Hi everyone, it's Jessica and welcome back to Sleep Magic. Tonight we have one of my specially selected rewinds, a return to one of my favorite episodes from the Team Magic archives. This session is all about exercising your power to shift from worry down to calm, especially on the days when thoughts feel a little more intense than usual. The beginning of December and the beginning of the holidays can stir up a lot of emotion at once, excitement, pressure, expectation, which is why this feels like the perfect moment to revisit it. So whether your mind is busy with holiday plans or something entirely different, I hope this helps you use your mind in its most magical way, helping you find a little more calm tonight. Okay, I'm not crazy about comparing the human body to machines or technology, but sometimes it helps to look at it that way. And when it comes to our nervous systems, we basically have two gears. We shift up into the sympathetic nervous system response, and we shift down into the parasympathetic nervous system response. And I think it's helpful to think of it this way for two reasons. First, it keeps it really simple because it is simple. There are only two gears. You're either revving up or you're revving down. Second, you have control over that. Now, can you shift like you're shifting in a car? Well, maybe not that quickly, but yes, you can. When you put your focus on downshifting things, your nervous system will eventually follow. And that's how sleep magic works. I'm bringing your awareness again and again to things that help you shift yourself down into your parasympathetic nervous system. And as much as I'm leading you, you're the one doing it. So tonight we're going to practice that shift so you can bring this skill not just to your sleep life, but to your waking life. Before we begin, our only ad break, which makes this magic possible. To listen ad free, follow the link in the show notes. Now get yourself into a safe and comfortable position, and let's begin. Allow your eyes to close easily and gently. And just gently invite your awareness to your breath. And get to that gentle up and down of the breath. It's kind of boring because there's nothing really there except this. Gentle up and down. And the awareness likes exciting things. So we're just inviting it just for a moment. Just slow down. Be a little bored. Turn down the noise. Good. And now let's invite your awareness up into your eyelids. As you use your imagination now to imagine that your eyelids are feeling loose and limp and relaxed. The tiny little muscles in your eyelids are getting heavy. Heavy. And now I'd like you to accept the suggestion that your eyelids are so relaxed that they simply will not open. And now I'd like you to test your eyelids to make sure they won't open by wiggling your eyebrows. Look, my eyes won't open. And by doing that, we are listening to the imagination. Entering the imagination. And stepping away from the analytical, rational mind. So now that we're in the imagination, we can play with it. As we imagine this wonderful feeling around your eyes, this warm, relaxed feeling around your eyes. Moving back into your head. Let's imagine a warm mist of relaxation moving throughout your brain. Taking over every single cell of your brain. So your brain is saturated in relaxation. I love that word. Saturated. As your head becomes heavy on the pillow. Just allow your head to become heavy. Your head is done for the day. Off duty. As the muscles of your face soften and relax. Sometimes we're so concerned about our own faces. How we present ourselves in the world. That we don't let them relax. Until now. Let it go. Let it go of any mask you may have worn today. Good. As you imagine the relaxation moving down into your throat. The muscles of your neck. Releasing and relaxing. Your throat has carried some of your identity today. Expressing in the world. Carefully revealing you to those around you. Now it's off duty. And your throat can relax. As the relaxation moves down into your shoulders. The muscles of your shoulders sort of melting. Like butter into the bed. As the relaxation moves all the way down into your arms. Sort of pours like warm liquid down into your arms. Down into the palms of your hands and into every single finger. And your arms are feeling nice and heavy. Heavy. As you bring your awareness now to any sound that you may be hearing around you. Sounds from within your bedroom. Or from another room. Or from outside. Or all three. From this moment on no sound that you hear will bother or disturb you in any way. Because you are using your mind in a magical way. You will allow those sounds to take you deeper. And even deeper into relaxation. As you open to the sounds. And allow them to move through you. As they take you deeper. And deeper. And the sound of my voice is taking you deeper. And deeper. Good. As you allow the relaxation that's moved down from your eyelids into your head. Down into your neck and shoulders and arms. Imagine it moving down now into your chest. A lighter version. Softer. Soothing. Circulating in your ribcage. Surrounding. And supporting your heart. A beautiful warm mist. A relaxation. Surrounding. And supporting your heart. And any emotional tension that you may have carried today. Has disappeared. As the mist moves down now deep into your belly. Taking over your lower torso. Spiraling. Around and within your pelvic area. Your pelvis is becoming nice and heavy. On the bed. Your whole torso letting go. Your spine. Releasing and relaxing the tension that it's carried today. The muscles in your belly softening. Relaxing. As the relaxation moves down into your legs now. Pouring like a warm waterfall of relaxation all the way down into your feet. And down. And your legs are feeling heavy. Heavy. Heavy. Imagine now you're standing at a door. And on the door are the words. Nervous system. Control room. You open the door and enter the room. There is only one control panel in this room. With just one thing on it. A large gear shift. It has a round plastic knob at its top. And it shifts into only two gears. Up. And down. Your nervous system has only one choice. To rev up. Or to rev down. Imagine the gear shift is currently in the up position. This up position represents your sympathetic nervous system position. When you are in this sympathetic nervous system. You experience stress to some degree or another. Your muscles tense. Your feelings become more stressful. And you experience more energized agitated thoughts. This sympathetic nervous system response is necessary in life. When we are under pressure. Or need to make a big change. Or need to protect ourselves or others. We gear up into this response. Even fun things. Like performing. Or doing a sport. Or falling in love. Or bringing us up into this highly activated state. But it's best to experience the up position. In small doses. Living all of your life from this agitated up position. Can become stressful. And take a toll on your body. Mind. And relationships. So