Stay Asleep Through the Night ✨ Guided Meditation for Insomnia

[00:00:10] Good evening and welcome to Sleep Wave. I'm your host, Carissa, and I'm so delighted you're here tonight. Our episode tonight is specifically for those nights when you awaken and are having trouble going back to sleep. This is our weekly free episode. Did you know that subscribers get two bonus episodes a month, plus entirely ad-free listening? We'd love it if you'd join us as a subscriber. Details below your podcast player.

[00:00:38] Waking in the middle of the night is something I often struggle with. I used to sleep well and deeply every night, but then life, motherhood, etc., entirely changed my relationship with sleep. I usually can drift off easily because I'm exhausted, but the 3am wake-up is a common occurrence and I am all too familiar with the sight of my ceiling in the middle of the night.

[00:01:04] The most reliable tool I have for conquering the middle of the night insomnia is meditation. It takes the pressure off the need to get back to sleep. And instead, I just focus on relaxing, breathing, and being present. When I can accomplish those three things, sleep naturally happens. If you're anything like me, it's those intrusive thoughts that keep you up at night. The things you have yet to do, the

[00:01:34] the lingering worries, the anxiety over tomorrow. So taking time to just simply watch those thoughts gives you a wonderful opportunity to practice creating distance between yourself and stressful thoughts, which will not only send you off to sleep, but will also benefit every other area of your life. Before we begin, our only ad break, which helps make this show possible.

[00:02:02] To listen ad-free, follow the link in the show notes. Tonight's episode of Sleep Wave is sponsored by Vinted. Every so often, I open my wardrobe and realize how many clothes are taking up space without being worn. You know the ones. You think their moment will come, but somehow it never does. Vinted offers a practical way to clear some of that space. It's a secondhand marketplace app where everyday people can sell pre-loved fashion and earn some extra money.

[00:02:32] I like the idea that clothes I bought for special occasions can now have their own story with somebody else rather than sitting forgotten at the back of a wardrobe. Listing items on Vinted is quick and simple and there are no seller fees, so you keep everything you earn. Once something sells, Vinted also creates the prepaid shipping label for you. So if your wardrobe is feeling crowded, Vinted could help you make some space and be less wasteful at the same time. Ready to clean out your closet and make some extra money?

[00:03:02] Download the Vinted app for free and start listing. With no seller fees, you keep every dollar you earn and for a limited time, enjoy free shipping in the U.S. on Vinted. All right, friends. Let's cozy up and meditate together with this gentle practice Billy has written for us.

[00:03:31] If you're awake right now, sleep may feel like it is nowhere in the room. It may not even be in the building. Maybe it never quite arrived, or maybe it was here and something woke you. Either way, it's okay to feel frustrated. It's okay to feel however you feel. Feelings can be compared to a sort of inner thermostat. Instead of gauging the air,

[00:04:02] they provide a reading of your inner environment. If frustration is prominent, it may be your thermostat letting you know that you think things shouldn't be this way. Fair enough. Maybe they shouldn't. But you don't have to repair the whole night right now. The first step is simply to read the thermostat. So take a breath now and feel whatever you're feeling.

[00:04:31] You don't have to name it or understand it. Just let it be here. Breathe in through your nose. Breathe out through your mouth. Wasn't trying to change anything. Even for a brief moment. Simply letting things be.

[00:05:04] You may notice just a bit of relief. Everything moves between activity and stillness. Somewhere between the two is a natural balance. One you don't have to create. Give your body a chance to remember it. Letting things be as they are is,

[00:05:31] in itself, balanced. They won't be that way forever. But trying to get around what's here creates more tension. Breathe with what's here.

[00:06:52] Feel the back of your head resting against the pillow. Feel the weight of your shoulders. Your back. Your hips. Your legs. Let the bed. You don't have to hold it yourself.

[00:07:18] Notice the covers touching your skin.

[00:07:54] The air around your face. The coolness of the breath as it enters your nose. And the slight warmth as it leaves. There is no need to breathe deeply. Or in any particular way.

[00:08:23] Your breath already knows how to continue. As you breathe out, release the need to figure out the rest of the night. Let your jaw become a little less involved. Let your tongue rest. Let the small muscles around your eyes soften.

[00:08:55] The room may still contain sounds, but they can remain in the background. Let yourself become a little more drawn to nearer sounds. Perhaps even inner sounds. The sound of your own breath. The gentle rhythm of your heart.

[00:09:25] The sound of inner silence.

[00:09:28] If a thought draws you away,

[00:10:02] notice it, and then return. Don't try to push the thought away. In they go. Let them enter and exit easily. As though you have a swinging door in your mind.

[00:10:30] Simply return to the weight of your body on the mattress of the bed. The rise and fall of your breath. Each return is a small adjustment of the inner thermostat, allowing the body to settle toward balance.

