Hey, welcome to our sleep meditation.

Let's start by getting cozy.

Maybe you're already in bed or the

place where you want to fall asleep, or

maybe you're just starting to settle in.

So wherever you are, just see

if you can find a way to make

yourself just a little more relaxed.

Maybe your head is resting on the pillow.

You feel the covers around your body.

And there's just this sense that, ah,

there's nothing I need to do right now.

I'm going to give my body the

chance to restore itself and

recharge while I fall asleep.

It's a nice gift to give yourself.

So if you haven't already done

so, you can let your eyes close.

And know that at any point throughout this

meditation, it's okay to just fall asleep.

You don't need to finish it.

This meditation is designed to help

you get really calm and really sleepy.

So if that starts to happen, then great.

And in this meditation, we'll be

practicing letting our thoughts come

and go without creating extra stress.

I'm sure you've noticed how

sometimes the thinking mind can

make us scared, fearful, anxious.

And so in our meditation here,

we're going to practice how we

can change that a bit so that the

thoughts feel a little bit more calm.

But let's begin by first

relaxing our body even more.

One of my favorite ways to do this

is just by taking a deep breath.

So let's take a deep breath

in together through the nose.

Breathing in.

And slowly out through the mouth, exhale.

Doesn't that feel good?

Let's try it again.

We'll take a deep breath in

together through the nose.

Breathing in.

And then letting it all out

on an exhale, breathing out.

Letting the body relax more

and more each time you exhale.

Let's try it again.

One more.

Breathing in.

And all the way out.

Great job.

And anytime you feel tense or stressed,

or like your mind is kind of jumping from

one thing to another, like a frog jumping

on lily pads, just take a deep breath.

Bring all of your focus there.

Ah, and you should find that it helps to

calm your mind, helps to center your mind.

So you can let the breath just be

at its normal rhythm right now.

Feeling the coziness of

being in your sleep space.

Can you feel the warmth or

the coolness of your pillow?

Or maybe the soft, soft

fabric beneath you.

Almost squishy.

You can even imagine that you're

sleeping on a cloud right now.

How fun would that be?

And feeling the covers around you.

Keeping you safe, warm, protected.

I sometimes like to feel like

my covers are, are hugging me.

Almost like someone who

cares about me might hug me.

The covers are just saying, you're okay.

I'm here for you.

Maybe they're even saying, I love you.

How does that feel to think about that?

That your covers are keeping you nice

and safe and they care about you.

They want you to sleep well.

And they want you to

know that you're loved.

Now, as you're lying here in our

meditation, starting to get cozy and

relaxed and maybe a little sleepy, you

may notice that there are different

thoughts that can arise in the mind.

Sometimes these thoughts

are peaceful, loving, calm.

And other times these thoughts

can be about things that are scary

or worries that you might have.

When am I going to be okay?

And all of this is normal.

We all have these thoughts.

I have these thoughts too.

So one way that we can be with

these thoughts is we can watch

them move through our mind.

We can watch ourselves

think these thoughts.

But almost as if they were just

clouds passing through the sky.

Maybe think to a time that you've laid

down on the grass, looked up at the

sky and just saw all those clouds.

Oh, there's a cloud.

There's another cloud.

Another cloud.

And one of those clouds too.

Oh, they come and go.

They pass through the sky.

Well, the sky is like your mind and

your thoughts are like the clouds.

So if you see any thoughts coming

through your mind, see if you can imagine

that thought just sitting on a cloud

and then passing through your mind.

Just a thought.

Just a cloud.

Maybe it's a thought about

something that's going to happen

tomorrow, something that feels a

little scary or makes you nervous.

And so just see that thought

sitting on the cloud.

And it's just going through, passing by.

You just say, hi thought.

And notice how the thought can be there,

but you can still be calm in your body.

Letting the body relax.

Letting all your tension melt away.

The thoughts coming and going like clouds.

But you're at ease.

You know that you're safe.

And you know that it's just a thought.

It's just a thought.

It will come.

It will go.

And if it scares, you

can just watch it pass.

And then bring your focus just back

to feeling your body breathing.

Your body taking care of you.

So at any point in the night,

if your mind starts to think,

you don't have to get worried.

Just watch the thoughts like clouds.

Feel the coziness of your

bed, the covers, your pillow.

And just focus on your breathing

until the mind falls back asleep.

I hope you have pleasant dreams.

Sleep well and take care.