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Hi everyone, this is Jessica Porter and welcome back to Sleep Magic, a podcast where I help you to find the magic of your own mind, helping you to sleep better and live better. Welcome everyone. Thank you so much for being here, listening, subscribing, leaving reviews and feedback. I've heard lately from children, teenagers, moms,
Someone named Jo in the UK says sleep magic helps her to fall asleep as she co-sleeps with her one-year-old. Well done. Women going through menopause, people dealing with aging issues. It's just a huge variety of individuals, male, female. It's fantastic. And people spreading the news to everyone in their lives. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Everyone sleeping better is good for everybody. You know what I'm saying?
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Getting Sleepy in Real Life. Originally, I wanted to call this episode, Your Life is Better than Social Media, but it wasn't that catchy. Because man, am I glad that I'm not a teenager today. It was bad enough back in the day when I projected onto Vogue magazine and watched Entertainment Tonight every night, and I thought there was some more glamorous level of existence.
some club to which I did not belong, and I thought everyone was out there partying without me. And you know, it's one of the reasons I moved to Los Angeles. I'd spent so many years with some part of myself invested in, quote, Hollywood. I was an actress, and as much as I love the craft of acting, I was also trying to propel myself to this imaginary place I'd been watching my whole life.
And when I moved here, I even said to people, I want to rub up against the belly of the beast because I knew that I wanted to have my illusions busted. I wanted to find the reality in this thing called Hollywood. I wanted all my fantasies to be grounded so I could just be in my life, just be me, to be the center of my own existence. And you know, that's what I did.
I met celebrities. I saw them at restaurants or at gas stations. I heard gossip from their assistants. I mean, I met a lot of celebrities. And you know what? They're just people, unique individuals who, like you and me, are simply being themselves in the world. In Newsflash, some are really happy, although it rarely has anything to do with their image, and some of them are miserable.
But now, today, with social media, it's like Hollywood is with us 24-7 in our pockets. And it's not just actors and celebrities. It's the kid down the street who gets paid a hundred grand to open some box on YouTube. It's the people who pose as their spouses and children on the beach for the perfect Instagram shot. Everyone creating the image of a perfect life.
So this illusion that there's this elite club, some other level of existence that some people are living in, that illusion is stronger than ever. And it is an illusion. I mean, could life be fantastic? Sure. Can we achieve altered states that feel transcendent and elevated? Yes. But it always begins in you, in your body, mind, and soul being you.
You are the center. It's not your phone. And your existence is more interesting and more magical than anything on the internet. Your consciousness is your real adventure, and it's the best movie you'll ever watch. Sometimes it'll be a drama, sometimes a comedy, and once in a while, a tragedy. But you are its star, and you have more power than you think. So be in it.
Learn about your subconscious mind and use it. Make friends with yourself and enjoy your life. And the great thing is the more we make friends with ourselves, the more we attract good things. The more we achieve our real goals and not the goals we think we should have because someone else looks like they're achieving them on social media. So tonight we get back into our bodies.
and enjoy some of the experiences of being human in real life. So get yourself into a safe and comfortable position and let's begin. Allow your eyes to close easily and gently and just bring your awareness to your breathing. As you allow your awareness to rest on your breath, just imagine your awareness is like a little surfer surfing the wave of your breath. Good.
Now I'd like you to bring your awareness up into your eyelids and imagine your eyelids are feeling heavy and sleepy. Just by imagining that your eyelids are heavy, they start feeling heavy. Your imagination is strong. As your eyelids get heavier and heavier, I'd like you to accept the suggestion that they're so heavy, they will not open. And now I'd like you to test your eyelids to make sure they won't open. That means wiggling your eyebrows while your eyes remain open.
which is just a little trick. So wiggle those eyebrows, keep your eyes closed while you wiggle the eyebrows. Good. Beautiful. Now this nice heavy relaxation that you've achieved in your eyelids, this is a relaxation that you'll soon have throughout your entire body. So I'd like you to imagine this relaxation just sinking deep to your head. Just imagine the relaxation moving into your brain.
like a wave moving back into your head. Your head is feeling heavy, like your eyelids felt so heavy, heavy in the pillow. Let your head just feel like a bowling ball on the pillow. As you imagine warm waves of relaxation lapping up against the beach of your mind. And I recognize that I'm mixing metaphors here, but just allow
those warm waves of relaxation to lap up against the beach of your mind as all mental tension disappears. Good. As your face becomes nice and relaxed, letting go after a long day. As you allow that heaviness from your eyelids to move down into your shoulders now. Allow your shoulders to release and relax, melting into the bed.
and as your shoulders are relaxing that heaviness is moving down into your arms all the way down into your hands and your fingers. It feels so good to let your arms be heavy. It feels so good to let your arms be on vacation. While you're listening to this recording you may be aware of the sounds going on around you. That's okay because 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 noises from within your bedroom, or out on the street, or from another room in your home, those sounds will actually cause you to go deeper and deeper into relaxation. Bring your awareness to those sounds now, and let them take you deeper. They're just vibrations moving through your body.
