Stress and tension can easily build up in our bodies during busy days or weeks, and often we don't even realize how much that is affecting our ability to let go and fall asleep at night.
In this guided practice, teacher Kelly Boys offers a simple body scan meditation that uses sensory awareness and intentional breathing to invite a sense of lovely heaviness and relaxation.
Kelly Boys is a mindfulness trainer, coach, author, and speaker, specializing in teaching the NSDR (non sleep deep rest) practice of yoga nidra. She is the author of The Blind Spot Effect and as a trainer has created mindfulness programs for UN humanitarians and veterans with PTSD.
Just a quick note: Since this is a sleep meditation, you won't be hearing a closing bell or the usual outro, so that you can drift off in silence.
The transcription of this guided meditation will be online and in our app at Mindful.org next week.
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Show Notes
Find more from Kelly Boys here.
Go Deeper
It's not really possible to "get rid" of stress. In fact, the more we try to fight it, the worse it gets. What does work to ease stress is to meet it with compassion, and that can take on various forms: sensory awareness, body scans, deep breathing, mindful movement, journaling, and many other types of mindfulness practice. Here are just a few ways that you can learn to meet, process, and release stress:
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Make It Personal: How Mindfulness Can Support Highly Stressed People
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Mindfulness May be a Useful Tool for Dealing with Stress Associated with Autism
For another guided meditation to help you get to sleep, try: Healthy Sleep Can't Be Forced. Try this Sleep Meditation Instead
And more from Mindful here:
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