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Hi, I'm Jessica Porter, and welcome back to Sleep Magic, a podcast where I help you find the magic of your own mind, helping you to sleep better and live better. Thanks to everybody for being here, for listening, for subscribing. If you're in a position to subscribe, that helps us keep going.
And if you're feeling a good vibe from listening to Sleep Magic, please spread it in whatever way you know how. Maybe that's just being more relaxed at the office, in a better mood because you got some sleep. Or maybe it's telling people. And many of you have been doing that through the ratings and reviews. They're fantastic. I love hearing from people. I just heard from someone
who's supporting her husband as he goes through some very big changes, someone named Nikki who recommends it to all her friends, and a listener who's really enjoying the descriptions I've been doing of art and of places that I go, and there will be more of those to come. So, thank you. Before we get started, let's hear a quick word from our sponsors who make this free content possible. Tonight.
Conquering negative thinking. Before we begin, I am not a doctor or a psychotherapist, so if you're dealing with negative thinking that feels debilitating or frightening, please seek out help. But if you're not and you are simply dealing with your mind being prone to seek out the negative or falling into negative ruts, this may help.
First, I think we need to acknowledge that we like some of our negative thinking. I mean, I know I do. And that might sound strange, but there are some really good reasons we may like it. Negative thinking repeats, so it's dependable. We can control it, sort of. I mean, it's guaranteed to disappoint. Negative thinking doesn't really stretch us. It doesn't launch us into the unknown.
like growth and hope and optimism do. When we think negatively, we're in a weird sort of control. Plus, I think we like what we do because we do it. We just get into habits and we start to secrete dopamine out of the familiarity that those habits offer us, even if they're not particularly good or pleasant.
And yet, negative thinking stops our lives from expanding. That's the problem with it. It can be hard on your body and hard on your relationships. Negative thinking is a dead-end street, and over time, that shuts things down. So tonight we're going to take sort of a fun approach. In our daily lives, we might try to manage our negative thinking by distracting ourselves from it or...
quote, getting over it. Or we tell ourselves to just snap out of it. But negative thinking can be pretty deeply etched into our neural pathways. So it's not that easy. Besides, if you're getting comfort from your negative thinking, why would you want to leave it behind? So tonight, we're not really conquering negative thinking. Instead, we will embrace it, love it even, and let it give us the comfort we're looking for.
And then we'll see what happens. Your subconscious mind is a healing machine. And when we accept things, they tend to transform. So get yourself into a safe and comfortable position and let's begin. Allow your eyes to close easily and gently. Now bring your awareness to your breathing. Just bringing your awareness, which has been out and about all day, a million different little places, bringing it home to your breath, bringing it home.
to your body. It feels nice to center yourself. If you've been listening to sleep magic for a while, you may feel like there's more self to come home to over time because you're clearing out this place inside of you, making friends with your subconscious mind, making friends with this inner world. So if it's starting to feel delicious to come home to yourself, that's great. That's great. Enjoy it.
Now bring your awareness up into your eyelids and imagine that your eyelids are becoming heavy, really relaxed and heavy. Just imagine it. And they do. And now I'd like you to accept the suggestion that your eyelids are so relaxed that they won't open. Now this is just a pretend suggestion. I'm not expecting your eyelids to actually get stuck, but I want you to imagine that they are like a little kid. And we'll just play this game. So as you imagine that your eyelids...
