#38 Relax & Sleep Hypnosis Daily (Jason Newland)

Hello, welcome to jasonnewland.com. My name is Jason Newland and this is Sleep Hypnosis Weekly. Please only listen when you can safely close your eyes.

I haven't made one of these recordings for a little while. I've been a bit unwell but I'm back now. And also, I have the, my garden shed that's in my bedroom, which I've been trying to convert into a soundproof recording studio.

It is kind of done on the outside. It's hopefully soundproofed enough for me to make recordings. And this is what I've been waiting for really, so that I can do some of these quieter recordings.

And with the Let Me Bore You To Sleep, I'll make those in the living room and you'll have Andre running around, which is kind of okay for those, I think. But when it comes to these, you know, more deeper sleeper, deeper sleeper recordings, I like there to be as little background sound as possible. And as with the previous recording, this will be available in two different formats, or two different versions rather.

This one, or the original, which would be just me talking. And there's going to be a longer version, which will be with music. So the talking part will be exactly the same length.

And then the music will carry on, taking a recording to about 50 minutes. The reason I do that is because it's kind of been requested. And some people have contacted me saying that they like the music.

They like to have the background music, as well as me talking. But I know that some people also prefer just to have me talking without background music. So you have the choice.

Also, the benefit, I guess, with the background music, once it's added to the recording, is any kind of background sounds, maybe birds in the garden, and specifically pigeons. They seem to be fairly boisterous first thing in the morning. They'll kind of be blanked out by the music.

I'm hoping not too much in the way of sound we'll be able to get through the thick outer layer of this wonderful recording studio. And then eventually when it's done inside, we've got some soundproofing, but when it's really jam-packed with soundproofing inside, it should be phenomenally quiet. That's the plan.

But it seems to be doing okay at the moment. So I'm literally sitting here in the darkness, in this shed in my bedroom, which is a weird thought, really, I guess. But at the same time, I think it's quite a good idea.

Yeah. So this recording, I think it needs to be a mixture of relaxation and sleep. And the reason I say that is because, well, first of all, relaxation is part of the sleep process.

Whether you're listening to me talking, or whether you're just lying in bed on your own, or with a partner, you know, whatever. But that general relaxation process occurs naturally. Especially if you expect to feel relaxed.

When you associate lying down on your bed as being a sign for your body and your mind to relax, regardless of what time of the day or night it is, even if you're just going to lie down for one minute, you associate that lying down on your bed as a relaxing thing to do. A calming exercise. Exercise.

Just in the same way as when you've been out, maybe walking, and maybe for a long, been on your feet for a long time maybe, and you get home, or you get to work, and you sit down. And you know the old saying, take the weight off your feet. Or take the weight off your legs, or whatever.

And it just feels really relaxing. Regardless of how long that sense of relaxation lasts, it does feel nice. So the sense of being able to just lay down on your bed and relax.

To me, it feels like it's the most natural thing in the world. Almost as if it's the obvious thing to happen. Just like if you lay down in a bath, you're going to get wet.

You lay down on your bed, you're going to feel relaxed. In your body, your mind slows down. And some people tell me that part of the problem that I've had in the past, before they started to listen to me, is that their mind seemed to speed up when they wanted to go to sleep.

Yet the body and the mind are connected. So you might feel initially that your mind is going fast, and how do you slow it down? And although there are lots of different ways that you can just allow your mind to slow down, and it will do eventually anyway, just by lying there. But when you focus on your body, naturally relaxing, your mind also starts to slow down.

Because if you lie down on your bed, and you try and stay tense, stiff as a board, stiff as a board, like the old hypnotic magicians on stage putting someone, balancing them between two chairs, and then standing on their stomach, stiff as a board and all that stuff. Well, how long do you think it's possible to actually keep that up? To actually stiffen your muscles and keep yourself tense purposefully?

How long do you think that you could actually do that, in reality? Your answer may be, well, do that anyway, it's easy. But you might not go, it's just me.

The simple fact is we do it. Relax. Because no feeling stays, no physical sensation stays the same, constantly changing.

