Mindful Rest

October 05, 2020

Mindful Rest

Information

With Michele Grand, LMT

ID5705

To CiteDCA Citation Guide

00:00Well, it's my privilege and honor to
00:03be with you in this guided meditation,
00:06an opportunity just to ground a little bit.
00:09Block out everything that's
00:10going on around us so that we
00:13can just have some peace within.
00:16Today we're going to just do an
00:18opening meditation to create
00:20a present time awareness,
00:22and then we're going to transition
00:24into a guided meditation around rest,
00:27rest, restfulness mindful rest.
00:28OK, so as we begin, just.
00:31Bring yourself into a comfortable
00:33seated position.
00:34You could sit cross legged or
00:36with your feet flat on the floor,
00:38whatever is most comfortable for you.
00:41You wanna sit up straight,
00:43not in a perfect rigid posture
00:45which is straight and relaxed.
00:47Soften your gaze.
00:51Take a breath and just
00:53gently close your eyes.
00:55Now without changing or
00:59controlling your breath.
01:02Were you attention to it?
01:05Maybe identify a specific sensation,
01:08perhaps at the tip of your nose.
01:13The roof of your mouth.
01:17Maybe notice the top of your chest,
01:19the back of your sternum,
01:21or wherever the breath
01:23may feel pleasant for you.
01:28In your head or softly out loud,
01:32repeat the following phrases.
01:35I am capable. I am calm.
01:40I am confident. I am relaxed.
01:46Just slowly, mindfully continue to
01:50repeat those phrases. I am capable.
01:57I am calm.
02:02I am confident.
02:06I am relaxed.
02:12If you find your mind is wandering,
02:15wandering, just pause.
02:16I just returned to your breath.
02:24With each inhalation.
02:28An escalation just continue with the
02:31thoughts to yourself. I am capable.
02:37I am calm.
02:42I am confident. And I am relaxed.
02:51Keep your focus on these phrases.
02:55Stayed completely present with the
02:58rhythm and the meaning. Of your words.
03:05And with the breath steady and fluid.
03:11I am capable.
03:18I am calm.
03:21I am confident. I am relaxed.
03:29Remembering the purpose of this
03:31meditation, like all meditations,
03:33is to cultivate an awareness
03:35of the present moment.
03:38Stay in the moment.
03:40Pre from striding, free from grid.
03:44We remain present.
03:48And observe how the meaning of the
03:50words affects your emotional state.
03:57Continuing with the breath,
04:00I am capable. I am calm.
04:06I am confident. I am relaxed.
04:17And now I'm gonna share useful
04:20technique to hopefully help you
04:23sleep longer with more ease,
04:26less anxiety and worry.
04:29For many of us,
04:31for so many reasons now more than ever,
04:34it could be very difficult falling asleep.
04:39We may have repeating thoughts
04:41that won't seem to stop.
04:43Maybe memories of what happened today
04:46and the days prior to you and worry
04:50about the future keep coming up.
04:53Thinking about our plans or fantasies and
04:57worries about tomorrow, keep resurfacing.
05:00And energy that we have in our body
05:05may keep you tossing and turning.
05:08All the while frustrations around
05:11not sleeping fuel the worry and
05:14restless energy in our minds,
05:17ironically preventing us
05:18from feeling relaxed, calm.
05:20And peaceful, this is much more
05:24common than than you may think,
05:27and you are not alone in
05:30having this experience.
05:32We live in a society,
05:35particularly now filled with expectations,
05:37pressures, stresses, unknowns.
05:39It's no wonder that our minds are filled.
05:43With media, images,
05:46news stories.
05:48Maybe some financial stress worries about
05:51our love ones and the list goes on and on.
05:55This has always been true.
05:56Then maybe now more than ever.
05:59Just hearing me talk about these
06:02things may create a physical
06:04reaction and you have tightness,
06:06tension or he you may feel
06:09that just thinking about what
06:11we do before we go to bed.
06:13This is understandable and again,
06:15it's very common.
06:16Our minds will be filled with one or more
06:19of these stressors on a consistent basis,
06:21preventing us from getting as
06:23much rest as we would like,
06:25and as much rest as we need.
06:27Unfortunately,
06:28there are ways to address this,
06:31and we're going to come cover
06:33some of these ways right now,
06:36such as getting to know the
06:39bodily sensations of worry,
06:41anxiety, and trauma.
06:43Wherever it feels most predominant.
06:46And we're not going to feed into the
06:49energy of this with our thoughts.
06:52But again,
06:53there's other useful math methods
06:55when it's time for sleep and rest.
06:58That's important for our body and
07:00mind to function at its best.
07:03What we can do each night potentially
07:05is adjust the temperature in our
07:08bedroom to be around 68 degrees,
07:10which is the ideal temperature for sleeping.
07:13We can do this with fans, windows heaters,
