Look out of your window tonight and if the night is clear and your view unobstructed, take a moment to admire the full moon shining down. And though you and I may be thousands of miles apart, I'll be looking at that same moon tonight and so will countless others just like you, the sleepless and those who know too well how long the night can feel. To toss and turn, to hunt for a lost phone in tangled blankets just to see what time it is and to calculate how many more hours until morning. But if you're seeking sleep on this beautiful spring night, you've come to the right place. Tonight we're going to harness the power of this silvery moon, May's flower moon, to guide you into deep restful sleep. We'll do that with a gentle relaxation technique and carefully crafted hypnotherapy. And all you need to do is to make yourself as comfortable as possible. And listen. But first, we use hypnotherapy in this episode, but that shouldn't alarm you. Hypnotherapy is just a state of focused relaxation, like that dreamy feeling, just before you naturally fall asleep. You remain in control, your mind simply becomes more receptive to positive suggestions. But you do need to be somewhere safe to fall asleep. Your own bed is ideal. And if you're driving or doing anything that requires alertness, please save this episode for later. And one more thing, if you're finding these sleep meditations helpful, I would be very grateful if you take a second to follow the show. Follows and reviews are what keep the show going. So if you have followed, thank you. And if you are that one person who currently, at the time of recording, has reviewed the show, you're the best.Thanks. Let's turn our attention now to that gorgeous full moon, the flower moon, and the peaceful sleep it promises. This May full moon earned its name because it coincides with the time when spring flowers reach peak bloom.After the long winter, Native Americans would have seen an explosion of color across the landscape. They might have enjoyed dogwood, indigo, lupins, violets, and countless wildflowers carpeting meadows and forest floors. The flower moon embodies hope and renewal, feelings we can still connect with today. And yet spring comes with unique challenges for those seeking peaceful sleep. The longer daylight hours affect our body's production of melatonin, that crucial sleep hormone that responds to darkness. As days grow longer in May, you might find yourself lying awake longer, your mind still active despite your body's fatigue. Spring's warmer temperatures can also make our bedrooms less conducive to sleep. We know the ideal sleeping temperature is around 65 degrees Fahrenheit, 18 degrees Celsius, cooler than most people expect. The warmer nights of May can disrupt our body's delicate balance, leaving us tossing and turning.As our nights get brighter and warmer, you may want to block excess light with blackout curtains or an eye mask, and consider cooling your bedroom with a fan or an air conditioner. But right now, we're just going to focus on helping you become as relaxed as possible. Find the most comfortable position for your body.It could be on your back or curled on your side. Take a moment to adjust your pillows and blankets until everything feels just right. Close your eyes and bring your awareness to your breathing. Notice the natural rhythm of your breath, in and out, and again, in and out. As you continue breathing naturally, imagine the light of the moon above you. See its silver-white glow becoming more luminous, more fluid, transforming into a gentle cascade of moonlight that's about to wash over your entire body. Imagine the cool white light touching the very top of your head, like a gentle waterfall of light flowing over your scalp and dissolving any tension it finds. The moonlight continues to flow downward across your forehead. Feel how it smooths away any worry lines, any tension you might be holding there. The tiny muscles around your eyes relax completely, allowing your eyelids to feel suddenly heavy. The moonlight cascades down your neck, flowing across your shoulders, where so many of us carry the weight of our responsibilities. The light continues its journey down your arms, like liquid silver, past your elbows into your forearms.It reaches your wrists and your hands, flowing all the way to your fingertips. The moonlight pools across your chest, making each breath easier, deeper. Feel it flowing across your upper back, between your shoulder blades, and down the length of your spine. Each vertebrae relaxes. This gentle light continues downward across your abdomen. The moonlight soothes any tension or discomfort here, bringing a sense of calm to your core. Now the light flows across your hips, releasing any tightness. It continues down your legs. Notice how heavy and relaxed they become.The light cascades over your knees and down your calves, all the way to your ankles. And finally, the moonlight reaches your feet, over the arches, the heels, and out through your toes. Your entire body is now bathed in this gentle, silvery light. Every muscle is relaxed. Every part of you is at rest. Take a moment to notice how different your body feels now. Where there might have been tension, there is now release. Where there might have been discomfort, there is now ease. And as your body rests in this deeply relaxed state, I'm going to guide you even deeper into tranquility. Keep your eyes gently closed, and imagine that through your eyelids, you can perceive a single perfect point of moonlight directly above you. This point of light seems to pulse gently, almost as if it's breathing with you. As you continue to focus on this point of moonlight, notice how it seems to become clearer and more distinct.Each time you breathe in, the light grows slightly brighter. Each time you breathe out, your awareness of everything else begins to fade. The more you focus on this single point of light, the heavier your eyelids become. They're already closed, but now they feel weighted, as if they couldn't open, even if you wanted them to. The moonlight seems to pulse in perfect rhythm with your heartbeat now. With each pulse, you drift further from wakefulness, and closer to that perfect state where healing sleep begins.I'm going to count down from 10 to 1. And with each number, you'll sink twice as deep into relaxation as you are now. 10. Feel yourself drifting deeper.9. Your breathing slows even more. 8. All outside thoughts begin to fade away. 7. 6. You're halfway there now.5. 4. Your mind becomes quiet and still. 3. Deeper still. Perfectly at ease.2. 