Fall soundly asleep with this 10-minute, nature-inspired sleep meditation written by Santa Cruz, California-based Qi Gong master Nick Loffree. Created to help ease your mind before bed, you'll be guided through a relaxing journey that will help you prepare your body for a good night's sleep.

LISTEN HERE

Transcript:

Welcome to your Taoist-inspired sleep meditation by DAO Labs, written by Nick Loffree. 

• Find yourself comfortable, seated or lying in bed
• Take a few deep satisfying breaths, then let your breath become soft and natural
• As you breathe, think the phrase "Inhaling I'm aware of my body, exhaling I relax my body" for a couple minutes
• Letting go of the phrase but staying aware of the breath, start to imagine your body as a landscape of mountains, rivers, valleys, and lakes
• Imagine that there are three main lakes in this giant landscape: one in the lower abdomen, one in the chest, and one in the head
• Now imagine that you have shrunk down to inhabit this landscape
• You are walking along the edge of the lower lake, listening to the silence around this tranquil lake
• You notice a smooth river stone, and picking it up, you turn it over to read the word "Presence" carved into it like a rune.
• With a sense of prayer, you throw the stone out into the center of the lake. As it splashes, you feel a vibration in your lower abdomen, and a sense of presence washes over you as the sound of the splash echoes through the valley.
• You walk upriver to the next lake, a little higher in the mountains. There you find another smooth stone, which you turn over to find the word "Compassion".
• You throw the stone into the lake, and feel a vibration in your heart as it splashes, and a wave of compassion ripples through you as the echo bounces off the mountainsides.
• You hike upriver to the highest lake, a cool alpine pool perfectly reflecting the sky. You find the third stone here with the word " Wisdom" carved into it.
• You throw the stone into the center of the lake, and feel a vibration at the top of your head, as a wave of clarity and wisdom washes over you, and the sound echoes through the mountaintops. 
• Looking out over the landscape you feel your three Tan Tien energy centers - Head, Heart, and Gut - Mind, Heart, and Body - humming in harmony with one another, and connected to nature as a reflection of yourself.
• You walk back down to the center lake, then slowly down to the lower lake, where you dissolve back into the landscape, and back into the inner calm of simply watching your breath.