So I guess a challenge could be, not to try and stay awake, I've done recordings like that. A challenge could be, to focus on your body. Try and keep it tense, try and keep your body tense.

See how long you could actually do that. Realistically, how long can you do that before you just have to let go? And when you do let go, you notice that sense of calmness and relaxation spread through your body. And it feels really nice.

But I'd like you just to test it. See if you're able to do that while you listen to me. I mean, I could be a little bit distracting.

You may listen to me regularly and associate with me, with me? Associate me and my voice and these recordings with feeling calmer, feeling more tired, more relaxed. Which may make it even more difficult as you attempt to tense your body, fruitlessly. But you know, just give it a go.

It's a bit like trying to hold your breath. It's impossible to hold it for any length of time, other than eventually you've got to breathe. No one can hold their breath forever.

It's impossible. No one can hold their breath and kill themselves by holding their breath. It's impossible.

The body won't allow it. Just like you can't force yourself to be stressed. Your body won't allow it.

And that brings the complications, the confusions, like why can't you force yourself to be tense? Why can't you do that when sometimes it happens naturally? Why can't you force yourself to feel wide awake when sometimes that happens naturally? When perhaps you don't want it to happen in the past. But when you try and do it, things change. I suppose this is a little bit similar to, you know, maybe going to the dentist with toothache and then when you actually get into the dentist chair and they say, which tooth is it?

And you forget.

It's like, oh, it's gone. The ache's gone. It's happened to many people.

Like trying to force a feeling that isn't there or that can't be forced. So try to speed your mind up. Try to do those things that actually you don't want to happen but when you try to force them, notice what happens.

Try and force your mind to race and to have lots of different thoughts. Just try and force it to happen. Notice what happens when you try and force something that actually neither your body nor your mind really wants and wouldn't do those things if it realized it was harmful to you.

So your mind doesn't race along really fast just to annoy you. It feels it's helping you. But when you point out and let your mind know that actually it's not needed.

Thank you very much but no thanks because I think it's quite important for us to show appreciation for ourselves. Show appreciation for your mind because if your mind can be full of ideas when you're, you know, you're laying in bed and you want to go to sleep and you've got all these ideas and your mind's thinking, it could be a good time to thank your brain for having that ability to be creative.

To be thankful that your mind does work.

But right now it's not necessary. In a similar way you might have, you know, you might have a child that wakes you up at four in the morning bringing you breakfast in bed. You might not have to get out of bed till seven or eight.

So, you know, breakfast in bed it's a beautiful thing that your small child's done. It's also annoying because it's four o'clock in the morning but it's still a beautiful thing. It's still a lovely kind thing.

So, you don't have to eat the breakfast. You don't have to sit up and eat it, turn all the lights on and be awake when actually what you need to do is just go back to sleep. But you are able to thank the child and tell the child, tell your boy or girl, that's what a lovely thing, thank you very much, go back to bed now or go and watch television or whatever.

And I'll see you in a few hours. So maybe not being cruel to yourself, not being rude to yourself, not having a go at yourself or moaning about yourself might actually improve your ability to just let go and enjoy the feeling of just lying there. Because when you're focusing on not wanting thoughts in your mind, you're focusing on thoughts in your mind.

You're focusing on having thoughts in your mind. Your unconscious mind takes that as a signal, as a command even, to give you more thoughts when that's the last thing perhaps that you're wanting at that particular time. However, it's a wonderful skill to have.

It's brilliant that you've got a mind that can think and be creative and remind you of things and help you sort out problems. To have an active mind is a wonderful thing. Just not necessary when you're laying in bed.

Just like riding, the skill of riding a horse or driving a car. Those skills are great skills to have if you need them, if it's useful to you. It's of no use to you if you're watching television, in the moment of watching television.

It's useful to you in the moment that you're doing those activities. Just have the image of someone sitting down watching television and going, geedy up, geedy up, like they're on a horse. But I don't know if people on horses actually do say that.

I'm not an expert on such things. So just imagine trying to get yourself tense in your body. I mean, it might be practically impossible right now.

It might, it's not, it's probably the furthest thing that you want to do, but also maybe the last thing that you're able to do at this moment. But I think it's quite an interesting idea, the idea of even attempting it. I mean, it could seem absurd.