1. You are now open to receiving all the benefits of our journey together. And in this receptive state, you'll find the images I described becoming vivid and real in your mind's eye. Each sensation will feel authentic, as if you're truly experiencing this peaceful journey firsthand. And with each moment that passes, sleep draws closer. I invite you to imagine the moon outside your window tonight. It's the flower moon, the same moon that has watched over you since the day you were born. Our ancestors welcomed this moon with joy. After winter's scarcity, this moon promised warmth and abundance, bountiful crops, new livestock, sweet berries ripening in the sun. This is a benevolent moon, a caring moon, a moon that has cradled countless generations in its gentle light.And now, imagine the ceiling of your room slowly fading away, dissolving like morning mist, leaving nothing between you and the vast night sky. 3. The flower moon hangs above, perfectly round and luminous, bathing you in its silvery light. You can see the gentle patterns on its surface, the darker areas some call the man in the moon, or the rabbit, depending on the stories you were told as a child. It seems larger than usual, hanging low and full in the night sky. Feel this moonlight touching your skin, filtering into your very cells, reaching every part of your body. Your fingertips tingle with its energy, and your shoulders soften under its touch. Your chest rises and falls in the moonlight's gentle rhythm. The light isn't just illuminating, it's transforming. 4. It carries the ancient energy of spring, of renewal, of peaceful rest after the day's activities. Feel it flowing through your veins, replacing any tension with a profound sense of calm. 5. And now the moonlight begins to lift you, gently, from your bed. There's no fear in this floating, only wonder as you rise through the open ceiling into the waiting night air. The moon's light carries you past the streets outside your home, past all the familiar landmarks, past parked cars and sleeping families, and shops closed and shuttered for the night. Yet you feel completely secure and warm in its sweep, in its silvery grasp, safer than you've ever felt before in your life. The moonlight sets you down in a nest of fresh flowers and soft grass. Thousands of stars twinkle above you while the flower moon covers you with a blanket woven from the softest cloud you've ever felt, somehow substantial yet weightless, warm yet breathable, as if it were made from the essence of comfort itself. This cloud blanket seems to know exactly how to hold you, to protect you, and to surround you with perfect warmth. 6. The air smells sweet with honeysuckle and wild roses. The grass beneath you cradles your body perfectly, supporting you just where you need it. Look around at the natural world bathed in this same moonlight. Tulips and daffodils slowly fold their petals for the night. The moon's silvery touch soothes field mice in their burrows and rabbits in their warrens, helping them curl into tight balls of fur, eyes closed in peaceful slumber. All of nature accepts this invitation to rest from the flower moon. 7. Your eyelids grow heavier with each breath.Your breathing slows, it deepens, and it finds its perfect rhythm. With each exhale, your thoughts become fuzzier and less distinct, like stars fading at dawn. 8. Your brainwaves are actually slowing now, shifting from the quick patterns of wakefulness to the gentle rolling waves of approaching sleep. In the branches above, birds nestle into their nests, wings spread over sleeping young. 9. The moon's light creates a protective dome over their tiny homes. How safe they feel in this moment.How completely protected. Like you right now. In this moment, there is nothing to think about, nothing to worry over. The trials and difficulties of tomorrow, they belong to tomorrow's you. Notice the stillness that has settled over this natural world under the flower moon's watchful gaze. The perfect stillness of water in a nearby pond, its surface an unbroken mirror reflecting stars and moon.The stillness of tender shoots and branches no longer dancing in daytime breezes. The stillness of every blade of grass. Of sleeping insects with wings folded. 10. Of butterflies clinging to stems, motionless until dawn. Even the fish, deep in the dark water, have found their sheltered spots, suspended in cool depths, barely moving a fin. 11. All lulled to rest by the moon's ancient song. These cool depths call to you, peaceful, quiet places, far from the surface ripples of daily concerns. Moonlight penetrates even here, filtering down in rippling patterns. Touching hidden stones, illuminating secret underwater caves where tranquility dwells. You feel yourself becoming sleepier and sleepier in this magical place. Your thoughts move slower, time seems to stretch, to soften its rigid march. The weight of your limbs becomes both heavier and yet somehow less substantial at the same time. In this drowsy, delicious stay, you notice how your breathing has found its own perfect rhythm. You no longer need to think about it, your body knows exactly what to do. Each breath feels complete and satisfying. The space between thoughts grows wider, like the spaces between stars, and you're floating now, drifting in the sea of the flower moon's light. And now, gently, you find yourself back in your own bed. But something has changed. Your body feels wonderful, renewed, and peaceful.Notice how perfectly your mattress supports you now. It seems to have learned the unique shape of your body. Feel the pleasant weight of your blankets, not too heavy and not too light, creating a cocoon of safety around you. The pillow beneath your head has become the perfect companion to your dreams, holding you in gentle comfort. The temperature of your room feels just right, that perfect balance where you're neither too warm nor too cool. Your body has found its ideal position, a position it might maintain throughout the night, as sleep carries you deeper.You can tell sleep is near by the way your thoughts have transformed from sharp, distinct images into soft, flowing impressions, like watercolors blending on damp paper. One thought merges gently into the next, with no clear boundaries. Notice, too, how your senses have changed.Sounds that reach you now seem to come from very far away, and they don't demand your attention. They simply exist somewhere outside of the cocoon of comfort that surrounds you. Your breathing has found its sleep rhythm now – slightly deeper, slightly slower than your waking breath. 

