Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - A Dreamy Meditation on Setting Intentions for the New Year (Bonus)

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Starting point is 00:01:47 Sleep Sounds app now and get 30 days free access to all of the premium content. Just go to deepsleepsounds.com slash get sleepy. That's deepsleepsounds.com slash get sleepy. Good evening my friends, welcome to Get Sleepy, where we listen, we relax, and we get sleepy. As always, I'm your host, Thomas. Thank you for joining me for this extra special episode to see in the new year, peacefully and positively. And thank you for yet another year of being the most amazing, supportive community of listeners we could possibly wish for. It's been a year of wonderful milestones for the show, having gone past the 500 episode mark on the

Starting point is 00:02:55 public feed, and of course celebrating Get Sleepy's fifth birthday in November. fifth birthday in November. I wish you all a very happy and healthy new year and I hope you continue to prioritize good rest and join us for more dreamy stories and meditations throughout 2025. Tonight's beautiful meditation was written by our head writer and editor Shady Grove and I will be reading it for you. If you enjoy listening to it, we'd love for you to share this episode with a friend or loved one. The more we can spread love, care, positivity, and good rest into the new year,

Starting point is 00:03:48 the better place the world can be. And it's always nice to share something good with somebody special. Now, of course, this is a time for reflection, for honoring the places we've visited, the people we've met, and all the decisions we've made along the way. It's also a time for looking ahead, thinking of what we hope to do in the coming year, thinking of what we hope to do in the coming year, our goals and curiosities, places we'd like to explore, both in the world and within ourselves. And perhaps we'll consider things we'd like to change to help us get there. Tonight we'll visit a magical mapmaker's workshop where we'll begin to create our own map to

Starting point is 00:04:54 guide us into the new year. Let's begin by getting cozy and settling into bed. If you haven't already done so, close your eyes now. Make sure your head and neck are nicely supported by your pillow and your blankets and covers are adjusted to your liking. Take a deep, careful breath in, hold it for a moment and then let it out slowly, feeling your body relax as you release the air. Let's do that one more time. Breathe in. Hold for a moment, and exhale. Now, let's go deep within our minds to the place where Imagine you are standing before a heavy wooden door.

Starting point is 00:06:45 It looks old fashioned, like something you might find in a castle or an old library. There is a to the touch. You depress the thumb latch, which raises a small flat bar out of its groove, allowing you to gently push the door open. Stepping over the threshold, you close the door behind you. You are standing in a large room. Soft light filters through heavy, leaded glass windows, but imperfections in the glass blur any view outside. Dark wooden beams draw the eye from one end of the ceiling to the other. In the corner of the room nearest you is an antique globe whose surface is beginning

Starting point is 00:08:16 to yellow with time. It's resting in a wooden stand. You reach out your hand and give the orb a gentle spin. Green continents and light blue oceans seem to blend together as it turns. Scattered around the room are shelves and tall tables covered in atlases, pens, fine-tipped paintbrushes, compasses, and rulers. As you walk through and explore, you run your hands over the various books and supplies you find. There's a guide to the waterways of the world, a manual of map making, and a beautiful compass, not the type that shows you north and south, but the one with a fine point that helps you draw a circle. It looks almost like a small pair of tongs creating a V shape with its two arms, one

Starting point is 00:09:48 pointed and one with a drawing implement. Ideally, you pick up the compass and set its point down on a nearby scrap of paper. You adjust the second arm, keeping the point in place, and then rest the pencil, watching as a perfect circle appears. There's something satisfying about both creating the intention to, and then actually drawing such a precise shape. As you lift your gaze from the scrap of paper, you notice a map on the back wall. You walk over to it, admiring the way the light captures its various gold lines, loops, and branching pathways. This isn't a normal map, you realize, but an intricate depiction of the journey you took this past year. Every fork in the road is a decision you made,

Starting point is 00:11:32 guided by your hopes and intentions. Tracing the lines of the map with your finger, you recall these moments as they happened. Some of the choices you made, the, or accomplishment, thinking back on these memories. Many of them brought you closer to achieving your goals, or led you to interesting places where you learned and grew as a person. You take a deep breath, pausing for a moment, pausing for a moment to appreciate the way you navigated this past year But then, your finger pauses at one particular juncture. You feel a little tug in your chest. This was a decision that, thinking back on it now, you realize you might have made differently given a second chance.