You know, especially when you think, one, you're listening to this, in order to relax and, you know, have a mind slow down and go to sleep. And then this bloke talking, saying, can you please tense your body up? It's almost, it's ridiculous. But the question is, are you able to do it? I don't mean tense in a muscle group.

I mean, actually feel intense in your body. Are you able to do that? Without just relaxing again. Every time you relax, you feel even more deeply relaxed.

There's only so many times that you can have tension in your body and then relax before the tension runs out. I mean, you could have a couple, a cupboard, a cupboard or a fridge full of eggs. You could have a hundred eggs and you could juggle with them, you know, two at a time, maybe three.

Maybe have someone just chuck one in every now and then as you're juggling. And if you're like me, I'd just be dropping continuously. Eventually, and I say eventually, even if it was a hundred eggs, probably within about five minutes, I'd have no more eggs left.

I'd be a very, very waste of food to do something like that. But unless of course you did it on some giant frying pan and just made an omelette. But that tension runs out.

It runs out. But why does it run out? Because it's not necessary. It's not needed.

It's not useful at this time. There are times when tension is very useful. In extreme emergencies, probably sometimes the last thing you want to do is be relaxed.

You need to be, you know, full on tense and moving and getting things done and, you know, but this isn't one of those situations. This is a calm time, a safe, relaxing space. Just because your arms are at your side or maybe you may be lying on your side, but your arms are just there.

They're not doing anything. It doesn't mean they can't do anything if you choose to. Or your feet or your legs or your body.

You're just choosing not to. There's lots of things we don't do when we're in bed going to sleep. You may love knitting.

You're not going to do that when you're in bed with the lights off. Unless, of course, you do do that when you're in bed with the lights off, then weird, I think, would be, you know, good for you if that's, I can't imagine. I don't know if you'd be able to fall asleep knitting.

I'd be a bit scared about the big needles, like laying on them or something, but I'd end up like a big kebab. So, when you're in bed, tension is not really necessary or even a viable concept, really. You can have little glimpses of it, you can try and force it, but it can't last.

Just like jumping up and down. You can feel like you're flying. Maybe you're on a trampoline.

You can feel like you're flying, maybe, or you're about to fly to the moon, but you're not. And you always come back down again, back to the trampoline. And then up again, and down again, and up and down, bouncy, bouncy.

But you can't keep that bit where you're in the air, you can't keep it. Just like you can't keep the sense of feeling wide awake, you can't keep the sense of tension in your body. You can't keep those thoughts rushing through your body, or through your mind, and through your body.

It's all connected. A little thing called a neck connects the body and the mind, the brain. And things start to slow down, naturally.

And that's a thing, I suppose, when you stop trying to do something, then you no longer need to try to do that thing, because, as you see, if you try to feel tense, eventually you'll stop feeling tense. If you try to stay awake, eventually you'll stop being able to stay awake. So trying something doesn't really necessarily do anything, because you always end up going physically, and your brain goes to that space of sleep, because you're lying down and you're lying on your bed, because when you're lying on your bed, the most natural thing to do is just to fall asleep.

Just to fall asleep. It's quite an amazing thing, really, when you consider that this is something that billions, over 7 billion people, do every single day of their life. Even people who think they're not sleeping, they do fall asleep.

If you stay awake long enough, you'll fall asleep. You have no choice. It just happens, the body and the mind just does it naturally.

That's why there's limits on people that drive trucks and lorries, why they're not allowed to drive for too many hours in a row, because they will fall asleep. It's a well-known science, that's the way the brain works. The brain will shut down, slow down, calm down, and fall asleep, regardless of what the person's doing.

So you can imagine if that lorry driver, who might be struggling to stay awake while they're driving, hopefully they would pull to the side of the road and stop, which would be the right thing to do. Imagine if they were lying down in bed, they'd just drift to sleep. Not trying to sleep, not wanting to sleep, not needing to sleep, not being mad at themselves or getting angry, not telling themselves off, not criticising yourself, because your brain works and you're thinking about stuff.

