replenish both our physical and subtle bodies. It revitalises our energy, so that we can show up as our best selves. So, in today’s episode, I’m going to guide you through a sleep meditation, which uses body-melting breathwork and a visualisation of the setting sun to help you let go of your day, wind down well, and fall into a peaceful sleep.
Let’s get right into it.
You can do this meditation lying in bed so you can drift off to sleep straight after.
Snuggle down and get comfy. Feel yourself completely held and cocooned in the covers.
Close your eyes if you haven’t already and relax any part of you that is gripping or tense. Surrender to your mattress and this meditation.
Inhale deeply, feeling that as an invitation to enter into a deep state of rest. Exhale completely, and feel the outer world slipping further and further away.
Then, just watch the rise and softening of your belly as it fills up with air, and empties out.
Now, let’s breathe together.
Gently inhale for a count of 4, and exhale for 4. If you feel good there, inhale for 4, and exhale for 5. If you feel good there, inhale for 4, and exhale for 6. Let the breath be easy, and linger there in the longer exhalation, finding more parasympathetic softness.
After a few rounds, you can let that breathing pattern go, so that your body is just breathing for you.
Now, visualise a beautiful sunset, beginning at the top of your crown and very slowly moving down your body, through your brain and your skull, your face, your neck and shoulders, your arms and hands. The sun continues to move down through your chest and heart, your belly and hips, through your legs and all the way to the tips of your toes, softening every part of you with this warm light. As the sun sets, so does your body clock. Breathe and release as you welcome nighttime.
Notice how the velvety darkness encourages relaxation.
With each breath out, let go of anything in your physical body that isn’t serving you.
And scan your mental body now for any emotional disturbance, stress, anxiety, worries or thoughts that are stopping you from having a peaceful night’s sleep.
Breathe into them, experience them and then release them.
If your mind is wandering, gently guide it to focus on the space in between your eyebrows.
Within this space, visualise a full moon in a clear night sky, shining brightly on the gentle waves of the ocean. The reflection of the light on the water, catching the tops of the waves as they dance. Notice the feelings and sensations in your mind and body. Breathe into them and like waves, let them lull you into rest.
Now, feel yourself clear and relaxed, in your body, mind and heart, completely held here in your bed. As you drift off, you enter a state of deep healing, ready to wake up in the morning feeling so nourished, so rejuvenated and so filled up.
Sleep well.
