Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - A Restful Meditation for Times of Uncertainty

Starting point is 00:00:00 Get Sleepy is a production of Slumber Studios and is made possible thanks to the generous support of our sponsors and premium members. If you'd like to listen ad-free and access weekly bonus episodes, extra long stories and our entire back catalogue, you can try out premium free for 7 days by following the link in the episode notes. Now, a quick word from our sponsors. This is a paid advertisement from BetterHelp. As a podcast listener, you've heard from us before. Today? Let's hear what members have told us. One member said, I would recommend my therapist 1000 times over. She has truly changed my life. Another member said, the day after my first session, my friends and family said I sounded like myself again,

Starting point is 00:00:47 for the first time in weeks. You deserve to invest in your well-being. Visit BetterHelp.com to see what it can do for you. That's better, H-E-L-P dot com. Welcome to Get Sleepy. When we listen, we relax, and we get sleepy. My name's Tom and it's such a pleasure to have your company. We have something special for you all tonight, a meditation to invoke deep relaxation, self-compassion and reassurance, particularly for times of uncertainty. Shifting our mindset and increasing our capacity to sit with uncertainty can reduce stress and contribute to better quality sleep. This meditation is designed for bedtime but you can also return to it

Starting point is 00:01:55 any other time you would like. It was written by Nicole, who always finds the perfect cadence for these mindful, meditative pieces, many of which you can find exclusively on our Get Sleepy Premium feed. There, you can enjoy a completely ad-free listening experience, with a choice of over 700 full length stories and meditations, including extra long episodes and series stitches. Plus, every Thursday we release a brand new bonus episode just for our premium subscribers. Tomorrow Nadim will be reading our story, which is told from the perspective of a sweet dog who helps children develop their reading confidence at a local library.

Starting point is 00:02:54 Just as we always have been, we're still just a small, hardworking team doing our best to help the world get better sleep. So your support really does mean so much to us. Try Get Sleepy Premium and enjoy all the sleepy content you could possibly need completely ad free. The first seven days of your subscription are free of charge. Visit GetSleepy.com slash support or follow the link in the show notes to learn more. Thank you so much my friends. Now for many of us uncertainty feels uncomfortable, almost like the ground has dropped out from beneath us.

Starting point is 00:03:48 We can feel unsettled when faced possibility. Learning to hold both the groundlessness and the possibility together can help us become more comfortable when things are unpredictable. Before we begin our meditation, let's take a few moments to get comfortable. Adjust any pillows or blankets you might be using and create a cozy space that you can rest in. If taking deep breaths helps you relax, take a few slow and exhaling through the nose or mouth. Now, notice the ground beneath you. If you were standing, this would be your feet on the floor. But now, it might be the parts of your body that are touching the bed or a couch.

Starting point is 00:05:43 Feel a sense of stability and support from below. And know that the ground isn't going anywhere let's begin our meditation As human beings, we prefer to know what's coming, to be prepared, and to maintain some semblance of control. That's how we make sense of the world, organize our experiences, and make plans. Yet, despite our preferences for predictability, many things in life are unpredictable. In fact, the only thing we can really count on is change itself. In times of change, we swim in liminal spaces with no clear path in sight. These in-between spaces can be confusing and disorientating. When faced with the unknown, our response is often to fix the situation or to run or shut down. Many of us simply don't have the capacity to really sit with the discomfort that arises from times of uncertainty.

Starting point is 00:07:54 But what if we did? What if fighting or fixing or freezing wasn't our default response and instead we practiced relaxing into the experience and allowing it to be just as it is. What if we could accept that there is no for rebirth? As a creative force that can launch us into a new way of being? to slow down and imagine what else might be possible what if we could learn to see uncertainty as a gift Notice what arises in your body as you hear these words. Perhaps imagine a situation in your life that feels uncertain and in between. What would it be like to see this experience as a gift rather than a stressor? Take a few moments to contemplate, breathing deeply if you'd like. As caterpillars transform into butterflies, they first enter the protective space of a cocoon. From here, their old form completely dissolves, and they enter an intermediate state between what is no longer and what is still to come.

Starting point is 00:10:52 The Caterpillar can't possibly know that in this liminal state they will transform into form into a beautiful butterfly and fly freely as an evolved version of themselves. And yet, this is the very future that awaits them. In the beginning, imaginal cells spark the way. These cells are only catalyzed once the caterpillar's form melts down into something else. Something new. From here, an almost magical process takes place. The imaginal cells hold the blueprint of what is to come, the vision for what is possible for the caterpillar. A vision that the caterpillar cannot cast for itself, yet still unfolds, one spark of imagination at a time.

Starting point is 00:12:30 We can't always know what the future holds for us or what is on the other side of the chasm of uncertainty. The uncertainty of what is no longer is difficult to hold. And yet, there is magic in it. There is potential for something new to emerge. From endings come new beginnings. Periods of blight are often followed by renaissance, Letting go, can there be space for new ways of being, of stress and resistance to a place of relaxation and imagination? We learn to practice mindfulness and self-compassion. We allow things to be just as they are, and we intentionally uplift our narratives. With practice, we can learn to stay in the gulf of change and sharpen our vision there. We can practice waking up to how things really are, rather than how we wanted them to be. And we can touch our discomfort by noticing how we try to avoid it. In this willingness to see the truth lies our freedom.

