A sleep meditation. Voice for about 25 minutes, then it fades away. No bell, no count back. Music underneath, and it keeps going after the voice stops
Tense and release, a countdown from ten, then a slow walk by a river where you throw the day in.
About 25 minutes, tense and release first. Only listen where it is safe to sleep.
Write down anything pressing before you start. The mind treats a written thing as handled. Then tense and release through the body, which is the part that actually gets you to sleep, then the countdown, then the bench by the river. Every thought that no longer serves you goes in the water. If you miss the instructions, that is it working.
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Thank you for sitting with me.
Steven
Who this is for
You want to be taken all the way under rather than gently settled.
This is the longest, slowest sleep meditation on the feed. Only listen somewhere it is safe to fall asleep. Not in a car, not while anything needs your attention.
What happens in this meditation
Some housekeeping first, and it earns its place. Write down anything pressing, because the mind treats a written thing as handled. Check the room is not too warm. Have some water.
Then stretch and release. Feet and legs, arms and hands, back and shoulders, neck, then everything at once. Then a scan for anything still holding, and do not forget your face.
Then the breathing. In calm, out relax, slowed and deepened right down into the belly, because that is how you breathe when you are asleep and doing it now tells your body where this is going.
Then ten down to one, getting heavier at each number, until you are part of the bed rather than lying on it.
Then a slow walk beside a river with birds somewhere and nothing else. A bench facing the water. And every thought that no longer serves you goes in the river as it arrives.
How to get the most from it
The file runs about an hour and I stop talking around twenty five minutes. After that it fades away to nothing, so nothing wakes you at the end.
Do not fight it if you go early. There is a line in it worth repeating: if you are already drifting, do not try to stay awake for the rest.
Missing the instructions is the meditation working, not you doing it wrong.
If you have an itch, scratch it. There is no need to lie there suffering, and that instruction is in the recording.
Questions people ask
Why does the page say an hour when the notes say twenty five minutes?
Both are right. About twenty five minutes of me talking, then a very long slow fade rather than a hard stop. This is the second longest tail of any of them.
Is there a bell or a wake up?
No. Nothing brings you back and nothing will jolt you awake.
What if I wake in the night?
Put it back on. Waking and checking your surroundings is a normal thing bodies do, and there is plenty of runway left on this one.
Does throwing thoughts in the river actually do anything?
It gives your mind a job at the exact moment it wants one, and the job is letting go rather than solving. That is a much easier instruction to follow at midnight than stop thinking.
Read along
The transcript
It follows the audio. Press any line to jump there.
sleep · evening · visualisation
Read the transcript
My name is Steven Webb and welcome to my sleep meditation.
Before we begin, please make sure you are in a position you can safely fall asleep. This meditation is not
designed to be listened to while driving or doing anything that needs your attention.
If you have anything on your mind that you need to do, now is a good time to write it
down. Your mind will then know you have taken care of it. Certainly make sure the room is not
too hot and ideally you are nicely hydrated with water for the night ahead.
I'll give you a few minutes to get comfortable. This means in a position you are happy to fall asleep.
It doesn't matter if you hear every word I say or you miss some.
Just the same, it doesn't matter if you follow these instructions exactly. The idea is to fall asleep.
To
allow your conscious mind to let go.
Your subconscious mind will still continue to listen to me as you gently drift off to sleep.
Let's do some stretches.
Let's start with your feet and your legs.
Stretch them out and hold them.
Hold them and relax.
Now let's stretch your arms and your hands and
hold them.
Hold them and
relax.
Now let's stretch your back and your shoulders.
Hold it. Hold
it. And relax.
Now let's stretch your neck.
Hold It
Hold it. And
relax.
Now we'll stretch everything.
And hold it. Hold
it. And
relax.
Now you should be able to settle back into your position.
The muscles should be more relaxed than before.
Now gently scan through your body, searching for any muscles that are still tense.
Starting from your feet, working up through your legs.
It doesn't matter how you scan through your body.
Don't forget to relax your eyes and your face muscles.
