Narrative in Audio

Scrip：

       Hey there, it's your host Mia, and welcome to episode 8 of our bedtime podcast. Today, we'll be discussing something that I'm sure many of us can relate to - sleep. Personally, I’ve always found it difficult to fall asleep, no matter how tired I am. As soon as I lay down in bed and close my eyes, my mind is filled with racing thoughts that just won't let me relax. It's frustrating, and I'm sure many of you feel the same way. In the past, I've tried using melatonin to help me sleep, but I later learned from my doctor that it's not the best option for my health. Not to mention, I usually ended up with a headache the next day. However, recently, I discovered a method that has been incredibly helpful for me - guided sleep meditation. Guided sleep meditation is a technique that helps you let go of worrying thoughts and relax your body before bed. It's similar to other forms of meditation in that it involves moving your focus away from your thoughts and onto the sensations in your body. You can practice guided sleep meditation on your own by following along with an audio guide that you can play on your headphones, a small speaker, or your phone beside your bed. It's important to note that you don't need to think too much about what you're doing during guided sleep meditation. Instead, you just let yourself be guided by the voice on the recording. Over time, you'll find it easier to jump into the meditation and follow the prompts. If you're having trouble relaxing or calming down at first, don't give up too early - it takes practice. The ultimate goal of guided sleep meditation is to reduce the impact of worrying thoughts and tension in your body on your sleep. It's not about forcing you to sleep, but rather, helping you relax and slow down your mind. By learning to shift your focus and relax your body, you'll notice improvements in your ability to fall and stay asleep. This, in turn, can have a positive impact on your daytime productivity and mood. During guided sleep meditation, you'll move through different parts of your body, starting from your head all the way down to your toes. You might feel the tension, heaviness, and tightness in each part, and be instructed to breathe into each area and release any uncomfortable feelings. You'll also be directed to acknowledge any worrying thoughts in your head but gently move past them as if they're muddy dust sinking to the bottom of a river or leaves floating away. In addition to guided sleep meditation, I would like to give you two more tips to improve your sleep hygiene. The first one is to limit the use of blue-light devices in the last hour before your bed, such as cell-phone and computers. Because such blue-light devices will restrain the production of melatonin, the hormone that controls your sleep-wake cycle. This makes it even more difficult to fall asleep and wake up the next day. The second small but crucial tip is going to bed at the same time each night and forcing yourself to get up at the same time each morning. It will reinforce your circadian rhythm and help your body run efficiently.
       Now, I'm going to play a clip of guided sleep meditation for us. Let's slow our minds and follow along with the audio. I hope you all have a good night's sleep.