will not open because they're so heavy and relaxed. I'd like you to test them by wiggling your eyebrows. Just give them a tug as your eyes remain closed. Good. Now this relaxation around your eyes is the same quality of relaxation that you will soon have throughout your entire body as you take yourself deeper and deeper into this wonderful relaxation. So imagine that relaxation around your eyes now
spilling back into your head like a warm mist of relaxation is taking over every single cell of your brain causing your scalp to relax causing your head to sink into the pillow becoming so so heavy as all mental tension disappears good and the muscles of your face are softened
As that wonderful relaxation moves down now into your shoulders, the muscles of your shoulders release and relax. And as your shoulders are relaxing, all of the responsibilities you carry on those shoulders have fallen to the ground. And you can pick any or all of them up in the morning, but for right now you're free, free. It feels so good. As that warm mist of relaxation moves down your arms,
and your arms are feeling nice and heavy like they're made of marble and the relaxation moves down into your hands down into your fingers everything feeling nice and heavy and while you're listening to this recording you may be aware of sounds going on around you just sounds from within your environment but from this moment on no sound that you hear will bother or disturb you in any way in fact from this moment on any sound that you hear
like other people nearby, traffic on the streets. Those sounds will actually cause you to go deeper and even deeper into relaxation. Bring your awareness to those sounds right now and let them take you deeper. Good. You are in control of your subconscious mind and you get to decide what happens inside of you. So as those sounds are taking you deeper and deeper,
That's you using your mind in a magic way. The only sound you're paying any attention to is the sound of my voice. But even the sound of my voice will soon start to sound distant. Or like I'm speaking another language that you don't understand. And that's great, because you're going off on your own journey inside yourself. That warm mist of relaxation moves down through your torso.
just spilling all the way down from your chest down into your pelvis. Everything becoming so heavy and relaxed on the bed. As the relaxation moves down into your legs, and your legs are feeling nice and heavy, like they're made of marble. As the relaxation moves all the way down into your feet, all the way down into your toe, you feel wonderful. And as your body is relaxing, is relaxing,
and as your mind is relaxing, your body is relaxing. Imagine now that you are in the integration room of your life. This is a room deep inside of you where all the parts of you come together in harmony. You are in the room now. It is light and open. It feels really good in here. There's a beautiful, comfortable couch for you
in the middle of this room. And as you relax on it now, you go even deeper and deeper. In a moment, I'm going to be asking you to think one of your most common negative thoughts. One of the thoughts that starts looping or repeating in your mind. I'll only be asking you to do this for a few moments so it won't interfere with your relaxation or your sleep. So now,
I'd like you to allow yourself to think that or those thoughts. Let your mind get into this negative pattern. Let yourself feel and think this thing that bothers you, that repeats on you. You're familiar with this pattern, so let it play. Let it take up your mind. But instead of trying to push it away or argue with it or deny it,
You're just letting it play in your mind. What does this negative pattern look like? What does it feel like? Does it have a color? Is it cold, cool, warm, or hot? How is it moving in your mind? And how fast? Just let yourself experience this negative pattern. You're doing great. And now I'd like you to notice what this negative thought pattern looks like.
is doing to your heart. Notice what it's doing to the rest of your body. Just notice. And notice what it's doing to your spirit. Just notice. Now, I'd like you to allow this experience to fade as you come back to your breathing. Good. Now I'd like you to imagine that you are looking down on this version of yourself on the couch. The version of you
that was thinking the negative thought and is still thinking the negative thoughts. This is you from just a few moments ago experiencing the negativity. Watch yourself experiencing this negative thought pattern. Just notice the negative energy circulating in this person. Now I'd like you to get down on your knees and look into this person's eyes. What do you see in those eyes?
Now, I'd like you to lie down on the couch next to this other version of yourself, next to you, and just hold yourself. Just hold this version of yourself that's caught up in the negativity and just relax. Really be present and relaxed as you hold yourself. Take your time. Any resistance you may have had,
to this version of yourself has disappeared. As you say the words, I accept you. I love you. I understand that you're soothing yourself in some way and you deserve to be soothed. And I am here to soothe you. Now, you're a good person. I know you're doing your best. I love you.
As you hold this other version of yourself, notice that the negative thought pattern in their head is changing. As you take your time, you have all the time, and this feels good, to accept yourself unconditionally in every way. You are accepting every single part of yourself as you say
It's okay to relax. I am here. I am holding you. I am receiving you. It's safe to relax. As you hold this version of yourself, the negative pattern is slowing down. It's changing. By accepting it, it's changing. As you say, I accept you unconditionally. I accept your strength. I accept
your weaknesses. I accept your humanity as you hold yourself. Notice that the positive energy is mingling with the negative energy, buffering it, balancing it, absorbing it. Notice how this person is changing as you allow these changes to take place. Notice what's happening in their heart, in their body, in their spirit.
Now this other version of you is dissolving into you, becoming one with you. And you are lying on your couch in your integration room saying, I am whole. I am whole. I am whole. I accept my strength. I accept my weaknesses. I accept my humanity. I am whole.
