Slow Your Mind Down Before Sleep: Guided Meditation (Written)
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Script inspired by:
How to trick your brain into falling asleep by Jim Donovan, TEDxYoungstown
Mental Bubble Bath Guided Meditations use scientific or professional insights into meditation and mindfulness as the basis for designing content. For our list of recommended, publicly accessible literature that inspires a lot of our discussions, please see our Recommended Readings section.
Accepting.
Before we begin, let’s find a peaceful place inside our mind.
A place that allows us to relax, and to focus.
Whether you are sitting up with your spine erect, in a chair or on the floor, or whether you are relaxing in bed…
Try to center your attention on how you are feeling in the moment
to become accepting.
After a long, busy day your body is full of sensations.
Perhaps you had a very exciting
and eventful day,
And you are full of pleasant memories,
Anticipation,
and even energy.
Or, perhaps your day was stressful
and challenging,
Which to this moment makes you
Analyze your actions,
bringing restlessness.
It’s also very likely that after your long day
You are feeling sore,
Exhausted,
But worried nonetheless
That you might not relax
Efficiently.
After all, your brain was active all day,
Full of thoughts, desires, impressions,
Making countless decisions every minute.
It’s not easy to merely hit the brakes
And get our mind to settle.
That’s perfectly normal.
You do not need to judge
Or reprimand yourself
For how you are feeling right now.
Instead, simply note the sensations in your body…
Muscle tension…
Wandering sensations…
A single strong feeling,
Or multiple changing ones…
Where they are and how they make you feel.
If a thought arises from the feeling,
Or a feeling arises from the thought,
Just make a note of it.
And bring your attention back to your body.
Take a slow… deep…
Breath
And direct it
Towards the areas where you feel
Tension inside your body.
As you exhale, watch your body
Let go.
Again,
A slow… long… inhale.
Fill in the areas
Where you might be feeling
uncomfortable sensations.
And exhale gently.
How can we guide our brain to slow down?
Even without you noticing,
Your mind had to do a lot of work today.
It had to respond to events
and tasks
Some boring, some unexpected,
Some actively distracting.
It had to process a gradient of feelings
and reactions
Some brief, some intense,
Some lingering long after.
We had to push ourselves to do certain tasks,
Pay attention, take in new information,
Make a note to remember things,
Feel frustration when we fail to do any of these,
Deal with pleasant and unpleasant thoughts
and people.
All of this
Our brain needed to achieve
Repeatedly
and in quick succession.
We have established a quick rhythm of events
For our brain to follow.
Let’s see if we can bring that rhythm out
And slow it down
Through a little easy exercise.
Let’s bring the hands to our lap.
Lay your hands down firmly
and take a breath.
Bring all of your attention to
How your hands are feeling
On top of your legs.
Listen to your brain’s quick succession of thoughts.
And begin tapping.
One hand after another,
Similar to drumming.
Lightly,
Persistently.
As if your brain is still working,
Like a ticking stopwatch.
Try to match the rhythm you feel
From inside of your brain.
Left-right, left-right, left-right.
Left-right, left-right, left right.
Until that rhythm comes naturally
To your hands.
Now,
Let’s take a very slow, deep breath.
We will be slowly counting to four.
Continue tapping persistently,
But focus your attention
On the breath.
Gentle, but deep inhale…
One… two… three… four,
and
Exhale,
One… two… three… four.
Again,
Inhale…
One… two… three… four,
and
Exhale,
One… two… three… four.
Your hands are still tapping to the rhythm
Of your ticking, working brain.
Note if the rhythm was affected
By your slow breathing.
It’s completely okay if the rhythm
Remained exactly the same.
Now we want to gently
guide our mind to slow down.
Feel your hands gently tapping on your legs.
Now, feel the palms of your hands relax,
Become lighter,
As they begin to tap a little slower.
Left, right,
Left, right,
Left, right…
And slower…
Left… right…
Left… right…
And slower…
Left…
Right…
Left…
Right…
Feel your hands…
Become feathery
Light…
Like your mind…
Gently,
Patiently…
Let your hands
slow down,
naturally,
To a stop.
Relaxed…
Slow…
Blissfully…
Quiet.
To finish,
Observe your breath.
And
Close your eyes.
