Putting the Phone Down

Before we begin, take a moment to set yourself up comfortably. Lie down in your bed, or wherever you plan to sleep tonight. Let your arms rest gently at your sides, or loosely across your belly — whichever feels most natural. You don't need to hold anything. You don't need to do anything. Your eyes can close now, softly and completely, and they can stay closed for the rest of this session. This is a mindfulness-based hypnosis session, which means we'll begin by simply noticing — noticing what's around you, what's inside you, without needing to change anything at first. From that place of gentle awareness, the session will guide you naturally toward deep relaxation and sleep. There's nothing to figure out tonight. No effort required. If your mind wanders at any point, that's perfectly fine — just let my voice find you again whenever it does. This session is designed to play all the way through as you drift off, so there's no need to do anything at the end. Simply allow yourself to fall asleep whenever sleep arrives. Now, let's begin.

Bring your attention to this present moment. [Long pause] Notice what you can hear right now. [Long pause] Maybe there are distant sounds — the hum of the night, the quiet of the house settling. [Long pause] Notice what you can feel. [Long pause] The weight of your body against the surface beneath you. [Long pause] The temperature of the air against your skin. [Long pause] And notice what you can sense inside — the rise and fall of your chest, the quiet rhythm already moving through you. [Long pause] You don't need to change any of it. [Long pause] Just notice. [Long pause] And as you notice, something interesting begins to happen. [Long pause] The act of simply paying attention — without effort, without agenda — begins to slow everything down. [Long pause] Your thoughts begin to lose their urgency. [Long pause] The day starts to feel further away. [Long pause] And your body, which has been waiting patiently for this moment, begins to exhale. [Long pause] That's right. [Long pause] You're already doing it. Already arriving here. [Long pause] Take one slow breath in now. [Long pause] And let it go completely. [Long pause] With that breath, you've already begun to let go of the day. [Long pause] And every breath from here carries you a little further into stillness. [Long pause]

Imagine now that the evening is wrapping around you like a soft, heavy blanket. [Long pause] Not the kind of evening that demands anything from you — but the kind that simply holds you. [Long pause] The kind that says: you've done enough. [Long pause] You've thought enough, scrolled enough, processed enough. [Long pause] This moment belongs entirely to you. [Long pause] Picture yourself lying exactly where you are now, but in your mind's eye, the room feels different. [Long pause] Quieter. [Long pause] Softer. [Long pause] The light is low and warm, like the last glow before a fire settles into embers. [Long pause] There's a window nearby, and beyond it, the night sky is vast and still. [Long pause] Not empty — but full of a deep, restful quiet that stretches all the way to the horizon. [Long pause] And somewhere in that quiet, you recognize something. [Long pause] A feeling you've known before. [Long pause] The feeling of a night that belongs to you. [Long pause] Not to a screen. Not to other people's updates or noise or urgency. [Long pause] Just to you, and to rest. [Long pause] Notice how your body responds to that image. [Long pause] Perhaps a small release in your shoulders. [Long pause] A softening around your jaw. [Long pause] A heaviness beginning to gather in your limbs — the pleasant, welcome weight of a body ready to sleep. [Long pause] This is the version of your evening you're choosing now. [Long pause] This quiet. [Long pause] This stillness. [Long pause] This gift you're giving yourself tonight, and every night from here. [Long pause]

And now, I want you to let yourself sink even deeper into that stillness. [Long pause] Imagine a staircase in front of you. [Long pause] Ten steps, leading gently downward — not into darkness, but into a deeper, warmer, softer version of this peaceful place. [Long pause] With each step, you'll feel yourself relax twice as deeply as the moment before. [Long pause] Ten. [Long pause] Take the first step down, and feel a wave of relaxation move through your scalp, your forehead, the muscles around your eyes. [Long pause] Nine. [Long pause] Down another step, and your jaw unclenches. Your throat softens. Your neck and shoulders let go of everything they've been holding. [Long pause] Eight. [Long pause] Deeper still. Your chest opens. Your breathing finds its own slow, natural rhythm. [Long pause] Seven. [Long pause] Your arms feel heavy and warm. Your hands rest open, no longer reaching for anything. [Long pause] Six. [Long pause] The middle of your body softens. Your belly rises and falls without effort. [Long pause] Five. [Long pause] Halfway down now, and the stillness is profound. Your mind is quieter than it's been all day. [Long pause] Four. [Long pause] Your hips and the backs of your thighs sink deeper into the surface beneath you. [Long pause] Three. [Long pause] Your legs are heavy, comfortable, completely at ease. [Long pause] Two. [Long pause] Almost there. One more step and you'll be in the deepest, most restful place you've visited in a long time. [Long pause] One. [Long pause] Here you are. [Long pause] Completely relaxed. [Long pause] Completely safe. [Long pause] Completely at rest. [Long pause]

