– The importance of the last waking moment
Each morning is linked to the evening before, and each evening is linked to the morning that follows, and both must be prepared in advance. It is very important not to go to bed in the evening without preparation, for during the night, you will journey into the presence of very elevated, luminous beings in the other world. So you must cleanse and purify yourself and prepare for the voyage.

Evening ablutions
You must wash, of course, before going to bed, but not your face, for you can demagnetize yourself by washing away the beneficial, protective fluids. If you have been doing some very dirty work you can sponge your face with a damp sponge or face-cloth, but do not wash it in running water. Wash your body and your hands and feet, but not your face.

Preparing for sleep

The importance of the last waking moment
Disciples know that the way in which they prepare for sleep is very important, because it is the night that determines what the following day will be. Before going to bed, therefore, they put themselves in touch with the invisible world and lay aside all their worries, cares, and sorrows, all the things that have troubled or pained them during the day. They then call to mind any mistakes they may have made during the day, so as to make up for them during the night, and finally they commend themselves into the hands of the Angel of Death—this is the name that the Cabbalah gives to the Angel of Sleep—for each night we die and each morning we rise from the dead.

To go to sleep, to leave the physical body and journey into the other world, is something we practise every single day in order to be ready when the time comes for our true departure to the other world. Someone who does not know how to go to sleep will not know how to die either. There is no difference between dying and going to sleep, except that when we die we leave our present house for good. In sleep we leave it, but we are still attached to it.

The innumerable invisible workers that dwell in us make use of the thoughts that are in our minds when we are on the borderline between waking and sleeping, for thoughts set forces in motion. Take care, therefore, never to go to sleep with negative thoughts in your mind, for they will wreak havoc in your subconscious and will destroy all the good you may have gained during the day.

Whereas if you anchor a good thought in your mind when you go to bed and leave it to do its work during the night it will enhance and improve everything within you, and you will be astonished to find yourself in a state of great peace and light when you wake up.

Exercises and prayers at bedtime
The Master Peter Deunov recommended the following formula to be said at night, before going to bed. Place your open right hand, palm down, on your solar plexus, and the back of your open left hand on your back, on the same level, and say:

God is light within me,
My spirit is warmth,
I am kindness.
(3 times)

God is light within me,
The angels are warmth,
Human beings are kindness
(3 times)

You can also say the following formula:

‘My God, let me enrol tonight in your school of love, wisdom, and truth
and learn to serve you better, so that your kingdom
and your righteousness may be established on earth.’

Meditate for a few moments and then, with your right hand, trace the outline of a pentagram in the air, as shown below.

The meaning of sleep for a disciple
When they go to sleep, true disciples leave their physical bodies behind and go to join their master and continue to learn from him. They read the most secret books in the libraries of the universe and attend great and splendid ceremonies. Sometimes, although the human brain is not built to retain the memory of such things, disciples have some recollection of these ceremonies in the morning.

They leave such an impression of sweetness and peace in the heart that, upon waking, the disciple exclaims, ‘I don’t know where I was last night, but it was so beautiful. Really heavenly!’ Sleep becomes something sacred when one goes to bed with the intention of going to the other world to study reality, for it is there that one receives true initiation.

Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

This book describes many more practices including respiration, nutrition, exercise, meditation and work on the aura and chakras.
Complete Works Vol. 13, Chapter 2, A Daily Programme.
A New Earth – Methods, Exercises, Formulas and Prayers