Starting point is 00:14:55 Let's take a little pause to breathe. Take a full, deep breath into your belly, and exhale, slowly letting the breath back out. Deep breath in Slow breath out Now, call to mind a situation in your life that feels uncertain uncertain. How does this experience feel in your body? Does it feel like stress, fear, grief? Is there a prickle of anxiety or an urge to hide under the covers? Perhaps there's confusion or resistance or maybe something else. Notice the unique textures and sensations of your own uncertainty. Take another slow, intentional breath if that feels helpful for you.

Starting point is 00:16:53 Feeling the breath all the way in and all the way back out. Now, also notice how you habitually respond to these sensations. Do you try to push them away or create a storyline about them? Do you criticize yourself? Are you impatient or frustrated? As you touch into what is present, take another deep breath and allow everything to be just as it is. You might even choose to place a hand over your heart or connect to your heart space in another way. Practice offering yourself some compassion in this moment of uncertainty. Now, imagine gathering up everything that feels hard about this time of uncertainty and placing it all into a terracotta pot.

Starting point is 00:18:33 As you peer down into the pot, you see all of your challenging emotions, limiting beliefs, and outdated stories in a pile. And as you look at these difficult raw ingredients, your vision begins to shift. to shift. You can now see potential and a path forward to growth. You take a handful of soil and fertilize the pot. As you use your hands to knead the difficult emotions, sensations, habits, and stories, you witness everything mixing together and nourishing the soil. The conditions for transformation are rich in this environment, and you feel overcome with a sense of awe and possibility. You stay with this feeling of awe as you give yourself permission to dream about what else might emerge here. You allow your dreams to be boundless, unfettered by any limitations, everything is possible at this moment. Notice what it feels like in your body to be in a space of vision and wonderment.

Starting point is 00:20:53 What sensations do you notice? inspiration, gratitude, or hope? What does it feel like to be in such a receptive state? Now, imagine each one of your dreams taking shape shape as tiny seeds. You are holding a handful of seeds and you begin planting them into the terracotta pot and covering them up with the fertilized soil. You carefully tuck each one into the dirt and place the pot in the sun. You visualize the compost nourishing the seeds as they rest in this fertile ground. The terracotta pot is the cocoon, and the seeds are the imaginal cells. Underneath the surface, a metamorphosis is underway. You feel at peace and unhurried with the process as it unfolds. There is a deep knowing in your bones that

Starting point is 00:23:12 nothing is lost and everything is possible. There is no more striving, pushing, or resisting, only relaxing and allowing something new to emerge. Now, visualize the seeds sprouting, one by one. Each sprout represents a dream actualized. a butterfly flying away from its cocoon, potential and possibility embodied. Picture each one of your dreams coming to life right before your eyes and feel that this is happening in the present time. What sensations do you notice in your body? it feel like to see that your dreams are coming true? Can you welcome a feeling of relaxation, and patience knowing that evolution takes time? Can you feel a deep sense of peace and no hurry? capacity and freshness of each moment.

Starting point is 00:25:51 Can you find the grace in the not yet? Our practice here is to stop running, fighting, resisting, and giving ourselves a hard time. With practice, we can learn to stay with uncertainty, and all the fear and groundlessness it might stir up, not knowing what comes next. In this allowing is our freedom. is our freedom. Expansion doesn't happen with force, it happens through relaxing with what is happening while staying connected to a sense of possibility. Mindfulness and mindful breathing can be our anchors as we practice. These tools remind us to pause, to see things clearly, and allow the moment to be just as it is. In this allowing is our peace, our freedom, and our vision. It's where we connect to a sense of trust in the natural order of things and surrender to the flow of life, remembering that we are not lost, just realigning.

Starting point is 00:28:02 just realigning. Stress is all about interpretation, and how we choose to perceive our circumstances can create either stress or gratitude. When we decide to move through life with receptivity, awe, and wonder, we cultivate gratitude and we create space for the magic that wants to emerge. that wants to emerge, takes a profound amount of willingness, capacity, and recognition that it is to freedom. Beneath each shaky step is a deeper knowing that we will make it through, is a deeper knowing that we will make it through and that it will all be okay. at a time, one spark of imagination at a time, one gesture of self-compassion at a time.

Starting point is 00:30:35 Trusting in our bones that this is the way, and that mixed in with the peril is endless possibility. We learn to hold both, to see the truth, to focus on the good, and to stay open. And as we do, we spread our wings and fly. Take another deep, full breath, following it all the way into your belly. Release it slowly and completely, letting go Feel free to stay here in this space for as long as you would like Whenever you are ready, you can return your awareness to your immediate surroundings Feel the ground beneath you and know that it is there Good night. I'm going to go ahead and start the video. You You I'm going to go ahead and start the video. You You The I'm going to go ahead and close the video. You You You I'm going to go ahead and start the video. The You You You You The The You You You You The You you

Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - A Restful Meditation for Times of Uncertainty

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