In a moment we're going to start taking notice of your breathing.
Just breathe normally.
And on the in breath you will breathe in calmness
And when you breathe out,
breathe out relaxing.
So in your mind, just think calm when you breathe in and
relax when you breathe out.
Now slow your breathing down.
Try to make it as deep as you can.
When we are asleep, we breathe from the base of our abdomen.
We breathe with our diaphragm.
The slower and deeper you breathe now,
you will start the process off before going sleep.
This will help your mind to
realise What
you want to do.
Every time you breathe out,
relax more muscles.
Your mind might keep wandering.
That's okay. That's perfectly normal.
Whenever you notice it wander, just give it a gentle smile and bring it back to the breathing.
Remember, breathe in calmness and breathe out to relax.
When your mind starts slowly closing down,
we'll start the journey into a deep sleep.
If you are already drifting off, that's good.
Don't fight it. Don't try to stay awake. And don't fight trying
to relax. Just
allow it to naturally occur.
It doesn't matter if you miss any of my instructions.
The idea is to close the mind down.
You see, in deep sleep your conscious mind is turned off.
Your subconscious mind takes over. And
that's fine.
We just need to let the subconscious mind know
not to interrupt the conscious mind
And to allow the conscious mind to drift into a deep sleep.
In a few moments, we're going to count back from 10
And each time we are going to relax even more
And allow the muscles to become very
heavy and
you'll sink into the bed in a really deep and relaxing manner.
So that's on your next deep breath, as
you breathe out,
relax deeper.
Let's start at number 10.
And with this breath, we're going to hold it for a few seconds. And
let's breathe in deep.
And now relax as you take. Slowly breathe out.
Nine. The
whole body will go heavier and sink even deeper in the bed as you breathe out.
Number Eight. This is where the tension in your face starts falling away.
Number Seven.
Parts of your mind are now closing down and getting ready to sleep for the night.
You can imagine them turning off.
If you feel uncomfortable or you have an itch, just
gently sort it.
There's no need to suffer. This is about naturally relaxing.
Number Six. Remember
to keep your breathing slow and deep.
Breathing in calm. Breathing out relaxed.
Number five.
Remember we are breathing from my diaphragm
right in the pit of our tummy
before Our arms and legs are gonna sink deeper into the bed.
Number three. You are now part of the bed.
The pillow and the bed. It
is holding you comfortably and securely for the night ahead.
Number three. You are now at one with the bed.
Number two. You are now so deeply relaxed it is almost impossible
to move. Every
muscle, every thought is slow and relaxed.
Number one. You
should now feel more relaxed and secure and comfortable than you ever have.
Parts of your mind are now shut down. Your body is now ready for a
deep sleep.
I'm going to take your subconscious mind on a small journey so
it allows your conscious mind to carry on in a deep sleep.
This journey requires nothing more but your awareness. No muscles. No thoughts. Just
really slow breathing. And just your subconscious mind being aware of this deep mindless journey.
While your conscious mind is switched off and in deep sleep, your subconscious mind sorts
out the day's thoughts and feelings. And that is what we're going to start to do now. We're
going to take a walk along a nice relaxing river.
It's flowing slowly down our left side.
You can hear the birds, but
it's just you, the gentle noise of the stream and the wildlife around.
After a while, you find a bench just on the bank facing the river.
As you approach the bench, you feel the need to sit down and relax.
You're feeling very tired.
You've had a long day
And your conscious mind needs a rest
While your subconscious mind
sorts everything out ready for a great day tomorrow.
This is your opportunity to remove all those negative and destructive thoughts by
throwing each one in the river as it arises.
Every single time you throw a thought that does not agree with a happy positive self,
it changes your mind colour from a bright yellow red To a nice blue
relaxing colour.
You're giving your subconscious mind permission to throw these things out.
They no longer serve your purpose.
They don't have to be part of your thinking.
Your mind is now almost totally turned off.
Apart from a few little blue specks of
awareness.
These are just there to keep you safe while you're in a deep sleep.
