When we started creating the Tracks To Relax Guided Sleep Meditation Podcast we never expected our episodes would be listened to over 10 million times! We have to thank our over 400 Patrons for making this possible because without you, we'd probably be doing things a lot differently or not at all. 

Patreon has provided us with the platform that allows us to generate the financial support we need to continue to create.  Before we started our Patreon page, revenue was unpredictable and barely covering our costs. Now, with Patrons like you, we are growing and we're able to continue to create new guided meditations for you to enjoy!
Later this month we'll be visiting the Isle Of Wight in England and creating an Ocean Side Sleep Meditation while we're there as well.  Other sessions that are coming soon include  "Island Of Solitude" where you are alone on a Tropical Island with everything you need! The "Dark Castle" were you visit that castle on the top of the hill (as mentioned in A Walk In The Forest) and discover what's inside, and also one that we're calling "The Screening Room" where you sit in a movie theatre and change whatever bad habit or behaviour you would like to change for yourself.

We have big plans for the Tracks To Relax Brand and look forward to continuing to bring you new guided sleep meditations each month on Patreon.

Thank you!, Thank you, Thank you for your support!

Alan & Nikki   
Patreon.com/trackstorelax

We are pretty excited to announce that many of our new guided sleep meditations will now be available in both a male and female voiced version!  This means you can simply choose the voice that relaxes you most then close your eyes and fall asleep fast!  You can recognize the female voiced meditations by the PINK banner on the cover art.

We couldn't create our wonderful guided sleep meditations without the support of our Patrons!  THANK YOU! You make it possible to do what we do.  Each session we create requires time to write, record and edit and many also require $$ as we support the artists that create it by properly licensing all the background music we use in our sleep meditations.  Including time and licensing each session costs an average of $500 just to create.

Our Patreon Page makes is possible for our listeners to support these efforts by pledging just $5 per month to get access to all our guided sleep meditations.  It's an amazing deal for amazing people like you!

We hope you'll consider joining us on Patreon by visiting www.BedtimeMeditations.com and pledging your support.  In return we promise to do our best to provide you with a wonderful night's sleep!

This Tedx Video by Dan Candell really covers what Tracks To Relax is all about.  When we are falling asleep we are suggestible and what we focus on during those 5-20 minutes can make a difference in our lives.  So why not take that time learning how to minimize stress, deal with problems and challenges more effectively and envision ourselves healthy, strong and confident.  The best part is that you don't have to rely on your own thoughts because my Tracks To Relax Sleep Meditations will guide you through the process and self improvement and relaxing deeply at bedtime.

Watch Dan's video and discover the importance of taking control of your thoughts at bedtime, then visit my Patreon Page at  www.patreon.com/trackstorelax and start listening to my empowering guided sleep meditations.

Every single day we are bombarded via Facebook with Buzzfeed articles about how to use Acro-Yoga to strengthen relationships, find inner peace from a sound bath, 16 ways to keep anxiety from ruining your life or 7 ways to make your life better this week.  If we spent as much time breathing as we did reading these articles, we'd not only be more relaxed but also more focused, creative and stimulating actual brain growth.

​Definition of mindfulness:
(1) “Self regulation of attention so that it is maintained on immediate experience, therby allowing for increased recognition of mental events in the present moment.”
(2) “A particular orientation toward one’s experiences in the present moment, an orientation that is characterized by curiosity, openness and acceptance.”

Meditation is not religious and no matter what your beliefs, every person can participate because we are all human. There is no dogma. There is no requirement. Detaching your thoughts from your idea of self is something that benefits every type of person whether you are young, old, poor, rich, Buddhist or Catholic.

Not only does meditation directly affect the parasympathetic nervous system, it turns our focus internally towards all of our senses. You'll often hear me ask you to focus on certain parts of your body, feel the weight of your eyelids or the chair holding your body comfortably because it allows you to be mindful of how you hold yourself and the slight movements we make even when sitting "still". This kind of mindfulness can also stimulate emotional intelligence and encourage consciousness of the energy for action that you have within your self. 

We spend so much time going and doing, yet so little time being. Paraphrasing from Bodhin Kjolhede, like a snow globe that's been shaken, our lives are constantly noisy, chaotic and full of distractions-- when we take time to set the globe down and let things settle, we have the attention span to fully enjoy the experience of being. 

