Chapters
Shownotes Transcript
Hi there, 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. Thank you everyone for being here. Thanks for subscribing and listening and just spreading the groovy vibes. It's amazing doing this podcast, really recognizing how powerful relaxation is.
I've always been into it, but now that I sort of do it professionally, it's like, wow, wow, look who we are when we're relaxed. So I just encourage you to sort of tune in with your relaxed self. You may discover new things. I know I do every day. Before we get started, let's hear a quick word from our sponsors who make this free content possible.
By the way, if you have any feedback or questions directly for Sleepiest or the Sleep Magic creators, please put them in the, there's a link in the show notes to give us feedback or questions that you may have directly. We love reviews coming through the podcast platforms. Believe me, they're fantastic. But if you have specific questions, we can't answer them
through the podcast platforms, but we can speak directly to you through that link. So great. We look forward to hearing from you. All right. Tonight, soothing anxiety for better sleep. Anxiety seems pretty epidemic these days, which makes some sense. I mean, there are a lot of causes of anxiety, but
We have more information coming at us than ever before, 24 hours a day. So most of us are pretty overstimulated and our minds can get scattered and untethered. And where your mind goes, your whole self follows. And I'm not surprised we got here. I mean, the conscious mind is like a puppy dog.
It's energetic and unruly and wants to get its nose in the garbage. It wants to play and feel good, and it can make some pretty stupid choices along the way, especially with modern toys like the internet and social media. The mind can even get into trouble simply ruminating on old hurts or obsessing about the future. So unless that puppy dog gets some training...
it can create real chaos. And like a dog, the mind works much better when it has some guidance, some focus, when it's asked to slow down. Apparently, Einstein said that we cannot solve our problems with the same consciousness that created them. That may not be an exact quote, but something like that. So an anxious mind can't solve anxiety.
But when we choose to train our minds, even just a little, and tug that puppy dog on its leash, training it to heal, the mind becomes the servant of your consciousness and not its master. A clear and focused, slowed-down mind can rise above or sink below a lot of problems. And a trained puppy becomes a very loyal dog. Isn't that a cute image?
So tonight, we're going to do some training. It's nothing fancy. We're simply going to develop a point of focus that isn't in your head, that isn't your own whirling thoughts chasing each other's tails. By continuing to focus on sensation, your thoughts will slow down, and some of them will simply be released into the ether. Focusing the mind may not seem particularly sexy, like all the stimulation could be.
It may even feel downright boring. But learning to slow down and focus your mind will give you choices and power. Only you can direct your consciousness, which directs your whole life. And that is downright sexy. So we're not just dialing down anxiety tonight. We're getting our lives back. So let's do this. Get yourself into a safe and comfortable position, and let's begin. Just allow your eyes to close easily and gently.
and bring your awareness to your breathing. This is the initial moment where we start to focus the mind every night on sleep magic, bringing the awareness to the breath. And you're bringing back that laser beam of your mind that you've been pointing all over the world all day. And sometimes the world's been pulling it from you and insisting that you go in certain directions. But you always get to pull it back. It's yours.
So bringing that awareness back to the breath feels good, simple, slowing down, coming home, good. So let's bring your awareness now up into your eyelids. Imagine that the muscles of your eyelids are feeling sleepy, tired, heavy. Just let them get nice and heavy. And now I'd like you to accept the suggestion that your eyelids are so heavy, but they will not open. And of course, if you wanted to open them, you could, but we're going to pretend that you can't.
Now I want you to test your eyes to make sure you can't open them, which is tugging your eyebrows a little, giving them a little tug while your eyes remain closed. Just do it. Fake. Fake it. Good. That's the beginning of the hypnosis, when your imagination rules. And as soon as we enter the imagination, we've entered this much more powerful place. We're entering your subconscious mind. So this relaxation that you have around your eyes, let's imagine it just drifting back.
into your head. Just allow that wonderful heavy feeling in your eyelids to drift back like a mist into your brain, allowing that mist to penetrate every single cell of your brain. And your head is becoming heavy, heavy, heavy on the pillow. Your head's been waiting for this moment. It feels so good as your scalp is relaxing.
and you give permission to the muscles in your face to release and let go, the day is over and your face can relax. You may have been holding your jaw at different times of the day, times of intensity or concentration or stress, but now the muscles of your jaw are getting the signal that they can let go, really let go.
You notice that as your jaw releases and relaxes, the rest of your body gets a signal that it too can release and relax. If you've been here at Sleep Magic for a while, you're training yourself to release and relax easily and comfortably, taking yourself deeper and deeper every night because there is no basement of relaxation. There's no bottom.
we can just go deeper and deeper letting ourselves release into the flow, release into sleep, release into the hands of nature. So let's imagine that mist of relaxation moving down into your neck, your whole neck relaxing, your throat relaxing. As the mist moves down into your shoulders now, your shoulders becoming nice and heavy,
heavy and relaxed, all of the weight you carried on your shoulders today is falling to the floor. You're done. You're free. Sleep is the great escape from our responsibilities, even from our own sense of self. It's delicious. Good. As the mist moves down your arms, now allow your arms to feel nice and heavy. Heavy.
