Transform me into sleep

March 2, 2023 10:01 PM

I'm looking for sleep meditations that are less about good vibes and sitting in a gentle peaceful forest in the healing light or whatever and more about just getting to pretend you are something else entirely?

Examples would be stuff like...you're laying on a beach and the time comes in and buries you and you transform into a coral reef. You're the embryo inside of an egg under a chicken's warm butt. You're a bat hanging upside down in a cave preparing to go into hibernation. You're an ant queen ensconced deep in the heart of her nest. A bee on a drowsy summer's day. You're a pigeon nesting under the eaves of a house as it rains. You're a cat on someone's lap getting petted.

I don't want bedtime stories about these things, though I am sure those are very nice, I want meditations where the conceit is I physically am these things.

posted by foxfirefey to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

My favorite go-to is to pretend I am a squirrel in a nest. Squirrels build nests that are basically round baskets with one entrance anchored in trees and filled with leaves, fur, and other soft things they can find. I think about the basket and how it's woven...what the soft bedding is made of - bits of string and feathers and leaves...I think about how soft my tail is, wrapped around me like a blanket...etc...etc...
posted by epanalepsis at 6:27 AM on March 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

Just to clarify -- are you seeking methods you can use for guided meditation, or recorded audio of specific guided meditations?
posted by ourobouros at 7:55 AM on March 3, 2023

Response by poster: Oh, apologies for the unclarity! I certainly don't mind ideas but was hoping for recorded audio--I'm actually very good at coming up with them myself, but that's so much work when I'm actually trying to relax and sleep.
posted by foxfirefey at 9:54 AM on March 3, 2023

I have previously enjoyed guided sleep meditations by the Honest Guys on youtube.
posted by wicked_sassy at 10:28 AM on March 3, 2023

A number of Michelle's Sanctuary meditations are like this. I don't think she has any that are from the perspective of you being a creature, but she has a number that lean into fantastical elements and pretty much all of them make you a character in a specific story rather than "imagine your happy place!" sort of deal.

The beginning 5-10 minutes often are focused on you and doing breathwork and affirmations and good vibes or whatever, but I just skip those. Once the "story" gets going she usually doesn't dip back into that too much.
posted by brook horse at 11:07 AM on March 3, 2023

I've listened to Baseball Sleep and Shipping News Sleep but I love the guided meditation from the SleepWell app. Lately I've been doing "cognitive shuffling" and it knocks me right out.
posted by cyndigo at 3:01 PM on March 3, 2023

Headspace's sleep recordings are quiet stories that have no point, just a quiet voice talking about different environments like a little town after dark when all of the stores are closed (Night Town) or a description of a library that only opens after dark (Midnight Library), or a diner with a roof that opens to the sky (Midnight Diner), or a launderette with a regular clientele that always arrives in the middle of the night (Midnight Launderette). If you stay awake, the story is pleasant but just a shaggy dog story. So not exactly what you requested but for me, it put me to sleep and it was the only thing that would for the better part of a year.
posted by janey47 at 6:33 PM on March 3, 2023

Best answer: I think you're definitely looking for these: http://www.animalmeditations.com/

Sweet dreams!
posted by luzdeluna at 7:56 PM on March 4, 2023 [2 favorites]