A few years ago, before any of this existed, when this show was still just an idea, I told my friend Lisa about it, and she said, that's a great idea, Suzanne. People need something like that. And then she said, but whatever you do, don't do those progressive body relaxations.I hate those. And they never work. Lisa, you were so wrong. Progressive body relaxations are one of the very best tools we have in our sleep toolbox. They work, because when your body is tense, your brain reads that as a job that isn't finished. Something still needs doing, so it keeps the lights on, and it won't let us sleep. But when your body properly lets go, your brain slows down too. Most of us are carrying tension that we're not even aware of. We think we're relaxed, but the tension is still there. So tonight, I've created the very best progressive relaxation I know how to make. And maybe I'll send a link of the episode to Lisa, and I'll let you know what she says. So that's tonight.It's a long one. It's the whole episode. But you don't have to do a single thing, except lie here and listen and sleep. But before we start, the usual reminder. This episode uses relaxation and hypnotherapy techniques. They are designed to help you sleep.So please ensure that you are listening from somewhere safe, preferably your comfortable bed, and not anywhere you need to stay alert. And if you like your episodes a little longer, there is the Snoozeville Sleep Club. That is where you'll sometimes find longer versions of these episodes, and where everything is sorted by theme, so that you can actually find what you need instead of scrolling. Members sometimes get episodes a little early too, but mostly, joining is what keeps this show going. So to everyone who is already a member, thank you. Truly.And now, let's get you settled. Let's start with your breathing. Don't change anything yet.Just notice what your breathing is already doing. As you lay here in the dark, breathing in and out, what part of your body is moving? If you're like most people, it's probably your chest. And that's normal.That's shallow breathing. Small, quick breaths that never really fill anything. For sleep, we need to take it lower.So if it's comfortable, put one hand on the area just below your ribs. And on your next breath in, let that part of you fill up first. I know, it's strange. We spend all day trying to suck our stomachs in, but now we're going to let them expand. We'll do this together. Breathing in for four, and out for six. And you don't have to get it perfect, as long as your exhale is longer than your inhale. Ready? Breathe in, two, three, four, and out, two, three, four, five, six. Nice.You know, just by doing that, you nudged your vagus nerve. That's the nerve that runs through the base of your brain, down your chest, and into your abdomen. It connects almost everything.Your heart, your lungs, your stomach. It's what tells your body to be calm, to start preparing for sleep. Let's do it again.Breathe in, two, three, four, and out, two, three, four, five, six. Your body loves that slow breath, that long exhale. Right now, it's sending a signal to your heart to slow down, and it happens so quickly.Your heart has probably already slowed, and it's funny how you can't tell your heart to calm down. You can't order your blood pressure to drop, but you can do this. Let's practice that breath one last time.Breathe in, two, three, four, and all the way out, two, three, four, five, six. From here, just keep breathing deeply. Keep trying to make your exhale longer than your inhale.And if your mind wanders a little while I'm talking, that's fine. Just let your breathing settle into its own slow rhythm. And now, I would like you to imagine a light. Really picture it. It's floating just above you, hovering over your head. Give it a color. Gold is beautiful. So is a soft, warm white. Whatever color says calm to you, that's the right one.And give it a shape. Maybe it's a soft, round glow, like something you could cup in your hands. Maybe it's a wide, warm haze that fills the whole ceiling.And feel the warmth coming off it. It's not hot. It's just that perfect warmth, like sun on your face on the first good day of spring.Like the heat off a fire when you've come in from the cold. Because this is not an ordinary light. This light is magic, and I mean that.It can do absolutely anything we want it to. It goes deeper than warmth. It sinks past your skin, down through muscle, into the tissue underneath.It goes all the way to the cells, and it finds the tired ones, the worn out ones, the ones that have been running on empty since about two in the afternoon. It's preparing you for sleep. Feel it lowering toward you.Feel it settling onto your forehead. The warmth spreading across your brow and sinking in, into all those little furrows, that crease between your eyebrows that shows up when you're concentrating or worrying. Feel the light going into that crease, warming it, softening it.Feel everything across your brow loosening, releasing, going smooth and warm and still. And then let that light spread across the rest of your face. Because your face has been working since you woke up. Every conversation, every time you smiled at someone when you weren't really feeling it, every expression you arranged for the room you were in, that's muscle, that's effort. Feel your cheeks softening, your temples, the small muscles around your mouth letting go one by one. And feel your eyelids getting heavy, really heavy, heavier with every breath.So heavy now that opening them would take real effort, more effort than you've got left tonight. You could try. You could try to lift them and you would find that they don't want to move.Too heavy. So let them stay closed. Now the light moves down over your cheeks and into your jaw.Your jaw is strong. Pound for pound, one of the strongest muscles you own. And it clamps down without you ever asking.Sometimes all night long, which is why some of you wake up with a sore face and no idea why. So let your jaw go slack. Feel the light working through it.And now your shoulders, they creep up on you. Something startles you or annoys you. Or you get one of those notifications and up they come. And then they just stay all day. Let your shoulders drop. Feel them sinking down.Feel the space opening up between your shoulders and your jaw. Feel the light spreading right across the tops of your shoulders now. Wide and warm and heavy, like a hand pressing down.Feel it seeping into the thick muscle at the top. Feel it soaking in deep, past the surface, into every fiber. And feel that muscle giving up, letting go.Feel it moving into your shoulder blades, into the space between them, into all those small muscles across your upper back that never get any attention. Warming them, melting every knot it finds. Your shoulders are heavy now.And the light flows down into your arms. Feel it moving into your upper arms, warm and slow, filling them. Feel them getting heavier. Feel the muscle