you are here in your control room. To practice shifting between the up and down positions. You have the control. To shift up. Or down. Now I'd like you to imagine that the gear shift moves itself into the down position. In the down position your nervous system shifts. Into the parasympathetic nervous system response. Down here your muscles relax. Your mind becomes more peaceful. Feel calmer. In this down position. Your body is more receptive. You digest more easily. And learn more easily. And you're more in the moment. So you enjoy things. More easily. In the down position your body heals itself. Easily and effortlessly. You are designed to be in this parasympathetic response. Most of the time. Some experts believe you're meant to be here. At least 80% of the time. So it's good that you're practicing. The downward shift. Now I'd like you to put your hand on the gear shift. Feel the knob fill the palm of your hand. As you connect with this sensation. Your palm feeling the gear shift. You understand that you play a role in how your nervous system behaves. In your body. You direct your nervous system. Now move the gear shift into the up position. You feel energy in your head. Your muscles are flexed and ready to move. You feel alert and responsive to your environment. This is a very mild experience of the up position. You are in this up position regularly. So you know it well. Sometimes you rev up and up and up. But mostly you experience the up position. As living more from your mind. Moving. Activating. Solving problems all around you. Experience the up position. Good. Now I'd like you to connect with that gear shift in your hand again. Feel it filling your palm. And now I'd like you to say to yourself. I direct my nervous system. As you shift down to the down position. Good. As you bring your awareness down your spine down into your feet. And you feel your feet. Bring your awareness down to your feet. I've chosen the feet because they are far away from your head. But you can choose to bring your awareness into any area of the body. Preferably one that's far from your head. It could be your knee, your hand, or your belly. If your feet feel comfortable to you. I recommend your feet. So make your choice now. And stick with it. From now on I will direct your awareness to your feet. But if you've chosen a different part of your body. Your awareness will go to that place. Whatever I say the words, foot, or feet. So now that the gear shift is in the down position. Your awareness has fallen to your feet. It may be easier to focus on one foot. And that's okay. Or maybe your awareness wants to go back and forth between your feet. And that's okay too. But notice that. As you relax. Going deeper and deeper. You may be able to sense energy in both of your feet. At the same time. There's no right or wrong here. You're just pulling your awareness down. Down. Down. You're doing great. Notice what you feel. In. Or around your feet. Perhaps you feel the skin against the mattress. Or against a blanket. Just bring your awareness to any sensation taking place in your feet. In the toes. Or the soles. Just begin. Sensing. Sensing. Sensing. One of the easiest ways to downshift. Is to move into your senses. Allowing your awareness to shift from thinking. To sensing. When you begin feeling. Or sensing. Everything slows down. So we're just hanging out down here. In your feet. Sensing whatever is going on down here. Just sensing. Your mind may want to go back to thinking. And that's okay. As soon as you notice your thinking. Go back to sensing. Sensing down in your feet. And as your mind hangs out in your feet. Your body is relaxing. You feel safe. And calm. And relaxed. You are hanging out in your feet. And the rest of you is still here. But it's all become. Soft. Quiet. Good. So now I'd like you to imagine letting go of the gear shift. In the palm of your hand. Let your mind roam wherever it wants to go. Maybe you need to take a nice deep breath. Or hear the sounds going on around you. Or the music on this recording. Just let your mind drift. And float. And dream. Good. You're doing great. So let's imagine you place your hand back on the gear shift. And move it back to the up position. All the energy is moving back up now. This brings you back into your head. You're imagining all the activity of being alive and managing. And controlling all sorts of things in your environment. Let yourself imagine for a moment experiencing the up gear. It feels familiar. You know it well. And now as you feel the knob of the gear shift in your hand. You say to yourself. I direct my nervous system. And you pull the gear shift down. Into the down position. And your awareness is moving down into your feet. And now you're simply hanging out in your feet. Sensing your feet. Noticing what's happening down here in your feet. Simply being in your feet. Good. Very good. Allow yourself to hang out a little longer down here in your feet. It's nice to just let your mind drop down into your feet. Sensing. Feeling. Everything becoming soft and calm. And now let go of the gear shift. And just let your mind roam wherever it needs to go. Letting your mind drift. Float. And dream. As you naturally take yourself deeper and deeper. Because the sound of my voice is taking you deeper. It's so nice to relax. You're really good at relaxation. And switching the gears of your nervous system is easy now. Simple. The more you practice shifting gears, the easier it's becoming. And you're doing it during the day. You shift into the down gear just simply sitting at work. Or on your lunch break. Or standing in a park. Watching your kid at the playground. So imagine now you're in a situation in your daily life that you generally find stressful. Maybe you're at work. Or feeling pressure at home. And you realize you're feeling a little tense or agitated. So you close your eyes and imagine the gear shift. You feel it in the palm of your hand. As you say to yourself, I direct my nervous system. And you pull the gear shift into the down position. And your awareness moves instantly down to your feet. Because you're good at this. And every time you bring your awareness down to your feet, it's getting easier. And easier. And you're getting better and better at bringing your energy down. Now it's feeling really nice to hang out down here in your feet. Just sensing. Sensing. Your breath is becoming deeper. And you've calmed yourself down. Which you can do anytime. And even though you're relaxed, you can still make decisions and participate in the world. You're just doing it from a calmer place. You're allowed to take a break. You're allowed to shift down. This peace and calm is inside of you. All the time. And because you're able to shift down, you're more focused, more present. Everything is getting better. And now let go of the gear shift. And just let your mind roam. Wherever it needs to go. As you drift. And float. Andry. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. And you're ready to go. Thank you. Thank you.
