Get Sleepy by Firelight ✨ Rewind Sleep Meditation

[00:00:12] I'm Carissa Vacker and welcome back to Sleep Wave, a podcast where we let waves of relaxation wash over you through original sleep meditations created to help you fall asleep tonight. And don't worry if you don't hear the end of an episode. I encourage you to drift off whenever you're ready.

[00:00:31] Before we get started on tonight's episode, I'd like to say thanks again for all of the great ratings and reviews you guys have left us on Apple Podcasts and some of the other networks too. Tonight's big thanks goes out to 10-year-old Clara, who could never get to sleep before midnight, but since listening to Sleep Wave is able to get to bed earlier and has amazing sleep, this one's for you, Clara.

[00:00:56] If you too find that sleep has come easier since listening to Sleep Wave, and you've not yet reached out to us, please feel free to let us know and consider subscribing to support the show. You can enjoy ad-free listening, plus have access to two bonus episodes a month and my entire back catalog. It really is the best way to find easy sleep every night. The details are in the show notes.

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[00:01:48] Badewanne, Podcast und Herbst? Das wird nur getoppt von Alturs, Reisen und Günstig. Denn auch wenn dein Schaumbad zum Träumen von sonnigen Breitengraden einlädt, echte Südsonne bleibt unschlagbar. Und Alturs hat einfach die besten Ziele für dich. Ägypten, Kanaren, Griechenland, Türkei, Karibik. Nicht träumen, Alturs buchen. Alles drin, alles gut, alles für dich. Alturs, alles aber günstig. Jetzt im Reisebüro oder auf alturs.de.

[00:02:17] Happy New Year, Sleep Wave listeners. A new year brings a fresh start, and there's no better time to prioritize getting the rest you need to feel your best. If sleep has been a struggle for you, let me share something that has completely changed my nights. Oslo Sleep Buds. These tiny, soft-as-a-cloud earbuds are designed to help you tune out the world and sink into rest. Whether it's the hum of outside traffic, snoring partners, or just a busy mind,

[00:02:43] Oslo's noise-blocking technology helps block it all out so you can sleep easier. They've become a key part of my nightly routine, and they could be for you, too. With 10 hours of battery life, Oslo Sleep Buds let me stream my favorite calming meditations, music, or audiobooks all night long, whether it's Sleepiest, Spotify, or one of the hundreds of apps they're compatible with.

[00:03:06] Their sleek wireless charging case also keeps my nightstand clutter-free, perfect for starting the year with a calmer, more organized space. So if one of your resolutions is to improve your sleep and finally feel rested, Oslo Sleep Buds and Sleep Wave are the perfect pair to help you get there. Head to oslosleep.com forward slash sleepiest. That's o-z-l-o-sleep.com forward slash sleepiest for an exclusive discount. The link is at the foot of the show notes.

[00:03:35] Sweet dreams, and thank you, Oslo, for helping us all start the year with a great night's sleep. Hi, Sleepwavers. Happy New Year. As we step into 2025, there's no better time to focus on your sleep routine and set the foundation for restful nights ahead. That's why I'm so pleased to announce that we're offering a free 30-day trial of Sleep Wave Premium from January 6th to 20th. A perfect way to start the year off right.

[00:04:03] As a premium subscriber, you'll enjoy ad-free episodes, access to our entire back catalog of soothing content, and exclusive fortnightly Thursday bonuses. This month, I'm especially excited to bring you two special episodes. A meditation called A Fresh Start, tailored to help you set the tone for the year ahead, and a revisit to Lavenderfields Part 3, where we continue Faye and Lorenzo's story, a series I know so many of you have loved.

[00:04:31] There's truly no better time to invest in your sleep, and starting your free trial is easy. Simply tap the offer on Apple Podcasts, or use the Supercast link in the show notes if you're listening on another app. There's no commitment, and you can cancel any time. Your support for Sleep Wave means everything to me, and I can't wait for you to experience all the benefits premium has to offer. Here's to your most restful year yet.

[00:04:57] A couple weeks ago, we had a huge storm blow through. A day that had been slightly cloudy, but otherwise quite nice, turned suddenly dark and broody. And by late afternoon, we were all huddled in the hall with the doors closed and away from windows in case of a tornado.

[00:05:23] While the storm thankfully blew through quickly and with no damage besides some downed branches, it knocked our power out for five hours. My two-year-old thought it was a party, reading stories in the closet by flashlight as we were sheltering from the storm, then hanging out in the living room with no other light than the fire in the fireplace and candles all around the room. It was getting late, definitely time to put him to bed,

[00:05:51] but I felt slightly lost without our usual bedtime rituals. After I read him stories, I usually turn on his white noise machine and turn on his favorite song to drift off to as we rock and cuddle together until he gets sleepy enough to put in his crib. But that night, we rocked in the quiet together, listening only to the still-falling rain outside.

