Sleep Meditation - Coming Home to the Breath

So, welcome back to another guided sleep meditation.
So, taking some time to find a comfortable posture or position in your bed.
Making whatever adjustments you need to make in order to feel at ease and comfortable.
And taking a few moments just to relax the body.
Coming into a place of stillness and ease.

We can start by taking a few deep breaths.
So, breathing in deeply and breathing out slowly.

Doing that one more time, taking a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
And as with before, if you found it helpful or comfortable you can place one hand on your belly and another hand on your chest.

And doing this can help give you a sense for the movement of the breath.
In this laying down posture with a hand on the belly or the chest it’s very easy to get a sense for how the breath moves.

As you breath in, feeling the in breath.
And as you breath out, feeling the out breath.

And at the beginning of this practice you might try extending the breath.
Perhaps taking a few longer inhales and exhales.

If you find it useful you can use a four-count on the breath.
Breathing in for four.
And breathing out for four.

Now breathing in 2, 3, 4.

Breathing out, 2, 3, 4.

Breathing in, 2, 3, 4.

Breathing out 2, 3, 4.

And you can continue that at your own pace as long as you like.

You can stay with the four-count breathing or at any point you can always return your breath just to its natural rhythm.
Letting the body breath itself.

And in today’s practice you can use the breath as our anchor point.
Learning how to come back to the breath.
Using the breath as our home base.

And so just noticing where in the body you feel the breath most clearly.
As you breath in and as you breath out, where do you feel the breath?
What physical sensations do you notice?

You might notice the rising and falling of the belly and the chest.

You might notice the ribcage expanding and contracting.

You might also be aware of air passing in and out at the entrance of the nostrils.

And choosing one spot where you feel the breath most clearly and letting this be your anchor point.
A point where you come back to.

I often recommend using the belly, the center of the abdomen but feel free to use whatever feels best for you.
The key is to pick one spot.

Choosing that one spot and starting to cultivate some curiosity about what does the breath feel like in that location.

As you breath in and as you breath out, what do you notice?
What sensations can you feel?

Eventually you’ll notice that your mind has wandered off.
Whenever you notice, you can just gently guide your attention back to your anchor point.

Reconnecting with the breath.

Feeling the in breath and feeling the out breath.

And on your out breath, you can use that moment to let go of any tension or stress.

Whenever you breath out, allowing yourself to sink more fully into your bed and sink more fully into sleep.

Coming back to the feeling of the breath.
Allowing your mind and your body to settle.