heavy as the mist moves down into your hands and fingers, taking them over completely. And as you relax, taking yourself deeper and deeper, the sound of my voice is also taking you deeper and deeper. As you let go, sounds like my voice and any sounds going on around you in your bedroom, on the street, or other rooms of your home, those sounds are taking you deeper
and deeper, just open to them and let them move through you as vibrations taking you even deeper. And now they're working for you. Good. And as we continue tonight, you'll notice that my voice just becomes sort of background sound because you're taking your own private trip into your own private consciousness, allowing yourself to let go and release
and rest and heal. So as that mist of relaxation moves down your torso, imagine this lovely mist just falling down inside of you. Kind of like the mist of Niagara Falls falling down inside of you all the way down into your pelvis. Your whole torso feeling heavy and relaxed on the bed. Any muscles you may hold during the day unconsciously in your belly or lower back
or buttocks are letting go as that mist of relaxation moves all the way down your legs into your feet and toes, your whole lower body feeling heavy, heavy and comfortable on the bed. Now we're going to keep your awareness down, down in your feet. The soles of your feet contain thousands of nerve endings.
so you can really feel them. The soles of your feet connect to the earth. They're grounded most of the day. Your feet are your roots. So bring your awareness now into your left foot and really feel your left foot. Let yourself sense any that may be touching it or moving around it. Notice the sensations at the periphery.
of your left foot, right on the skin. Do you sense anything on the top of your foot or at the heel? Really tune in and see if you can feel those places. Now bring your awareness into the soul of your left foot. Really be in the soul of your foot for a moment. Not thinking about it, but sensing it. Listening carefully.
to the sensation or sensations in the sole of your foot. Is it warm or cool or tingly? Tune in with those nerve endings in your foot. When you are sensing, feeling, your mind becomes quiet. When you are sensing, the world falls away. When you are sensing, you are present and grounded and peaceful.
Now bring your awareness into your left big toe. Really sense that big toe. By letting your awareness fill that big toe, your mind is slowing down, focusing, and at the same time, relaxing. It may seem a little simple or even boring, but bringing your awareness into that big toe and sensing what is going on
in that toe. By doing this, you are directing your mind. You are directing your consciousness. And as you sense your big toe, everything else falls away. And everything is okay. You are safe. Everything is good. You are safe. Now let's move your mind to your baby toe on your left foot. This is
subtler. It's a little trickier to move your mind into this toe, but you can do it. You've had this toe your whole life, so now it's time to explore it. Really be in it. And as your awareness is moving down into your baby toe, your whole body is relaxing. Any emotional tension you may have been feeling lately is settling down and disappearing.
Any mental tension you were carrying before turning on sleep magic tonight has evaporated. Just hang out in your baby toe. Sense what it is feeling. Just sense from your baby toe. And as you sense, you're going deeper and deeper. Good. Everything is okay. You are safe and calm. Everything is fine.
Good. You are safe and calm. Your mind is like a muscle that needs to be trained. And every time you listen to this recording, your mind is getting stronger, more focused, more trained, easily and comfortably. You are aiming your mind, directing it like a laser beam. And by focusing your mind here tonight,
By sensing inside your foot and your big toe and your little toe and even the toes in between. By sensing them, your mind is becoming even more focused and you find that you're focusing more easily in your life, making better choices, feeling more relaxed and in control
of your experience. And as you focus, you're also going deeper and deeper into relaxation and comfort and ease. Relaxation and focus work beautifully together. You may even drift into sleep as you're focusing. And that's good. That's why we're here. It feels good to focus. It feels good to let your mind slow down.
and let your body slow down. Now bring your awareness into your right foot. Notice any air moving around it or touching it. Notice sensations on the skin, on the top of your foot, or at the heel. You are not thinking about your right foot. You're sensing from your right foot. And as you sense things, your mind becomes quiet
where there is sensing, thinking disappears. Good. Now bring your awareness into the soul of your right foot. Really be in the soul of this foot. Really sensing it. Really listening to the sensations in the soul of your right foot. What are you noticing? What are the thousands of nerve endings telling you? Just
Feel them. Sense them. Receive their information. Everything is okay. You are safe and calm. Everything is good. Good. You are safe and you feel good. Let yourself feel good. Now bring your awareness into your right big toe. Sense the inside of that toe.
As you bring your awareness to your big toe, your mind is slowing down, focusing, relaxing, settling. Bringing your awareness into that toe is powerful. You are directing your mind, you are directing your consciousness and your relax at the same time. And as you are sensing from within your toe,
The whole world is falling away, everything becoming calm and still and relaxed. It feels so good. It's peaceful here. No need to do anything or think anything or be. Just focusing, sensing from inside your big toe, your mind resting in this sensation. And as you do, everything
is good. You are safe and calm and relaxed. You're actually very good at relaxing. You're very good at focusing and it feels so nice to relax. When you focus your mind on a peaceful place, you feel peaceful and life has its ups and downs, but you can always come back to yourself.
and focus your mind on your foot or your toe. As you come back to this sensation, you feel peace. You come home to the peace inside you. Everything is good. You feel good and peaceful. This feeling of security and peace is inside of you. It's always here. And when you slow down, you feel it.
It's always here. So whenever you need to, you close your eyes and sense one of your feet and the big toe and everything else falls away because you get to focus your own mind. You get to let your mind rest. You find that you're practicing this regularly and feeling better and better and better.
Your mind is getting stronger and focuses more easily. Even as you relax, everything is good. You feel good and calm and peaceful. Everything is good as you drift and float and dream.