[00:06:17] It's wild how quiet it can be when not only your house, but everyone's around you is unplugged. After my son drifted off to sleep, I sat with Billy on the couch in front of the fireplace, and we both felt the quiet in a deep and lovely way. While there are lots of inconvenient and even disconcerting things about not having electricity,

[00:06:42] it was also striking to just be quiet. We talk a lot about being quiet and present on this podcast, but we usually have the lights on in our home or music playing somewhere or a child running around. Unplugging felt calming and maybe even a bit healing. Our minds are not meant to have continuous stimuli all the time,

[00:07:11] but we've become so accustomed to it that it feels odd to not have it. Meditation is conscious unplugging. You're saying, hey, I'm not going to react to my thoughts or my environments or even my physical sensations right now. I'm just going to be still with what is. Tonight, we're going to embrace this conscious unplugging with a cozy visualization meditation

[00:07:40] where we'll be warmed and comforted by glowing candles and a crackling fire as we wind down from the day. Take a deep breath into your belly. And let it out. Tonight is all about releasing any need to show up for anything or anyone but your own breath in this moment. Get comfortable as we meditate to

[00:08:10] Get Sleepy by Firelight by Billy Gill It's hard to imagine how different life must have been even a hundred years ago in most places with no electricity to illuminate our homes, pump our water, cook and store our food, provide heat in the winter

[00:08:39] and cool in the summer, much less provide us with constant entertainment and stimulation at the push of a button or a flick of a switch. Nowadays, with the advent of voice commands, a mere word can beckon the entire home to whirr and buzz with electrical activity. Scientists have found evidence that ancient peoples may have experimented with electricity

[00:09:08] over 2,000 years ago. In 1936, a clay pot was discovered in modern-day Iraq that contained copper plates, tin alloy, and an iron rod. It's possible that it was used to create an electric current by filling it with an acidic solution like vinegar. No one knows what the device was used for, but it suggests that human beings have been learning about electricity

[00:09:37] for a very long time. In 1600, William Gilbert, a physician to Queen Elizabeth I, invented the term electricity and was the first to recognize the connection between magnetism and electricity. Famously, Benjamin Franklin made several advances in his electrical experiments. He proved that lightning is a form of electricity,

[00:10:06] though the kite, which she flew into a thunderstorm, was not, in fact, struck by lightning, but picked up the electrical charge from the storm and went on to invent the lightning rod. Until his experiments in the mid-1700s, scientists had mainly experimented with static electricity, but it wasn't until the 1830s that Michael Faraday demonstrated the ability

[00:10:34] to generate electric power through other forms of force, a process called induction, laying the groundwork for Nikola Tesla's AC and Thomas Edison's DC current. Though there were several other inventors of the electric light bulb in the early 19th century, Edison became the most popular and practical, making electricity a part of everyday life in the 19th century. Still,

[00:11:04] it wasn't until about 1925 that half the homes in the U.S. were lit by electricity. Before this, most homes were still lit by gas lanterns, as they had been since the late 18th century, and candles, which were first mentioned as being used as early as 3,000 years ago. There's no denying that electricity has made life more comfortable, convenient,

[00:11:32] and progressively more prosperous for modern human beings. On the other hand, these advances have changed our habits and behaviors so drastically that despite the convenience and comfort technology has given to us, it hasn't come without a cost. People are spending more and more time looking at screens indoors and less and less time

[00:12:01] outside in natural settings. The beneficial effects of time spent in nature on mental and physical health are well known. There's a consistent link between feeling the inherent connection to nature and a sense of well-being. While spending more time alone and indoors with our devices can be isolating, spending more time outdoors and with nature

[00:12:30] has the opposite effect, giving rise to more pro-social behavior in both children and adults. The sense that we are connected to something larger enhances feelings of belonging to a community of friends and neighbors. As social beings, we are adapted to thrive in these kinds of close communities. As we connect with nature,

[00:12:59] we connect more deeply with other people. As we connect more deeply with other people, we connect more deeply with ourselves. Tonight's sleep meditation offers insights on how we might connect to our deepest selves by consciously disconnecting from technology. Life before modern conveniences was difficult in certain ways, and while those difficulties

[00:13:28] may have been relieved through technology, it's important that we don't lose sight of the joy that our ancestors may have nonetheless felt in their hearts with only candles and hearths to light their homes, singing and stories to entertain them, the sun, moon, and stars to guide their days and nights, and the revolving seasons to direct their years.