Starting point is 00:13:32 This isn't a time or space for regret though, only learning. Your hindsight here will be useful as you face new decisions in the future. You take another deep breath, pausing for a moment to appreciate these opportunities for building greater understanding of what you want and how to work towards it. You step back from the wall, taking some time to study the map in its entirety. taking some time to study the map in its entirety. It represents a complex web of choices, of moments, feelings, and opportunities. Twelve months of branching pathways and the decisions you made that led you to where you are today. You understand that not everything that happened was within your control.

Starting point is 00:14:58 Sometimes life becomes unpredictable or chaotic, but what you did with the hurdles and opportunities that came your way is something you can look back on and learn from. Seeing the year laid out in such a beautiful and complex web of golden lines helps you to come to peace with all that has happened. This year is in the past. Moving on from the map on the wall, you make your way into the middle of the room, where there's a sturdy wooden table. It takes up nearly half of the floor space. On it is a large rolled up piece of parchment. You reach out and gently take the edge of the parchment between your fingertips. Using your other hand, you slowly unfurl it, revealing a blank page. There are a few paperweights on the table, and you use them to hold down the edges of the parchment. Based on its size and shape, you understand

Starting point is 00:16:52 this blank sheet will one day become a map, like the one on the wall. Perhaps even your map of the year to come. Every new journey needs a starting point, and so, here in this mapmaker's workshop, you'll use your mind to sketch the first few lines on the map, your intentions smooth it is to the touch. You run your hands back and forth over it a few times, feeling a sense of compassion for yourself and the future that lies ahead of you. You take a deep breath in, and then let it out slowly. First, think about what matters most to you at this moment in your life. It could be just one thing, family or a career for example, or a few things that you value and would like to prioritize or strengthen, a daily meditation or journaling practice, or healthy eating habits.

Starting point is 00:19:12 As the things that matter most to you come to mind, you see a series of faint golden marks pour from your hands onto the map. Knowing the things that are important to you will keep you centered and grounded as you face the decisions to come. You'll be able to ask yourself, will this choice lead to healthy, strong, or positive outcomes for the things that matter to me. Next, remember the map on the wall from your previous year and think of something or a few things you'd like to let go of. These may be feelings like jealousy or anxiety. They could be behaviors or patterns you'd like to break, maybe a habit that has a detrimental effect on your life, or they could be relationships, jobs, or other efforts you'd like to move

Starting point is 00:20:40 on from. Holding on to things that no longer serve you can lead you in the wrong direction for your goals in life. As you think of these things you'd like to let go of, you see a series of golden lines appear and then fade away. These are directions you're deciding not to take this year and you feel a sense of relief watching them disappear. Finally, think about the kind of person you are choosing to be in the new year. Consider the attributes you would like to bring with you as you walk your path. Perhaps you'd like to be more focused, disciplined, or organized. Or maybe you will choose to lead with compassion and

Starting point is 00:22:11 kindness. Knowing what kind of inner compass you have will help keep you from straying from your path. You'll be able to ask yourself if your choices are kind and compassionate, if they are rooted in discipline, if they If they will make you and those around you stronger, happier, and more supported. As you think of the kind of person you would like to be this year, you see a flood of gold spread over the map. It swirls and arcs, before coming to rest in a series of deep lines across the parchment. Choosing to bring your authentic, mindful self to the world means there will be certain paths you will follow to be true to yourself. You take a deep breath and look down at the parchment. There are a series of golden lines spread across the page. There are no forks in the road yet, no branching pathways. These will be etched as you make decisions in the new year.

Starting point is 00:24:16 But the foundation is there now. Your intentions have been formed. Your intentions have been formed. You will set goals and pursue opportunities. You will meet people and see interesting new places and things. And every day, you'll be faced with choices. But you'll be able to move forward, knowing what you value, the things you've let go of that no longer serve you, and what kind of person you want to be, making your way through the world. Happy New Year, and may you walk a path that brings you joy and satisfaction in the days to come. You You I'm going to go ahead and start the video. You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You. you

Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - A Dreamy Meditation on Setting Intentions for the New Year (Bonus)

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