Some people, just before they drift off completely, experience a slight falling sensation, or see flashes of random images behind their closed eyelids. If you notice these, simply observe them with gentle curiosity. They're signposts on the path to dreams, telling you that sleep is very near now.

And like every other part of the natural world, your body knows how to rest. Knows how to sleep. It's been doing this your entire life. There's a wisdom in your cells that's older than thought, deeper than worry.

Feel sleep approaching now. It comes like a friend, familiar and welcome. Notice the delicious heaviness in your limbs, the pleasant emptiness of your mind. 

Let yourself sink into this feeling. There's nothing to resist, nothing to fix, nothing to solve. Just this moment, this breath, this perfect path toward sleep.

Your body knows how to fall asleep, just as flowers know how to close their petals at night. Trust it. Allow it. Welcome it.

The Flower Moon continues its gentle journey across the night sky, watching over you just as it watches over all sleeping creatures. Its light filters through your window, touching your face with silver tenderness, reminding you that you're never truly alone.

In this perfect moment between wakefulness and sleep, feel gratitude for this bed, this night, this moon, this precious body that carries you through life. Tomorrow will bring its own gifts, its own challenges. But for now, there is only this – this perfect surrender to rest.

Sleep now, held in nature's gentle embrace. Sleep now, beneath the watchful eye of the Flower Moon. Dream now, knowing you are part of something vast and beautiful and perfectly at peace.