[00:11:35] Still be awake. Awake is not a permanent condition. It's simply what is passing through you at this moment. Change. Moods change. Dreams change. Waking and sleeping.

[00:12:03] There is nothing you have to force. Let yourself rest here. Exactly as you are.

[00:13:20] Glows in waves. Times deep. Sometimes near the surface. Sometimes the waves of sleep crest into wakefulness. Nothing has gone. This is part of the physiology of sleep.

[00:13:47] We associate waking up with outward action. Awareness turns toward the room. Begins listening. Looking. Searching. For something that might require your attention.

[00:14:16] Waking doesn't have to be a call to the outer world. You can wake. And remain turned inward. Awareness can rise toward the surface. While the body remains at rest. Like a wave reaching its crest.

[00:14:47] And then folding quietly back.

[00:15:27] Feel the breath moving in and out. And let your attention rest on its natural flow. There is nothing else you need to do. This gentle attention allows awareness to remain close to sleep.

[00:15:57] It gives the brain something calm. Quiet. And familiar. And familiar. There is no need to turn up the volume of the outer world. Sounds can remain soft and distant. Feel the breath moving in and out.

[00:16:26] And let your attention rest on the breast softly. And let your eyes rest on the breast softly. Behind your eyelid. Let your attention stay close to the body. Closer than it might during the day.

[00:17:00] Draws in. Darkness invites you to do the same. To give space to the subtle sensations beneath the surface.

[00:17:24] Imagine the night as existing outside of time altogether. There is no need to account. It's as though you've entered a space where time can stretch.

[00:17:57] Each breath becomes a moment.

[00:18:00] A movement toward the inner world.

[00:19:00] That becomes more loose. As you descend.

[00:20:41] It moves with the breath. And responds. Moment to moment. When the belly moves in this way. As you breathe in.

[00:21:09] It moves into a more parasympathetic state. Which is the body's own system. For regulating. And resting.

[00:21:22] Holders spread wide across the back. And the hands.

[00:21:50] Feel your legs become sinking in. The whole spine is supported.

[00:22:18] And arms suspended. Your attention rests on these sensations. They're so close. You don't have to reach for them. Sleep is not out there either.

[00:22:48] It's gathered here. In this nearness. A little closer. Nestled within.

[00:24:02] Notice the air entering the nostrils. Slightly cool. Notice it leaving. Slightly warm. The small expansion across the rib.

[00:24:32] Your body knows how to continue this essential rhythm. Without your conscious direction. You can influence the breath. But you don't have to. Let the breath breathe.

[00:26:05] A little longer. Forcing. You're simply content. Nothing urgent. Nothing approaching. Nothing you need to prepare for. Just breathe in.

[00:27:51] Feel. Notice the palm. Any warmth. Feel the softness around the eye.

[00:28:29] The jaw releasing its grip. Jaw. Jaw. Tongue resting easily inside the mouth. Notice the throat. And the front of the neck.

[00:28:59] The chest opening with each inhale.

[00:30:44] Feel the thighs growing heavy. The soles of the feet softening.

[00:32:11] Experience the whole body together. One field of sensation. The whole body breathing.

[00:32:33] The whole listening to the silence beneath every sound.

[00:35:22] Remember that silence is always speaking. It comes first. It's like the watercolors that paint on the canvas of silence. Appearing for a moment.

[00:35:50] Then fading back into what has quietly been there. All is nearer than weight.

[00:36:24] It softens throughout your whole being. And the body becomes one quiet field of sensation. Each inhale.

[00:36:56] Each exhale. Spread.

[00:38:44] There's a piece that arrives when we stop demanding an outcome. Let your attention rest upon the breath. Touching. Illuminating.

[00:39:09] Without the last part of this wave.

[00:40:27] Which rises into waking. And falls deeply back into sleep. Has already begun to sink below the surface. In this transition. There's very little to do. The breath is already quiet.

[00:41:01] Is already relaxed. Things be.

[00:42:31] The eyes are soft. The breath is quiet. And the breath moves by itself. Sleep. Gathers here.

[00:43:03] There is nothing to solve. Nothing to follow into the outer world. And nothing you need.

[00:43:30] Let each breath arresting together.

[00:43:59] His even ears become softer now. Not too clear. And not too fuzzy.

[00:44:30] Fading back into silence. Rest here.

[00:46:50] Feeling. It's like listening to the silent roar. Just giving space. To what's here.

[00:47:22] And listening a little closer. Listen even closer. Nearer still.

[00:50:01] Drift nearer. The sounds. To the presence. Deep within. What lies beneath the surface. Reveals. That it has always been there. The movement. At the surface. Doesn't disturb.

[00:50:30] The peaceful calm. There is something still. To which you may return. Again. And again. And replenishment. Nothing of you. It is there for you.

[00:50:59] Whenever you need it.