And from this deep, quiet place, let these words settle into you — not as instructions, but as truths you're simply remembering. [Long pause] You are someone who values your own peace. [Long pause] You have always known, somewhere inside you, that the night belongs to rest. [Long pause] And now, that knowing is becoming something you feel — in your body, in your choices, in the way your evenings unfold. [Long pause] When the night comes and the day is done, something in you naturally begins to wind down. [Long pause] Like the sky after sunset — it doesn't strain to become dark. It simply lets the light go. [Long pause] And you are like that now. [Long pause] Letting the stimulation go. [Long pause] Letting the noise go. [Long pause] Letting the scroll go. [Long pause] Because you've noticed something — the scrolling never really satisfies. [Long pause] It promises something and delivers nothing. [Long pause] A loop that ends where it begins, leaving you more wired, not less. [Long pause] But this — this stillness — this actually gives you something. [Long pause] It gives you back to yourself. [Long pause] And so putting the phone down has become easy. [Long pause] Easier than you expected. [Long pause] Not because you're forcing yourself — but because the pull toward rest is stronger now than the pull toward stimulation. [Long pause] Your body knows what it needs. [Long pause] And your mind is learning to follow. [Long pause] You are someone who gifts themselves peaceful evenings. [Long pause] That is who you are now. [Long pause] Someone who treats the hours before sleep as sacred — as a space for softness, not noise. [Long pause] And every night you choose this, that identity becomes more natural, more effortless, more completely yours. [Long pause] Sleep is not something you have to chase. [Long pause] It is something that comes to you — when you create the conditions for it. [Long pause] And you are creating those conditions right now. [Long pause] You are already doing it. [Long pause]

Let your mind drift gently forward now — to tomorrow evening. [Long pause] See yourself at the end of the day, winding down. [Long pause] Notice how natural it feels to set the phone aside. [Long pause] Not with effort. Not with a fight. [Long pause] But with a quiet sense of satisfaction — like closing a door on the day and stepping into something better. [Long pause] You feel the shift in your body as the evening begins. [Long pause] A loosening. [Long pause] A slowing. [Long pause] Your nervous system recognizing the signal: it's time to rest. [Long pause] And you follow that signal easily, naturally, the way you're following it right now. [Long pause] See yourself a week from now — and notice how this has become simply the way your evenings go. [Long pause] No struggle. No negotiation with yourself. [Long pause] Just a quiet, satisfying drift toward sleep. [Long pause] Your mornings feel different too. [Long pause] Clearer. [Long pause] More rested. [Long pause] Because the gift you gave yourself the night before is still with you — in your energy, in your mood, in the way you move through the day. [Long pause] And you carry this with you now — this new way of being in the evenings. [Long pause] This identity as someone who chooses rest. [Long pause] Someone who knows that the most nourishing thing they can do at night is simply let go. [Long pause] And letting go is exactly what you're doing now. [Long pause] Letting go of the day. [Long pause] Letting go of the noise. [Long pause] Letting go of everything that isn't this moment, this breath, this beautiful stillness. [Long pause]

There is nothing to do now. [Long pause] Nowhere to be. [Long pause] Nothing to check. [Long pause] Just this soft, quiet darkness. [Long pause] And your breath, moving slowly, slowly. [Long pause] Each breath carrying you a little further from wakefulness. [Long pause] A little deeper into the warm, heavy comfort of sleep. [Long pause] Your thoughts, if they come at all, are like clouds drifting across a night sky — passing through without catching. [Long pause] You don't need to follow them. [Long pause] You don't need to hold them. [Long pause] They simply pass. [Long pause] And what remains is stillness. [Long pause] Just the weight of your body. [Long pause] The rhythm of your breath. [Long pause] The quiet that is yours. [Long pause]

Let yourself go now. [3.5 second pause] All the way down. [3.5 second pause] Into sleep. [3.5 second pause] Deep, restful, natural sleep. [3.5 second pause] You are safe. [3.5 second pause] You are held. [3.5 second pause] You are exactly where you are meant to be. [3.5 second pause] Sleep now. [3.5 second pause]