Just accepting of how you are, accepting of the situation as it is now, because, yeah, when you lie down in your bed, maybe your brain is active for a little while. You know, the question is, could be, is your life really that exciting that you need to think about stuff when you're in bed? You know, is 16 hours a day not enough for you to spend thinking about stuff?

It's all so amazing that we have to think about it when we're asleep. Because the thinking when you're asleep will happen anyway.

You know, dreaming, all that stuff naturally happens, so you don't need to actually help it along. It's not needed, not necessary. If there's something you need to think about, then you'll think about it when you're asleep.

If there's something your brain needs to process or an emotion that needs to be processed, that will happen when you're asleep. And one of the benefits of laying down on your bed and going to sleep is worries from the day, worries for the future, it doesn't matter about them, it doesn't matter. That stuff can just disappear, no matter how difficult a time you may be having.

During the day, at night, or whenever you go to sleep, you can have a break from that. You don't have to be an adult, you don't have to be a child, you don't have to be a parent, you don't have to be a carer, you don't have to be a worker, you don't have to be a husband or a wife, you don't have to be anything. When you're asleep, you can just be you, you don't have to have a role, you don't have to think about anybody else at all.

So almost, you could say, one of the most self-indulgent things there are, if you allow yourself to do it, is to just go to sleep. It's a pleasure, it's actually a natural pleasure that we have, that you can enjoy. You can enjoy the process, the sleeping bit's nice, but why wait until you're asleep before you enjoy not caring about anything else, not caring about anyone else? Just for that time.

You might have a relative in hospital, think about that when you're awake, when you lie down in your bed, forget all about it, doesn't matter when you're in your bed, doesn't mean it doesn't matter, you know, in reality, of course, stuff matters, but it doesn't have to matter to you when you're in your bed, when you're lying down. You're in your safe space, like a little safe bubble, where nothing else can really intervene or affect you.

It's a safe space for you to let go of everything, everything and everyone, to not think about anyone that's problematic, or even anyone that's a joy in your life.

You don't have to think about anyone. You don't have to think about birthdays coming up, Christmas, weddings, funerals, anything, job interviews, you don't have to think about anything. You don't even have to think about going to sleep.

There's nothing that you need to think about. It's just time to just lay there, enjoy the comfort, enjoy the support of the bed, supporting your body, enjoy the feeling of those worries and concerns, just evaporating. Because no matter how important they are during the day, when you lie down on your bed, they don't matter.

You're allowing yourself to let go of everything. And this is an important thing for your own well-being. And as I said earlier, it's not that the stuff doesn't matter.

It's just in that moment, nothing matters. There is no world, it's just you and your bed, and your own safe space. No one else exists, really.

It doesn't matter, nothing else matters. And as those concerns and stresses naturally disappear, disappear, there's that sense of calmness in your mind. It's a peacefulness.

I like the analogy of a still lake. It's very peaceful. Maybe the odd ripple here and there, but calm, peaceful.

Not needed for anything, not needing to do anything, not needing to think about anything. A sense of calmness that spreads through you, relaxing your body and your mind. Just naturally, you're not trying to create it, it's just there, it's just arrived.

It's just arrived. Your mind is peaceful, your body is peaceful. And there's a real sense of almost like you're drifting, but you don't care if you're drifting.

You don't need to drift into sleep, because you know it's going to happen anyway, but you don't even care if it happens. And you're not trying to feel relaxed. Instead, you can just enjoy that feeling of relaxation that naturally spreads through your body and your mind.

And there's a real sense of connectedness between your mind and your body. Not just because it's connected by your neck, the brain and the body all connected. There's a real calmness that just spreads over you as you are in that safe space.

Safe to relax, safe to just be peaceful. It's just nice. It's a nice feeling to be able to just be who you are and not needing to think about anything or anyone completely let go.

Completely relax and allow that smile of safety, a smile of safety to spread through your body into your mind. That smile of safety protecting you, keeping you safe. That smile of safety hugging you, giving you everything that you need to feel loved and safe, deeply relaxed, deeply at peace, deeply safe, deeply relaxed.

Thank you.