And as you open to them, they're taking you deeper. And the sound of my voice is taking you deeper and deeper. As your torso feels heavy, heavy on the bed, allow the muscles of your back to melt like butter into the bed. Just allow the muscles of your belly, muscles you may hold unconsciously during the day, let them go. Let your breath sink deep.
into your belly like a baby breathe. Now allow that heaviness to move down into your legs. Your legs feeling so nice and heavy now that they're on vacation. As the heaviness moves all the way down to your feet and toes as you let go, let go. Good. Imagine that you're standing in a garden. Feel
The grass beneath your bare feet, it's soft and cool. The sun is slowly going down in the west, but the sky is still bright and the lingering sunshine feels warm on your body. The air smells beautiful, filled with a subtle sense of all the blossoms in the garden. Roses, jasmine, gardenia. There's a great variety in this garden.
You reach out to touch the plants. Some have thick and waxy leaves. Some leaves are fuzzy. Others are soft and feathery. The blossoms on the plants are brightly colored and dazzle your brain. You see pinks, yellows, and a bright, bright red. Smaller plants, like bluebells, are pale and delicate.
You reach out to touch a rose and rub its velvety petals against your nose. Its scent is strong and familiar. As you smell the rose, you hear bees buzzing nearby. The chirps and tweets of the birds in the late afternoon tickle your whole body. You kneel down in the soil where there's an empty row waiting to be sown.
You dig your fingers into the cool, dark earth. Bring it up to your nose. Smell it. The same earth that has been smelled by every human who has ever lived. Full of minerals and microorganisms that make you who you are. The earth that supplies you with food. Your source. You feel a cool afternoon breeze.
and a wave of goosebumps emerges on your forearms. As you move along the row, digging little holes in the soil, your body begins to warm up and you notice your breath deepening. You're making things happen. You are cooperating with nature. Your whole being is co-creating with nature. When you reach the end of the row,
You take some seeds out of your pocket. What are you planting tonight? What do you want? You choose. Now you move back along the row, dropping a seed in every hole and patting the soil on top. With every seed you drop, you connect with the earth. With every seed you drop, you create your future. When you're done planting, you stand up.
and look at what you've done. It feels so satisfying to do real things, to plant your magical seed in the magical soil. You feel a drop of rain on your hand. Summer clouds were gathering above you as you plant it. Another drop falls onto your head. You look up into the sky and see a beautiful gray cloud above you.
You feel the humidity in the air. And as you close your eyes, looking up at the sky, rain comes down on your face, on the soil, on your seeds. It feels good to let the rain come down. It smells clean and fresh. Your clothes are getting wet, but the rain is warm. It feels cleansing. As the rain peters out,
the smell of the soil has gotten stronger. It smells like life. You walk through a meadow and hear some sounds in the distance. Your clothes are drying in the warm breeze. You see a crowd of people nearby gathering for an evening concert. As you get closer, you recognize some of your friends who've been waiting for you. It feels good to be with them.
You hug and high-five and greet one another with affection. There are lots of other people around, but it's a loose, open crowd with lots of space in it. People are relaxed, mellow, having fun. You see smiles and winks and people moving their bodies in a relaxed... There's a guy with long hair, a woman in a flowy skirt,
A couple with beautiful dreadlocks. There are also concert goers who are more straight-laced. Some are older. And there are even some families with young kids. The music tonight is universal and brings everyone together. It feels good to be here, to watch people, and to be part of the world. Everyone is mellow and relaxed.
Everyone is happy to be here. The band comes out and the crowd erupts in shouts and whistles. You're excited to see this band. It feels good to let your enthusiasm blow. The leader of the band says hello to the crowd and everyone erupts with joy. It feels so good to connect with this band and with all the other fans.
You are all one. The sound of an electric guitar comes through the speakers. The song begins slowly and you hear every single note as it vibrates through your body. You know this song and it feels good to let the notes move through you. Your body moves the way it has moved this song so many times before.
It feels so good to move your body. The singer begins to sing and the voice pierces through your body. You feel the voice. You know the words and you are singing too. Everyone is singing this song together. You feel the warm breeze of the evening and feel all the voices coming together.
as you all sing this song. It's moving through you. The vibrations of the guitar, the singer's voice, and all your voices join together. You are buzzing, vibrating together. It feels so good, all feeling this joy together. You hear the drums kick in, and you feel them in your feet and step
to their rhythm. As the bass guitar begins to play, you feel it in your pelvis as you move your hips to the music. It feels so good to move to the music. It's getting dark now and you see the lights coming from the band shell. Such bright lights flashing with the beat.
You let go and dance, feeling the music through your home, moving to the rhythm as everyone in the crowd moves to the same rhythm as you dance together as one. The band begins to play a softer, slower song, and you hold hands with a friend. You feel the energy between you.
You feel connection and expansion and release. It feels good to connect. And now you both reach out your other hands to other people and you create a chain of people within the crowd. A hundred people holding hands as the energy courses between you. And you feel the lovely feeling of being part of something bigger
than yourself. Feel this peaceful energy moving through all these humans. It's a beautiful thing. As the music dies down, move to a little campfire. You sit around the fire with your friends. The flames are dancing just like you were dancing. There are crackles and pops. It's smoke, smells of summer. You feel warm deep inside.
It feels good to be with your friends. Bonding. Opening. Sharing. Someone cracks a joke and everyone is laughing. You laugh so hard you double over. Feels so good to be together. Feels so good to be alive. As the fire dies down, you all pull out your sleeping bags. You crawl inside your sleeping bag.
and look up at the stars. You feel connected, happy, and as you close your eyes, you go deeper and deeper. As you drift and float and dream,