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Thomas (1:29)

Welcome to Get Sleepy where we listen, we relax, and we get sleepy. I'm your host Thomas. Thank you so much for listening. Tonight I'll be guiding you on a journey through the Sahara Desert. The profound quietude and stillness of the Sahara creates a pause that allows us to connect to our deepest and most authentic truths. The vast open space of the desert and respite from the busyness of the world offers clarity, wisdom and peace. A big thank you to Nicole for writing this lovely meditation. If you're enjoying the show, we'd love to have your support on our members feed. Get sleepypremium. Not only will you be supporting the show and making it possible for us to keep bringing you all the dreamy content you need to rest well, but you'll also receive even more content to enjoy with full access to over 850 full length stories and meditations as well as our weekly bonus episodes which come out every Thursday night. And better still, everything is completely ad free. So join us tomorrow for our Premium exclusive, a story that will bring you all the dreamy vibes as you imagine yourself Working in a warm, cosy art studio on a rainy evening. Jessica will be reading it for us, so do join us tomorrow night for that. To learn more about Get Sleepy Premium, just go to getsleepy.com support or follow the link in the show notes. You get the first seven days free of charge, so there's no immediate commitment. Thank you so much for your support. My friends, before we begin, let's take a moment to settle Notice the environment around you. Are you outside? Inside, in bed? Is it light or dark? Warm or cold? Familiar or new? Perhaps you notice something in your environment that helps you feel just a little bit more at ease. This could be a soft, cozy blanket, a pat, or a pleasant sound or smell. Take note of what you are drawn to that provides you a sense of comfort. Now that you are oriented to your environment, start to tune in to your body. Feel your body in space and pay particular attention to the parts of your body that are connecting to your bed or whatever surface you are on. Notice the support underneath you and practice receiving that support. Now begin to track how your body feels inside. Perhaps you observe your heartbeat, your breath, or other bodily sensations. Is there a particular temperature, movement or vibration that you notice? Take a few deep breaths and follow that with a sense of gentle curiosity. The practice of attuning to the cues of our body is called tracking, and it helps us to slow down and pay attention to to what is happening internally. With time, we can increase our understanding of our body's signals and become more connected to its wisdom. You can think of this sort of like an inner GPS or in a compass. It's a practice of coming back home to ourselves to find the truth rather than looking outside of ourselves for guidance. We will continue to practice tracking as we move through our meditation this evening so that you can strengthen your inner compass and connect to your deepest truths. With that, let's begin our meditation. Imagine that you are sitting on a large fabric pouf in a luxury camp in the Sahara Desert. You are alone here except for a few staff members. The camp is very remote and there is a deep sense of peace that permeates your cells. A cascade of sand dunes of varying sizes surrounds the camp. You've been looking forward to climbing the biggest one and watching the sunset from the top of the dune. For now, you slowly sip a cup of tea and savor the quiet and solitude of the Sahara. Your body feels deeply relaxed here and your nervous system is settled. There's not too much to do, but you feel okay with that. Slowing down and doing nothing actually Feels quite natural here in the Sahara. You close your eyes for a moment and really savor that feeling of rest and safety, tracking it and getting curious about how it feels in your body. As you do, you notice a deeper breath that morphs into a yawn emerge from your mouth. You take your last sip of tea and slowly arise, stretching out your body. It looks like the sun is lowering in the sky, meaning it's about time to start walking up the dune. You kick off your sandals one by one, leaving them on the carpeted seating area. How lovely it is that they have rugs rolled out all over the sand at this camp. It adds a special touch of hospitality that makes this beautiful place feel like home. As you walk beyond the carpeted borders of the camp, you begin to step barefoot in the sand. It feels soft and pliable under your feet, making each step slower as you sink in a little where your feet touch down. This will be a nice, mindful slow walk, you think to yourself, which fits into the theme of the Sahara perfectly. Being in such a remote and profoundly peaceful place seems to quiet the noise of the outside world and increase your internal connection with yourself. There are no distractions, advertisements, comparisons or pressure to perform in any particular way. There is just you, surrounded by the vastness of nature. It feels very freeing to come back home to yourself and to start to separate what is yours and what isn't, what is important to you and what isn't, and who you are and who you are not. These contemplations start to arise as you begin to walk up the dune, one slow, intentional step at a time. It's almost as if with each step you let go of something that has been weighing you down. The pressures of the world can