Meditation, scientifically, allows the brain to grow by thickening the pre-frontal cortex meaning that it increases focus and expands creativity. Physically, it also decreases stress which naturally strengthens the immune system. The easiest way to start meditating is by beginning with sleep meditations like Deep Relaxation because it's natural for you to drift off when you aren't constantly doing things.

You don't have to be a zen master to start the practice of meditating. That's why it's called a practice.

The mind determines our experience and we don't spend enough time taking care of it. We spend all day overstimulated and in a perpetual state of reaction to the world around us. Our quality of living is determined by the state of the mind and not the circumstantial elements of our lives. When we stop living each day reacting to everything that goes on externally and realizing what we, deep under the surface, wish to act on-- that's when we've learned to stabilize our emotions and can start to take control of our lives. 

Start taking care of your mind tonight by trying a sleep meditation. 

Hummingbirds use torpor sleep to survive on the coldest winter nights, a type of deep sleep where the animal lowers its metabolic rate by up to 95%. By slowing it's body and body temperature down to a hypothermic threshold barely sustaining its life, the hummingbird uses 50% less energy. Luckily, we don't have to completely slow down our heart rate and cool our body temperature in order to conserve energy-- what we really need is proper stages of sleep.

There are 4 stages of sleep, including REM sleep;
Stage 1 - Light sleep, you can be woken up very easily
Stage 2 - Eye movement and brain waves slow
Stage 3 - Brain waves are slow, synchronized and oscillating
Stage 4 - Deep sleep which includes no eye movement or muscle activity

Now, all animals sleep even though scientists are still uncertain of the exact purpose of sleep. A study on mice in non-REM sleep showed that sleep allowed space in the tissue of the brain so that cerebral fluid could flow and clear away toxins, which may explain why we feel "reset" in the morning.

Most people end up interested in sleep science and sleep theory because of insomnia. It's absolutely astounding how many people struggle every night with falling asleep. Possibly the most interesting aspect of getting a good night's rest is the science behind mood congruence. When we sleep, we are consolidating information and strengthening our memories. Your level of personal positive attitude can be dependent on how much sleep you're getting. We develop a chemically induced memory of negative emotions, outlooks and self image that continually self-perpetuates as we continue to sleep poorly. Negativity is amplified when we're sleep deprived can can add to a model of depression in adults.

Why do sleep meditations work so well to train new sleep habits?

We associate memories with sounds and subconsciously construct our ideas about the world during our sleep cycles. This is why our meditations allow you to drift further away from consciousness and past the light sleep stages so that your subconscious can absorb positive life affirmations. Because of the stage where these ideas about positivity, gratitude, confidence, etc. are suggested, the brain has an easier way of creating connections and enhancing the information so that it can be useful in your waking life. The style of meditation trains your brains synopses to not be interrupted as the noise decreases and allows you to relax fully so that you can sleep soundly, and your mind can be reinvigorated by a good night of sleep.

The science of sleep is incredibly interesting and this really only skims the very surface of why guided meditations can help you sleep better. To experience this easy method of training your brain and body, you can visit our Patreon Page to learn more. New this week is the podcast about Reflections of Change, as well.

​At times being with another person, whether you’re in a relationship or married, makes us lose part of ourselves. We get caught up in the day to day events and our mostly automatic daily routines. We hope to fill the gaps in our hearts with love, affection and validation from another and therefore tend to distract ourselves from whatever it is that truly makes us feel whole.  We can value our loved ones fully, but they don't necessarily have to complete us. If we don't spend time thinking about what we want in our lives and intentions, we will only ever be aware of what we don't want in our lives.

What does it mean to you to live a purposeful life? What makes you feel the most like yourself? These are the hard questions we forget to ask ourselves when our lives become intwined with another person. "The (wo)man who is dishonest with (her)himself will always suffer."
​
We are connected, but the contact points that generate that connection need to be cleaned regularly. It’s important to recognize that the people we spend our lives with are their own individual beings with their own intentions, self and purpose. We must nurture ourselves as much (if not more than) the people we love. We must remain open and vulnerable with each other. Becoming aware of self-depreciating habits or a vicious cycle of a routine is key to unlocking our daily stresses and negative energy, therby strengthening our relationships and fullness of our lives. No amount of distraction or denial will serve us when what we are really failing to do, is ask ourselves these hard questions. 
​
“What are we not willing to do get the results we want?”

And no matter the answer (or excuse) to that question, it begs another;

“What do we really want?”

