On today’s episode I’ll be guiding you through another Rest & Revitalization Sleep Meditation—a practice created by Ann Douglas, a teacher and trainer of yoga, yoga nidra, and meditation.
So find a safe space to listen as I walk you through, step-by-step, the instructions of this R&R Sleep Meditation. And, if you benefited from this practice, you can check out previous episodes to find similar meditations.
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Male Announcer: You’re listening to From Pain to Possibility with Susi Hately. You will hear Susi’s best ideas on how to reduce or even eradicate your pain and learn how to listen to your body when it whispers so you don’t have to hear it scream. And now here’s your host, Susi Hately.
Welcome and welcome back. I’m so glad that you’re here because I have another R&R sleep meditation for you. I have been on a roll lately with recording and it’s an offering to you, an invitation to really take your practice to a quieter, more still, more aware, more tuned in space. So here we go. Have a delightful practice.
Welcome to this practice of sleep meditation. Everything that’s offered here is an invitation. You have a choice at any moment to follow my invitation or to move with something that feels more appropriate or interesting to you. And if my words don’t work with you or for you, you can replace them with your words.
So take a moment and settle into a relaxed position, whether you are seated or standing or laying on your back. And scan your body to see if you can be just a little bit more comfortable, perhaps adding a bolster or a blanket. Maybe some support for your neck. Your eyes can be opened or closed and take just a couple of deep breaths.
And as you exhale, imagine an intention or a wish for this practice. What might it be? It could be something to have, something to be, something to do. And formulate this into a one-sentence affirmation in present time as if it’s already happened.
Once you’ve established this wish or intention as a one-sentence affirmation, affirm it silently to yourself now three times. We’ll come back to this wish or intention closer to the end of the practice, but set it aside for now.
Remember now a time or a place where you feel a sense of calm, ease or safety. This might be a room in your home or a place in nature. It might be with someone that you love, a pet or a spiritual being. Anything here in the sanctuary that contributes to a sense of ease or well-being. Imagine yourself here and notice how you feel. You can come back to this feeling, this sanctuary, at any time through this practice. You might like to bring this feeling into the practice now.
Become aware of the sensations of your whole body, feeling the contact points of your body on the surface underneath. The contact points of your skin to the fabric, the air on your skin. And then bring your attention to your breath and how your breath is moving in your body.
Moving your abdomen, moving your ribcage. Feeling the inhale coming in and the exhale going out. Feel the expansiveness of your abdomen moving on the inhale and exhale. Feel how the air comes into your nostril, feeling your nose and your face, and the relaxation that comes as you inhale and exhale.
Noticing the inner corners of your eyes and the outer corners of your eyes. Feel the back of your head and your neck. Your shoulders, arms, and hands. Feel your fingers now. The pinky finger, the ring fingers, the middle fingers, the index fingers, and your thumbs.
Feel your whole hand now and your fingers, your arms and your shoulders, all while feeling your breath. Feeling your hands, your arms, and your breath at once. Feeling your face, your head, your arms and hands, and breath all at once. As you sense into your body and your breath, your body is relaxing deeper and deeper. Your mind is quiet.
Feel your pelvis now. The front, sides, and back of your pelvis. And move down your legs. Your thighs, knees, lower legs, ankles, and into your feet. Feel your toes now, your pinky toes, your fourth toe, third toes, second toes, big toes. Feel each of your individual toes, your foot, ankle, all the way up your legs to your hips.
Feel your whole body now. Your feet, legs, pelvis, abdomen, ribcage, shoulders, arms, hands, neck, face, and head. Feel your whole body now and your breath at once. Feel your breath filling out your body, gradually slowing down the length of your inhale and the length of your exhale.
Become aware of heaviness in your body, of feeling heavy. Notice where you’re feeling heavy. Now feel sensations of lightness in your body. Feeling lightness, feeling buoyant. And then feel heaviness again. Feeling your body as heavy. And feeling light again, your body as light.
Now feel both heavy and light at once. The mind can’t do both. You can’t think your way into both at once. This is a feeling experience, widening the foundation of your awareness to feel both heavy and light at once.
Now explore two opposites of emotion. Consider emotion where and how you’re feeling it in your body. Notice its qualities, how it moves, if it moves, perhaps its color, or shape. And notice what it feels like. And when you’re ready, begin to feel the opposite of this emotion.
And notice what that feels like, if it moves or doesn’t move, the color, the shape, any other quality. Then go back and forth between the original emotion and its opposite. Notice what you feel when you identify one emotion, and what you feel when you identify the other. How does each feel in your body?
And when you’re ready, begin to feel both of them at once. Feeling your way, widening the foundation to feel both of these opposites at once.
Now become aware of any thoughts that are present, or the absence of thought. If you notice, they’ll come, they’ll go, they’ll arrive, they’ll disappear, arising again, dissolving again.
And when you’re ready, think of a thought or a belief that you’d like to work with. And consider as you think this thought to yourself, how it feels in your body. How are you sensing this thought resonating in your body? How does it land? What is its color? How does your body respond?
And then when you’re ready, explore its opposite. Noticing where it exists, how it feels, what it’s sensation is. Go back and forth a few times between these opposites, noticing what you feel as you identify with one, and then the other.
Now feel both opposites at once. Feeling your way into, by widening the lens of sensation, noticing how you feel when you open to both at once. Sometimes they dissolve, or they open into an expansion, or a wholeness, or a whole new insight. Notice what you feel.
You might be aware of a deepening sense of peace or calm, a sense of openness or expansion. And let your attention rest here, exploring the sensation of this space.
You might also notice the inner peace that may have been in the background throughout the practice since the beginning. Relaxed, peaceful, calm. And from that space, allow for your intention or your wish of this practice to bubble back up into your awareness.
And from this place of physical and mental relaxation, imagine and feel it as if it were true now. Taking a moment to imagine your life with it is true. How does it change the way you live your life? How does it affect the way you relate to yourself and others? How does it feel with your wish or your intention coming true?
As we move toward completion, feeling your body resting here in this room, feeling your intention resonating through your body, your heart. And along with that feeling, the feeling of inner peace that’s pervaded the practice. Gradually deepen your breath, perhaps bringing gentle movement into your fingers and toes.
And when you are ready to move, take a few more breaths as transition.
If you’ve enjoyed this practice, and you want to dig into more of these sorts of Nidra practices, you might enjoy the 10 Day Reset. 10 days of rest and revitalization sleep meditation. And you can find that at functionalsynergy.com/reset. Have a great time exploring. Have a lovely day and we will see you next time.
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