feel so heavy. We get accustomed to carrying them around without ever pausing to interrogate whether or not they are worth holding on to. Once we do create some space and rest from our routines, it can suddenly become more clear what is helpful and what is not. As you slowly ascend to the sand dune, imagine what you might like to put down to lighten your load. Perhaps it's a behavior or habit that you have outgrown and that is now in the way of you becoming your most authentic self. This could be something like people pleasing perfectionism, not standing up for yourself, codependency or self judgment. We often learn to be in the world in ways that require a performance. And this can lead us to believe that who we are without the performance is not enough. But this is simply not true. You are enough. Just as you are and you don't need to perform or to earn your worthiness in any way. Softly repeat this sentence to yourself. I am enough just as I am, and I don't need to perform or earn my worthiness in any way. Take a deep breath now and really feel that this is true. Notice if there is anything else you'd like to lay down in the sand. As you continue to step up the dune, even though it requires effort to traverse the sand dune, you notice how you feel lighter as you get nearer to the top. You are freeing yourself from weight that you didn't realize you were carrying and that you couldn't see until you traveled to a more restful environment. The Sahara is allowing you to see more of the truth of who you are and who you are not. Sometimes we can confuse these coping strategies that we pick up in life for our actual personality. We carry them around for so long that they really do feel like they are a part of us. It's only when we begin to slow down and tune in that we can see the truth more clearly. We may think of ourselves as being big hearted caretakers who are always thinking of others before ourselves. Yet we might also feel resentful, overlooked, or that we have to do everything ourselves. If we look a little closer, we may also be able to see that this is how we have adapted to fit in and to be what we think the world demands us to be. Perhaps the friction we feel is our body telling us that we have been straying from our deepest authenticity all along. Take a moment to breathe deeply and stay connected to your body. Notice any small subtle shifts and track how they feel. Listen to the wisdom your body has to offer you and follow the guidance of your internal compass. Feel the sand under your feet again as you scale the last steps up to the top of the dune. As you get closer and closer, an amazing panoramic view of a sherbet colored sky comes into full view. It is spectacular to behold. You pause for a moment at the very top of the dune to simply take it in and savor it. You are fully present in this moment, deep in the Sahara desert with your feet in the sand and the wind on your skin. The breathtaking spaciousness and beauty permeate your body and you feel a profound sense of awe and peace. You can see the sky turn vibrant shades of orange and purple as the sun lowest towards the horizon, setting the sand dunes ablaze with color. You feel energized and full of passion even as you simultaneously feel a deep sense of presence and Ease. You are lit up with a sense of who you are in the world as you journey through the desert, exploring what is most true, meaningful, inspiring and worthwhile to you in this moment. You don't care what anyone else thinks or what the world says you should do. All you feel right now is a profound sense of being alive. You know exactly who you are and this self assurance is illuminating you. As the sun nestles down into the sand dunes and the sky begins to turn more purple, a fierce sense of playfulness arises within you and you follow this feeling. You begin to run down the dune like a child, laughing and smiling as you open your stride and swing out your arms to catch the wind. You feel gleeful and free as you fly down the dune. Laughter emanating from you as you surrender to the fun and joy. When you reach the bottom, you have the biggest smile on your face while your entire body feels free and alive. You feel exactly like yourself in this moment, without any pretense or performance or self suppression. You notice how deeply connected you are to your body and to your inner compass. It's as if you have just been guided back home to yourself and have reconnected to your passion, play and vitality. You feel more like yourself right now than you have in a long time. This journey to the Sahara has helped you come back to who you really are and to embody your greatest authenticity and deepest truths. You now know without a shadow of a doubt who you are and who you are not. You are lighter, more joyful and have a deep sense of inner peace that is radiating out from this strong connection with yourself. Your inner compass has guided you back home and you now know that you have everything you need to continue to live from this place. As you tap into the strength of who you are, maybe you take a moment to speak it quietly to yourself. This is who I am. Perhaps you also take a moment to track any sensations present in your body right now. Do you notice any heat, pressure or movement in your body? What does authenticity feel like to you and where do you most notice this feeling in your body? Stay here as long as you'd like and whenever you're ready, you can slowly bring your awareness back to your environment. Sweet dreams and good night.