It can be difficult to let your mind settle, clear or calm to really start to consider these definitive questions of self. With guided meditations and using recordings like the Relaxing Waterfall Sleep Meditation to quiet your thoughts, you can achieve the relaxation necessary to center yourself and get a restful night's sleep that gives you the vital energy you need to get the most out of your day. These type of meditation can provide a sense of clarity and consciousness that allows us to  begin to grow. Guided meditations can not only help you sleep and de-stress, but can become and empowering,  integral part of a mindful life.

I was surprised recently by some of the facts presented by the National Sleep Foundation regarding how a lack of sleep affects people's performance and behaviours. Here's the top 3 items that caught my eye...

Divorced, separated and widowed people experience more insomnia.

This isn't much of surprise since people in any one of these situations probably have a lot of responsibilities on their mind at any given time. It's important to be able to calm the mind at bedtime and stop all those thoughts about what needs to be done, how things will get done and how the heck we're going to do them!  A calm mind leads to a calm body and helps you fall asleep more quickly.  You'll also be more rested, focused and energized to get all those things done the next day too because you got a good night's sleep!

The body never adjusts to shift work.

This makes sense because our bodies have a natural rhythm. I imagine that if someone was put on a tropical island without clocks or a smart phone how quickly they would begin to go to sleep and awaken in sync with the rising and setting of the sun.  Of course if you've got to work shifts, it would be beneficial to have something that you could listen to to calm you mind and body so you don't have to try so hard to get to sleep when you need to. After all, as with many things, the harder you try... the less likely you are to fall asleep... kinda like pushing a string...

More than eight in ten survey respondents think that people often or sometimes misuse prescription sleep aids.

Lots of people are popping pills to get to sleep which may be completely unnecessary. The more you listen to guided sleep meditations the faster they work, it's like conditioning your mind and body to calm down when it's time to go to sleep. Best of all, sleep meditations are non addictive, allow you to wake up alert and refreshed and are way less expensive that pills.

If you've had problems sleeping, give guided sleep meditations a try! It's as simple as slipping on your headphones, visiting www.patreon.com/trackstorelax  and pressing play.  Pleasant dreams!
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If you'd like to read more sleep facts from the National Sleep Foundation, just click here.

A recent article issed on CBC News discusses the findings of a team of scientists that mapped how the brain processes images that aren't consiously visible.  In their tests the subjects were exposed to images that they could not consciously see and it was revealed that their subconsious still processed the information.

This is one reason why Hypnosis and NLP are such powerful modalities for making personal changes. We are constantly influenced by our subconscious mind that has the resources of all our experiences. Everything we have ever seen, heard and felt is contained in the vast memory of our subconsious mind.  It is your subconscious mind that knows why your REALLY do the things you do!  

By using Hypnosis and NLP Exercises we can tap the resources that reside in our subconscious mind and by making changes at the subconscious level we can then influence our conscious behaviours.  Start exploring your subconscious mind with our powerful guided meditation and hypnosis sessions here.

Read the full CBC article HERE.

This unique Guided Meditation will help you to improve communication between your conscious and subconscious mind. Although information flows from our subconscious all the time, we are consciously unaware of most of it.  When we ask our subconscious to provide specific information and pay attention to how it answers, we can then begin to tap the vast resources that lie just beneath our conscious awareness. 

I took on my first hour long ashtanga yoga practice this morning, which went as well as it could for a beginner, I think. My joints are tight, my back never straight, and the constant forgetting to breathe. What was good though, is I managed to do a couple asanas (poses) I had never tried before! That’s one thing I truly love about practicing yoga, is that even if the rest of my day goes terribly, I had that one little moment of contentment.

April is truly here and the little buds on branches are starting to bloom, and it’s so lovely to hear the birds chirping in the mornings again. It’s these kinds of little things that bring us back to our centre. My significant other made me a coffee this morning before he left for work, and just that small effort has kept me uplifted since I woke up (that or maybe it’s the coffee, haha!). When was the last time you fully appreciated something small? We take so much for granted that sometimes we get caught up in our heads and forget that it’s little pleasures that keep us humble and happy.

Sometimes it’s letting others know that we appreciate the little things they do for us, but also taking a moment to appreciate what we do for ourselves. Yesterday I went to Wendy’s for dinner, but I ordered a half sized salad and I made sure to really enjoy each bite and felt awesome for treating my body so well (if only for an evening!). What little things have you done for yourself lately? 

Maybe take a break now, from whatever it is you’re doing, and treat yourself to a short guided meditation and explore a Tranquil Scuba Dive (see below)

“Live the Life You Want”
Sarah C