After Bedtime, Just You

Transcript

Welcome to DogeDharma.

This is After Bedtime, Just You. Ten minutes, now that the house is quiet.

Find a comfortable seat. A chair is fine. A cushion is fine.

Let your feet rest on the floor.

Let your hands rest in your lap.

You can close your eyes, or let them rest low, looking softly at the floor ahead.

Breathe in slowly.

And let it out, long.

Once more. In.

And out.

Notice the quiet around you. Maybe a few small sounds. The house settling. A car passing.

For now, nobody needs anything from you.

Let today pass through your mind, gently. The rush of the morning. The middle of the day. Bedtime.

No need to grade any of it.

Find one small moment you'd like to keep. A laugh. A hug. A moment of being close.

If there were hard moments, let them be here too. Tomorrow is a fresh start, for them and for you.

With each breath out, set a little more of the day down.

Place a hand on your chest, if you like.

You gave a lot today. Some of it, no one will ever see.

Say to yourself, quietly:

I did what I could today.

I can be kind to myself tonight.

Tomorrow, I can begin again.

Now some quiet. Just you, and your breath. I'll come back softly.

I'm here again.

Take a fuller breath in.

And let it go.

Feel the seat beneath you, and the room around you.

The day is done. You were there for it.

One small kind thing, for you: a glass of water, and a few more slow breaths before the next thing.

When you're ready, open your eyes, if they were closed.

Do only good, every day.