As this audio podcast jumps right into the meditation, without any "administrative announcements" please review the following steps in preparation for this Guided Meditation:

• Find a comfortable position - either lying down or sitting comfortably (and safely - don't fall out of your chair if you fall asleep).
• A silent space free of external distractions is best.
• Gently close your eyes or fix a low gaze, letting your eyelids rest naturally.

Now listen intently as Will guides you through this meditation. 

If you get distracted, make note of the distraction and gently bring your attention back to the practice. 

If you fall asleep, don’t worry. You probably needed the sleep! This podcast will be here for you whenever you wish to return to it. 

You're encouraged to visit my Patreon page. If you find value in this podcast, please consider supporting its production. https://www.patreon.com/will_i_om

In this exercise, I'm going to share a useful technique to sleep longer,

with more ease and less anxiety or worry.

For many people around the world, it can be very difficult, falling asleep.

Repeating thoughts won't seem to stop.

Memories of what happened that day keep coming up.

Plans, fantasies and worries about tomorrow continue resurfacing.

Energy in the body keeps you tossing and turning.

All the while, frustrations around not sleeping fuel the worry and

restless energy in the mind.

Ironically, preventing you from feeling relaxed, calm, and peaceful.

This is more common than you think.

We live in a society filled with expectations, pressures, and stresses.

It's no wonder that our minds are filled with media images, news stories, financial

stressors worries about loved ones.

The list goes on.

Hearing me talk about these things probably creates a physical reaction

in you of tightness, tension, or heat.

Can you feel that?

Well, that's very understandable and very common that our minds would be filled

with one or more of these stressors on a consistent basis, preventing us from

getting as much rest as we would like.

I get it.

Fortunately, there are many ways to address this.

Some of which we cover in the other exercises of this path, such as getting

to know the bodily sensations of worry of anxiety and trauma, wherever

it feels most predominant without feeding the energy with thoughts.

But there are other methods particularly useful when it's time for sleep and rest

the rest that is so important for your body and mind to function at its best.

First try to adjust the temperature in your bedroom to be around 68 degrees.

The ideal temperature for sleeping, you can do this with fans, windows,

heaters, whatever works for you.

If that feels too cold, please put an extra blanket over you, which will not

interfere too much with the benefits of having the air around 68 degrees.

Next in the hours before going to sleep or taking a nap, try to avoid

upsetting music or reading news reports or anything that tends to trigger your

mind into worry, stress or discomfort.

Also, it's important to sleep in a room that is as dark as possible

without an ATV tablet or mobile screens around indicating to your eyes

and brain that it's time for rest.

Then when you lay down, try to lay flat on your back.

If that's comfortable for you and keep your legs uncrossed.

See if you can feel the sheets or bed underneath you feel the weight

of your body pressing against the fabric of the cloth of the bed.

What does that feel like?

Notice the felt sensations of the body, lying down, take some deep breaths and

relax the body as you notice what it feels like simply to be lying down.

Allowing yourself to simply be there, enjoying the relaxation

and rest that you are offering your tired, wary mind and body.

Then it's important to enjoy noticing the sensations of the body consciously

releasing any tightness or tension from each body part to the next.

Noticing and releasing.

All with a sense of calm, curious, kindness, gifting

herself, the spaciousness and embodiment that you so deserve.

You continue doing this throughout the body, wrapping it up with an

exercise of wishing yourself and others, a genuine sense of care, and a

lightly held wish for peaceful sleep, sweet dreams, and a refreshed body.

It's really quite simple.

Let's try this together now.

You can position yourself lying down now or if that's not possible,

you can sit and do the majority of the exercise on a chair.

How do you feel?

More relaxed?

At ease?

More peaceful than before?

I recommend using this technique each night so that you will get better

and better at learning how to prepare the body for a full night's rest.

It may not work 100% of the time, but with practice, you'll notice that if

you bring a genuine sense of care and some effort to soften the sensations

in the body, you will gradually taste the fruits, of reduced worry, anxiety

and stress and increased, calm, relaxation, and a sense of embodied ease.

So to recap, remember it's perfectly normal and understandable

to feel frustrated by a mind that is filled with stress.

It's common and it makes sense given everything on our plates sometimes.

Try to sleep in a dark room that is around 68 degrees without screens around.

When you lay down, feel the bed, feel your weight, feel areas of tightness

or tension in the body and continually soften and loosen different areas of the

body as you breathe naturally and calmly.

I hope that these tips and this exercise will be useful for you.