A MEDITATION FOR
YOU
The
photo above is a satellite representation of lights shining around
the world at night ~ another symbol of our global interconnection.
Images like this make a great focus for meditation, such as the
"Fall into Sleep" practice we are giving you below. Fall into
something of awe and wonder, something of gratitude and joy. Fall
into Love. No better time than now. ~ Camille
Fall into Sleep
Excerpt from
MEDITATION 24/7: Practices to
Enlighten Every Moment of the Day
Copyright © 2004 by Camille Maurine and Lorin
Roche
At the end of the day we lay our bodies down, close our eyes to the
world, and fall into the night. We give up control and surrender to
darkness. We need to sleep; it's a biological necessity. This need
for rest reminds us, every day, that we are dependent on the
healing rhythms of nature.
There are rhythms during sleep. Your body follows an ultradian
rhythm of about ninety minutes, in which you sleep deeply for about
eighty minutes, then dream for ten minutes. This goes on all night
or for however long you sleep.
Sleep is a mini-death and a journey. Consciousness leaves the body
and travels wherever it wants. Boundaries dissolve and we become
part of the universal body, the cosmos, the Great Unknown. The
connection between sleep and death is a timeless mystery, and the
subject of much musing in all spiritual practices.
When we sleep, we enter the realm of the soul, the unconscious, the
world of dreams. Anything can happen in the dreamworld. The soul is
a wild adventurer, a trickster, a magician; we can see or be
anybody, see or do surprising, even horrifying things. The
improvisations of the unconscious are inspiring and utterly
humbling, exposing our deepest desires, urges, and fears.
Falling asleep can be a profound meditation on letting go. We can
learn to appreciate not only the exquisite relaxation of falling
asleep but also the deep relief of releasing our daytime selves. We
let go of activity, we let go of our persona, our body identity,
the particulars of our lives, and all the ways we are localized in
time and place.
Freed from the container of the skin, consciousness melts into
eternity, and spreads into infinity for a few hours. We die to the
world, drift and dream. Then in the morning we somehow make our way
back, condensing into this body, this time, this family, this spot
on Earth, this life.
When we fall asleep, we can give ourselves something wonderful to
fall into; we can fall into love. The depth of meditation comes
from letting yourself be with something you love, and then falling
into the experience. When we fall asleep, we fall in anyway, so we
may as well succumb to what we love.
Many spiritual teachings describe the state beyond death as love
itself, the divine force that connects everything in the universe.
When we let go of identity, let go of thought, let go of life as we
know it, we are left with the essence of love. Discovering what
that feels like for you can be tremendously transformative.
Preparing for sleep can be a prayer, a blessing, a peace offering
to the unknown. We forgive everything and everyone. We forgive
ourselves. We surrender to love.
Fall into Sleep
Practice
When: Preparing to sleep
at night.
Where: Lying in bed.
Time: 6 minutes.
There are three parts to this meditation: Review and Release; Get
Cozy; Fall into Love.
LISTEN AND
DOWNLOAD - "FALL INTO SLEEP"
From MEDITATION
24/7: Practices to Enlighten Every Moment of Your
Day
Copyright 2004,
Camille Maurine and Lorin Roche, Ph.D.
Book with CD from
Andrews McMeel Publishing
You can buy the
book now from
click on the
icon
photo: René Armenta