[00:13:57] As you settle into a comfy position in bed, imagine that you have returned to a time before electricity was so pervasive. Of course, there will still be signs that you are in a modern technological age, but allow your imagination to wander into a scene of candlelit rooms and a roaring fire. Small islands of light provide an area

[00:14:27] to read or write or knit or play cards. If you were to move around the house at night, an oil lamp might prevent you from stumbling over the furniture. The sounds of friends and loved ones singing favorite songs and playing instruments at the hearth. For centuries, the hearth

[00:14:55] was such an integral part of a home, usually its central and most important feature, that the concept has become a symbol of the home itself. To keep the home fires burning, meant to keep a home ready to receive someone back into the arms of their family and community when they returned from being away,

[00:15:28] was the sacred center of domestic happiness and blessings. Feel the warmth of that hearth now as you breathe at your own pace.

[00:15:44] In ancient Greece,

[00:17:06] Hestia was the goddess of the hearth. Her name means hearth, fireplace, altar. The root of the word from which Hestia was derived means to dwell, stay, or pass the night. The name refers to the household

[00:17:35] and the family. As Hestia was also the goddess of the altar, the hearth held the place of the sacred center of a home. The word hearth shares its ancestry with the word heart. In modern Greek,

[00:18:05] the word for heart is kardia, which also means heart as in cardiology. The wider concept of hearth and home refers to the family, which in Greek is ekos. Eko, as in the word ecology, comes from this concept of ekos.

[00:18:35] the sense of being connected to a larger unit like a family or even an ecosystem is central to the meaning of the hearth and the heart. as you allow the breath to rise and fall. Notice the gentle rhythm of your lungs. As you grow

[00:19:05] more, you'll notice the belly moving more than the chest. Be patient if the belly isn't moving very much in the beginning. sometimes a little residual tension in the belly keeps it from rising and falling with the breath.

[00:19:38] Just notice the waves of inhale and exhale with a little more emphasis on the pause at the bottom of the exhale. ever straining. Simply notice that pause before yielding to the impulse

[00:20:08] for a new inhalation. Breathe in.

[00:22:03] your body and whole personality have the quality of ecos as well. They are an ecosystem too. Your heart is your own personal hearth. Keep the home fires burning for yourself to return to the sacred center

[00:22:33] within you.

[00:24:38] As you breathe in, allow your chest to rise and fall. As you breathe, silently say to yourself, inhale, chest rising, exhale, chest falling,

[00:25:16] chest falling, chest rising, chest falling, chest rising,

[00:27:07] but your chest rising. The energy of the heart expands with each inhale, turns home with each exhale. chest rising, exhale, chest falling,

[00:27:36] chest rising, exhale, chest falling, chest rising, exhale, chest falling. Inhale, chest rising, exhale, chest falling.

[00:28:09] Begin to count the breaths at the chest as you breathe in, beginning at 27 and counting all the way down.

[00:28:33] Chest rising, 27. Chest falling, 26. Chest rising, 26. Chest falling, 25. Chest rising, 25. Chest falling.

[00:29:05] The level of the chest, the level of the heart, all the way down. If you lose count, start over at 27 to the level of the throat.

[00:30:43] Begin as you breathe in, beginning at 27, 27. Exhaling, 26. In, 26. Exhaling at the throat.

[00:31:33] If you lose count, start over at 27.

[00:33:19] Bring to the level of the nostrils. Begin to count the breaths at the nostrils as you breathe in, 27.

[00:33:35] All the way down the nostrils. 27. Exhaling at the nostrils.

[00:33:57] 26. Inhaling at the nostrils. 26. Exhaling at the nostrils.

[00:34:08] 25. Exhaling at the nostrils. 25. Exhaling at the nostrils.

[00:34:38] If you lose count, start over at 27. You are able to return to the silence of your own heart.

[00:35:51] Your own inner sanctum. The sacred center of yourself. You are truly connected. 28. Anstral. The Latin word for hearth is focus, is the focus of the home.

[00:36:17] And the heart is the focus of your meditation. meditate, we find the hearth and home of our being. By focusing attention, in sleep,

[00:36:38] you come home to rest in that sacred center of yourself. Connect deeply to your own heart.

[00:36:53] Imagine the glow of fire as the only light. It is the warmth. The love you feel for others

[00:37:14] emanates from this sacred center. You bring those you love into the hearth and home of your inner light, just as they bring you into theirs. You become a focal point for them as a refuge,

[00:37:40] a place to dwell and stay the night. We do the same. This is true connection.

[00:37:54] You belong to a community, a home, an ecosystem, a universe. See yourself sitting by the fire of

[00:38:17] your own heart and taking refuge for the night. This is the sacred center. Listen to the silence

[00:38:34] of the home. To the fire as it crackles in the heart. Listen to the silence of the earth. To the silence of the

[00:39:10] stars.