softening all the way around, front and back, down into your elbows, into your forearms now. And feel the light filling them completely from the inside out. Feel them growing warm and heavy and still.Feel a weight of them pressing down into the bed. Your arms so heavy now, they would be hard to move. And into your hands.Your hands are remarkable. They're packed with more nerve endings than almost anywhere else in your body. That's why a hand can feel the difference between silk and cotton with one touch of your thumb.And they've done so much today. Feel the light filling them now. Feel it warming your palms.Feel it flowing out into every finger, into every joint, all the way to your fingertips. Let your fingers uncurl. Let them fall open, loose and a little apart.Your palms soft, warm and still. And let's check in on your breathing again. Make sure it's still nice and slow.No counting. Just slow and easy. And notice now how the light gathers in your chest.And it settles right in the center. And I want to bring your attention to your heart. Your heart started beating before you were born.And it has not stopped once since. Not when you were sick. Not when you were sleeping.It's been beating this whole time that we've been talking. It's beating right now. And it'll be beating when you wake up. It is the most loyal thing you will ever own. So let's let it rest tonight. Feel the light soaking into the center of your chest.Warm and deep. And feel the light going in there now. Warming it. Softening it. Opening it up. And feel your heart slowing with your breathing. Winding itself down. Dropping into the calmest, quietest rhythm it will find all day. Your heart is resting.Finally slowing down and resting. Feel the light filling your chest completely now. Feel it expanding out through both lungs. Moving with every breath. Feel your ribs rising and falling. Feel the muscles between your ribs. All those small ones you never notice. Letting go as the light moves through them. Feel your whole chest going soft.And now the light moves down into your stomach. And this is somewhere I think we should spend a little time. Because so many of us carry things here.That tightness that shows up when you're worried about something. That heaviness the night before a hard day. It's not your imagination.Your gut is lined with more nerve endings than almost anywhere. And it feels things right along with you. So let the light pour in there now.Feel it going in behind your belly button. Deep into the center of you. Warming everything from the inside out.Feel your stomach softening. Feel it releasing all that tension you didn't know you were carrying. Dissolving in the warmth.There is nothing to worry about tonight. And let the light spread out and around and into your lower back. Your lower back has been holding you upright all day.Every time you stood. Every time you sat. It's been working since morning and it doesn't get a break unless you're lying down.So feel the light sinking into it now. Wide and warm. Sinking right into the muscle on either side of your spine.Feel those muscles unclenching. Feel them letting go. Easing out. Feel your back settling down into the mattress. The bed's got you now.Down into your hips. And this is where the biggest muscles in your body are. And they're strong.And they hold on. And most people can't consciously let them go at all. So let the light do it for you.Feel it flooding into your hips. Going deep into the joints. Deep into the muscles around them.Feel it loosening everything it touches. Feel your whole lower body going loose and slack and heavy. And the light moves down into your thighs.The workhorses. Feel the light moving through your thighs. Front and back.Warm and heavy. Sinking into all that muscle. Feel the weight of your legs pressing down into the mattress.So heavy. The light moves down into your knees. And you feel them become loose.Unlocked. Soft. Feel that light easing into the joints.Warming them. Letting them open. And then into your calves.Feel the light filling them. Warm and slow. Feel those muscles releasing.The ones that tighten up at the end of a long day. The ones that go tight when you're standing too long. Feel them softening under the warmth.Letting go. Sinking down through your ankles. Loose and heavy.And into your feet. And your feet have earned this more than almost anything else. Every step you took today.They took every bit of your weight. They carried. And they adjusted a thousand times to keep you balanced.And you never noticed once. There are more bones in your two feet than in almost any other part of you. And every one of them was working today.Feel the light filling them now. Warm all the way through. Feel it moving into your heels.Into the arches. Into your toes. And let your feet fall open.Loose and easy. Let your toes go soft. Your feet can rest.Now the light is everywhere. It's moved through all of you. From the top of your head right down to your toes.And it's glowing in every part of you. Your face. Your jaw.Your shoulders wide and heavy. Your arms still. Your chest slow.Your stomach warm. Your hips. Your legs.Your feet. All of it heavy and warm and letting go. Your whole body is warm now.Your whole body is heavy. There's nothing left anywhere in you that's still holding on. So just lie here.Nothing to do and nowhere to be. We're not very good at this. Most of us.We're not good at giving our bodies what they actually need. But this. Right now.What you're doing right here. This is one of the kindest things you can do for yourself. Even just lying still.Like this. Warm and quiet. Your body is already taking something from this.It's beginning to repair. You've given it what it needed tonight. And your mind has slowed down too. Your thoughts have gone soft around the edges. They're not lining up the way they were an hour ago. They're drifting apart from each other.Coming loose. Wandering off in their own directions. Half thoughts.Little pictures that don't quite connect to anything. And that's exactly what a mind does on its way to sleep. It's the last thing that happens before you go.And if you happen to be lying here working on how many hours are left before morning. Put that down. Your body is far more capable than you give it credit for.If you get a little less sleep tonight than you wanted. It will manage. It will take what it gets.And it will prioritize the deep restorative sleep first. Because it knows what matters most. People do it all the time.You've done it before. More times than you can count. And every one of those days you got up.And you got on with it. Tomorrow you'll wake up. And you'll feel better than you expected.That's usually how it goes. The morning has a way of being kinder than the night. Things look more possible in daylight.They just do. But that's a long way off yet. There's nothing between here and there.But this warm bed. And this slow breathing. And the dark.Your body is heavy. And it's warm. And everything in it is finally let go.