Cozy Down Into Sleep This Fall ✨ Guided Meditation For Deep Rest | Premium

Karissa Vacker (0:11)

Good evening, Sleep Wave, Karissa here, and I couldn't be happier you've joined me tonight. Bring on the pumpkin spice, my friends, because tonight we are combining two of my very favorite things, the cozy season of fall and soothing meditation. Before we get to it, I just wanted to say a quick heartfelt thanks for being a subscriber. Your support makes this show possible, so thank you. Recently, I was thinking about why I love meditation so much, especially just before sleep. It's one of those things I've been doing for so long that I hardly ever think about it anymore. This week, I was returning to it after a bit of time away and felt that wonderful sense of peace and space, of intentional slowing down. I am a person who has a hard time slowing down, even though I crave it, so creating a practice around it is really effective for me. And tonight's meditation, I'm especially looking forward to, because fall is my favorite season. Here in Texas, the summers are long and intensely hot, and fall is brief. Because of that, I savor every cool breeze and turning leaf. I adore that first morning it's cool enough to bring a blanket out on the back porch and wrap up in it while I sip coffee. Or especially those evenings we get to light a fire in the hearth and have tea before bed. Tonight, let's cozy up, immerse ourselves in all things autumn, and intentionally let our minds slow and bodies relax. Billy has created this lovely meditation for us tonight, so it's going to be a vibe. Away we go.

As you lie on your bed, imagine yourself walking along a forest path, through a grove of trees whose leaves surround you with a splash of gold, red, orange, purple, and yellow. Feel the softness of the earth beneath your feet.

Sense the hushed calm of the space around you.

The air is fresh and cool, carrying a faint scent of wood smoke. A few leaves float through the air, settling gently beside the path. October marks another turning point in the year. As nature moves through this transformation, you may feel an invitation to turn inward, too. Here in your bed, feel the warmth of the covers, the softness beneath your body, the gentle movement of your breath.

Among the leaves overhead, gold and yellow that were there all along come into view as the green of summer fades. The trees draw nutrients inward, gathering what will sustain them into their branches, trunks and roots. In the same way, autumn draws us inward too. There's something introspective about the season. Parts of ourselves come to light more easily when we gather our attention. Sensations that went unnoticed through the activity of the day become clearer now as you settle into the quiet of the night. Lying here in your bed, begin to let go of the day that has passed. The autumn is a release of the summer. The abundant activity and excitement of the summer yields its exuberance one leaf at a time. Here, resting comfortably, letting your energy return to the roots, the cares, concerns, and tasks of the day are set free.

This isn't something you have to force. It happens naturally, as you feel the comfort of your sheets, the slowness of your breath, the softness of the night. It's a gentle refinement, the kind that comes from bringing your focus to what is essential. That's what fall has to offer. The trees let go of anything excessive, and another cycle is complete. And here, too, you have completed something. Tomorrow is a new beginning, and the cycles will return and return. But tonight, let the completion of this day be enough. Feel the clarity of that. The definite boundary it gives. Today held ups and downs, lessons that you will carry with you. But the container of this day takes shape from this moment of letting it go. The day has ended, some things remain unfinished, and you can leave them there for tonight.

Feel your body resting here. The warmth beneath the covers. The breath leaving softly. Let the day come to rest. As summer fades into autumn, let yourself fade into peaceful relaxation and release.

Ancient wisdom encourages us to let the mind become calm and settled in the fall.

It's a particularly important time to adopt that attitude, whereas other seasons would carry a different instruction. In spring, for example, the energy of the season is one of growth. So, the intention is more to emerge and develop the will.

Autumn explicitly calls for gathering the will inward. In the spirit of this advice, let's begin to feel the breath moving through the ribs and the belly. Feel your shoulders settling and your face softening. Let awareness turn to inner feelings, thoughts, sensations. Fill the lungs with a smooth inhale. Notice the space in the ribs and the chest. Exhale all the way to the bottom of the breath, never straining. Hold the breath out for a moment. The inhale replaces itself. Yield to the impulse for a new breath. Again, at the top of the inhale, pause for a moment. Sip a little more breath in. Then, exhale fully. Pause. Let the inhale return in its own time. Once more, pausing briefly at the top of the inhale, soft smile on the face. Exhale, and feel the release of that out-breath. Linger in the stillness for a moment.