Hey there. If you're listening to this, you're probably awake in the night trying to fall back to sleep. I imagine this is frustrating. So I'm here to keep you company and to help you out. How about we start by taking a deep breath together.

In deeply through the nose. Out through the mouth. Releasing any tension that you might be feeling in your body. And relaxing into the surface beneath you. A lot of times when we're up in the middle of the night the frustration that we feel creates extra tension in our mind and body.

We start thinking about the next day, all the things that won't go well, thinking we'll be tired, cranky, we won't have enough energy. But these things are stories. We don't yet know how the day will unfold. All we know is right now where awake. For whatever reason, the mind, the body decided that it's a good time to be awake.

So we'll start by just meeting that reality instead of fighting it and trying to force ourselves to sleep, which never works anyway. Let's just settle into what it's like to be awake. You're welcome to have your eyes open or closed. And maybe just start by noticing anything you perceive in your space, like sounds or the feeling of your body against the mattress, or the coziness of your covers. Maybe even the subtle rhythm of your breath moving throughout your body.

Even though you're awake when you might want to be asleep, chances are it's quite pleasant. Nobody needs anything from you right now. It's quieter than usual. You get to relax and just being in your bed. And so if we step outside of the thoughts that say we should be sleeping right now and drop into the reality of this moment, perhaps it's a little more pleasant than you realized.

And this moment, like any other moment, is a moment of your life. So let's just drink it in. We don't have to walk around and energize ourselves. But maybe there can be a soft awareness, a soft appreciation for this moment of stillness, of quiet, of being alive. And being awake for this moment of a aliveness.

Feeling the breath as it moves through your body. With every exhale, relaxing more deeply into this moment. And when you notice your mind caught up in thoughts, perhaps about tomorrow or judgments about this moment or frustrations or why you're awake, we just smile at the mind. You could even say hello, thoughts. I know, thoughts.

Thank you for sharing, thoughts. And then just come back to being in your body, the actual reality of this moment. The mind can create an infinite number of stories, ideas of how tomorrow will unfold. But we have no idea. All we know is what's here right now.

And so we relax into it. If the mind continues to stay awake, so be it. We're getting in good meditation time, good relaxation time. That in itself is restorative. And if we happen to drift back off to sleep, that's great as well.

And so continue to follow this rhythm of your breathing. If you'd like to take deeper breaths, you're welcome to, or the breath can move at its natural rhythm. But we'll really tuned into the softness, the ease and the letting go that comes with an exhale. Every exhale, see if you can relax one percentage point more. And even if you can't relax your mind or body, can you drop into a relaxed awareness around whatever's going on? Just watching my thoughts, moving through your mind.

Noticing and offering kindness and compassion to any tension that might be in your body. We can't force anything to change. All we can do is meet what's here with presence. With gentle awareness. Relaxing into this moment.

And if at any point you find yourself feeling frustrated, see if you can shift your relationship to this moment to one of gratitude. A simple recognition that you're alive right now, a peacefulness that might be here in this moment. The coziness of your bed. The breath moving through your body. You can allow this to just be a meditation.

And if it happens to take you to sleep, that's great. Nowhere else you need to be, nothing else you need to do. Just another moment of your life you get to tune into. Feeling your body breathing you. Inviting any tension that's in the body to relax.

If you do notice a certain area of your body that feels agitated, you can visualize on an inhale, the breath, moving into that region of the body and enveloping with kindness and care, like a warm blanket. And with the exhale, inviting it to relax. If at any point you get caught in thoughts, you can just come back to the mantra: just this breath, just this moment. Letting it settle your attention, relaxing into presence, soft awareness, and gentle gratitude for this moment of aliveness. We' ll soon becoming to the end of this meditation.

You're welcome to relisten if you'd like to spend more time practicing, or you can drift off into silence spending some time just breathing, relaxing. But just remember we can't force ourselves to fall back asleep. That will just create more tension. And so see if you can meet this moment as it is. Appreciating it while you are awake and letting that appreciation, perhaps soften and pacify the mind.

So that if it is ready to, it will transition into sleep. I wish you a restful evening. Thank you for your practice and take care.