You won’t win over any hard core meditaters (meditators?) with this Body Still method since it breaks many (nearly all the) rules, but it is simple and easy to fit into your life.
1. The Position
When you’re lying in bed, just before drifting off to sleep, stretch out on your back. Put a comfy pillow under your head and another under your knees if this helps. You want your back as straight as possible and your limbs close to your center line. Rest your hands in a natural position on your hips. Adjust so there are little or no aches. Ahhh, doesn’t that feel good? Close your eyes.
2. The Breath
Take a deep breath in. By “deep” I mean see how far into your body you can take the breath. Ideally aim for the area below the navel. Don’t strive to take in a huge amount of air, but pull the air in as you are sending it down. Expand the belly and release. As you release the air, release your bodily tension and feel yourself sinking into the bed. Do this two more times, each time releasing more and more tension.
3. The Stillness
Reduce your breathing to something more natural while continuing to send it low to the belly. Now, try as much as possible to hold the body ABSOLUTELY STILL. This involves no tension. Do not tense, just hold still. The only part allowed to move is the soft tissue belly for breathing. Focus on the stillness rather than the breathing. You have powered down many energy systems, like sight, posture, and muscle tension, and put your body into a default mode. Softly, gently, you will begin to feel the body-humming of this default mode. This is an incredibly luscious state of awareness, almost like a natural high.
If your mind starts to bring up daily stresses, distract it by using it to return the body to stillness, then send it on a mental trip inside your body. Go through the muscles and relax them even more. See the body workings inside. Go down to your toes or your fingertips and relax them. If your mind starts to soar, let it.
4. The Peace
You have my permission to fall asleep at any point in this meditation. To return to a normal state, simply move your fingers.
Ahhhhhh Nirvana