07:16or whatever works for you.
07:18And at 68 degrees feels too cool.
07:22Put an extra blanket around you
07:24which will not interfere too
07:27much with the benefits of having
07:29the air around 68 degrees.
07:32In the hours before going to
07:34sleep or taking a nap,
07:36maybe try to avoid upsetting music.
07:39Worrying about news report or anything that
07:42tends to trigger your mind into worry.
07:45Stress or discomfort.
07:47It's also important to sleep in a room
07:51that says dark as possible without any TV,
07:56tablet or mobile screens around you.
07:59Indicating to your eyes and your
08:03brain that it's time for rest.
08:06Then when you lay down,
08:08try to lay flat on your back.
08:11And for the moment,
08:12we're just going to emulate what
08:15we can do before we go to sleep this evening.
08:18So if you can lay back, that's fine.
08:21If you can't just relax into your seat now.
08:26Feel the weight of your body pressing
08:29against the fabric of your seat, your chair,
08:32or whatever you may be laying down on
08:36and just notice what that feels like.
08:39Just notice the sensations of your
08:42body being relaxed an at rest.
08:47Take some deep breaths.
08:50Allow the body to relax.
08:56And just notice. What it feels like.
09:06Just allow yourself to simply be there now,
09:09emulating what it would feel like
09:12when you get into bed in the evening.
09:16And just bring yourself into a total
09:21feeling of calm and relaxation.
09:24And enjoy the feeling.
09:28Offer last two. You're tired,
09:31weary mind and body.
09:36Then notice any sensations in your body
09:42consciously releasing any tightness
09:45or tension from each body part.
09:49Just move from one body part to the next.
09:55You could start at the tip of
09:57your head or you could start at
10:00your toes and just gradually move.
10:03From either the toes.
10:06Upward or from the head downwards.
10:11Just notice an release.
10:17As you continue their deep Blacks.
10:23Just continue this with this sense
10:27of calm with curious kind NIS.
10:31Gifting yourself the spaciousness
10:34an embodiment that you so deserve.
10:43Offer yourself a genuine sense of care.
10:49Anna lightly held wish for peaceful sleep.
10:54Sweet dreams. And refreshed body.
11:00So notice how you feel.
11:04Are you more relaxed and at ease
11:08more peaceful? Then before.
11:13I recommend using this technique each
11:16night so that you will hopefully get
11:19better and better at learning how to
11:23prepare your body for a full nights rest.
11:26It may not work 100% of the time,
11:30but with practice.
11:31You'll notice that if you bring a
11:35genuine sense of care and some effort
11:38to soften the sensations of the body,
11:41you will gradually taste the fruits of
11:45reducing worry, anxiety and stress.
11:48An increasing calm relaxation
11:51and a sense of peace and ease.
11:57It's perfectly normal and understandable
11:59to at times feel frustrated by a
12:03mind that's filled with stress.
12:05It's coming and it makes sense given
12:09everything on our plate sometimes.
12:12But each night, just try to remember to
12:15sleep in a dark room that's around 68
12:19degrees without any mobile screens around.
12:22And when you lie down.
12:25Feel the bed. Feel the weight.
12:29Have your body on the bed feel the areas
12:32of tightness or tension in your body.
12:36And continually soften and loosen
12:39the different areas of your body as
12:43you breathe naturally. And calmly.
12:47I hope these tips and exercises will
12:51be useful to you and will create a
12:55sense of ease and restful sleep.
12:58When you're ready,
13:00just take a mindful breath in.
13:05An release. Glad if your eyes are closed now.
13:10Just open your eyes.
13:13Stretch your arms out to the
13:16left and the right. Take your.
13:18With and move them gently around in both
13:22directions as you continue to stretch,
13:26press your poms outward to
13:29the left and to the right.
13:32With a deep breath in arms overhead.
13:37And Exhale into prayer pose.
13:42Take your arms gently and just
13:44give yourself a hug.
13:46Just feeling. The love inside.
13:51OK, thank you so much for
13:54being here today and joining.
13:58I hope each night as you lay down to rest,
14:02you can implement these exercises
14:04and little by little day by day.
14:06Hopefully,
14:07you'll notice that you're able to just
14:10associate laying down to sleep with a clear,
14:12peaceful mind,
14:13just not bringing in the thoughts of the day.
14:16The thoughts of the future into you,
14:19not looking at your phone at your
14:22iPad at your TV before you go to bed,
14:25and it's just your time for
14:27resting with juvenation, OK?
14:29So may the long time sunshine upon
14:31you and all love surround you.
14:33Your pure light within you guide
14:35your way on guide your way on.
14:37Thank you for joining wishes for health,
14:40peace and happiness and I hope
14:42to see you again next week be.