A (3:52)

Tonight Get Sleepy in Palm Springs if you haven't noticed, I've been doing a lot of traveling lately. In fact, it's been an unusually busy time for me, full of opportunities to explore new places and I find that I get really inspired to write episodes when I'm in other places. I look for moments of relaxation where I can really let in the detail all around me. Now living in Los Angeles, every once in a while I have the opportunity to go to Palm Springs, a small town a couple of hours east of here in the desert. It's a place where everything and everyone slows down. You have to take your time. It's hot and there's always a swimming pool where your body can drift and float and dream in the desert sun. I had the opportunity to go to Palm Springs recently, so tonight I'll be taking us there. But in this episode we are going to be visiting a very famous house originally owned by Dinah Shore. It's a mid century modern home built for her in the 1960s and if you're too young to remember who Dinah Shore was, maybe this will keep you interested. This same house, in mint condition, was purchased in 2014 by none other than Leonardo DiCaprio, who actually rents it out to the public for about $4,000 a night. And it is not where I was staying in Palm Springs, but thanks to some amazing photos on the Internet, that's where we are going tonight. So get yourself into a safe and comfortable position and let's be allow your eyes to close easily and gently and just bring your awareness back to your breath. Nothing fancy, you don't need to do anything with your breath, you're just allowing your awareness to settle on it, just inviting it back to the breath, just tugging it like the leash on a puppy dog. Bringing it back home just for a moment. You have more control over your mind than you know. And every night when you use sleep magic and begin by bringing your awareness back to your breath, you're practicing that focus. Good. Now bring your awareness up into your eyelids. Let's imagine that your eyelids are feeling really relaxed. Let's imagine your eyelids are feeling sleepy and heavy. So heavy. And now you accept the suggestion that this relaxation in your eyelids is so complete that you cannot open your eyes. And of course, that's a ridiculous suggestion, purely out of your imagination. But I want you to imagine that it's true that your eyelids are so relaxed you can't open them. And now test your eyes to make sure you can't open them by wiggling your eyebrows. Just give your eyebrows a tug while your eyes remain closed. Perfect. Now, this relaxation that you have around your eyes is the same quality of relaxation that you will soon have throughout your entire body. In fact, I'd like you to imagine that this relaxation around your eyes is moving down through your head, down through your torso, all the way down into your legs and feet. We're going to do this a couple of times. Let's imagine that relaxation up around your eyes, that warm relaxation moving down into your head, down into your body, down deep into your legs and down into your feet. You are in charge of the level of relaxation that you experience. So as we do this one more time and you imagine that relaxation around your eyes moving back into your head like a wave. And now sort of a waterfall of relaxation moving down, down, down through your body, down your legs and into your feet. As your head becomes nice and heavy, heavy on the pillow, the muscles of your face letting go as all mental tension disappears. And that wonderful relaxation that you've just poured through your whole mind, body. Let's imagine it moving down your arms now, as each arm becomes heavy, heavy. That feels so nice to just surrender to this heaviness and relaxation completely. Letting go. As much as you exerted yourself today, that's the degree to which you are letting go. Now in perfect balance, as the relaxation moves down into your hands and fingers, all becoming heavy, heavy. And while you listen to this recording, you may be aware of the sounds going on around you. That's okay, because from this moment on, no sound that you hear will bother or disturb you in any way. Because you are in charge of your mind. And in fact, from this moment on, if it's okay with you, any sound that you hear will actually take you deeper into relaxation. Let those sounds work for you so bring your awareness now to any sounds going on around you in your bedroom, in your home, out in the world, and just let them be vibrations that pass right through your body, taking you deeper and deeper. And the only sound you need to pay any attention to is the sound of my voice. But even the sound of my voice is taking you deeper and deeper. And very soon, in fact, it may have already happened. The sound of my voice sounds sort of far away, distant, maybe even like it's in another language. As you go off on your own experience, taking yourself deeper and deeper. As the relaxation moves down your legs again, your legs are feeling nice and heavy. Heavy, heavy. Letting go feels so good. Imagine you are being driven in a comfortable vehicle on a sun soaked highway heading east from Los Angeles. It's the middle of the day and the sun is shining down, warming all of Southern California. As you leave the city and continue through the suburbs, you are entering the beginning of the desert. And as you look out the window, you see up ahead on your left, a huge white wind turbine fixed proudly in the dry earth. Its enormous arms are turning slowly, slowly churning wind into electricity. And then you see another, and another, and another. The first wind turbine was created by Drew Oliver in 1926, using a generator he had salvaged from a roller coaster. His experiment worked briefly, but like many initial inventions, it ended up being the blueprint for future innovations. And here they are displayed before you. You are being driven through the San Gorgono Mountain, a natural wind tunnel through which the warm California wind blows all year long. And as you drive deeper and deeper into the pass, you notice the wind turbines on both sides of the road, hundreds and hundreds of them spreading out on either side. Some turn quickly while others are moving more slowly as they create clean, sustainable energy. All told, there are over 4,000 of these space age pinwheels covering 70 square miles. And they generate enough electricity to light up all of Palm Springs and the whole Coachella Valley around it. Nature meeting science. With every turbine you pass, you're going deeper and deeper into relaxation. You notice an exceptionally large wind turbine in the distance. It's over 300ft high, its blades more than 80ft long. As it turns slowly, slowly, you watch it spiral and you take yourself deeper and deeper. As you pass through the windmill farm and continue into the desert, the landscape is changing. There's more scrub, longer stretches of parched earth, fewer exits. A cactus here and there. To the right, you see a snow capped mountain, mountain in the distance. It has dark, elegant ridges and stands out against the Warm, dry horizon. You feel drawn to this mountain. It is Mount San Jacinto. Over 10,000ft high. It's like a protective mother hovering over Palm Springs. And the closer you're getting to the mountain, the more relaxed you're becoming. The closer you're getting to the mountain, the more relaxed you're becoming. As you drive towards San Jacinto, you take an exit off the highway. It's windy today and sand is blowing across the off ramp. You see tumbleweed rolling along the side of the road, pushed by the warm desert winds. As the car slows down, you feel a deep relief as you go deeper and deeper, getting closer to this desert oasis. Palm Springs is in the Coachella Valley, nestled up against the eastern side of Mount San Jacinto. And although it is part of a range of mountains, the San Jacinto peak appears almost singular. And as you get closer, you see that although its peak is white with snow, the lower part of the mountain seems more a creature of the desert. Its ridges and valleys are dry, scrubby, dotted with rocks. It's earthy in color, a range of browns and sometimes pink. And as you move into downtown, getting even closer, the mountain appears almost beige and fibrous, like it's been sprinkled with oat bran. You arrive in downtown Palm Springs. It's a quiet place full of lovely boutiques and restaurants. And like most small towns, it contains banks and offices and grocery stores. But here the designs are different. You see a fast food restaurant in the adobe style. A bank that's a daring mid century modern, more like a spaceship than a financial institution. Palm Springs has style. You stroll along North Palm Canyon Drive, admiring the serene and slowed down existence here in the desert. As you continue to walk, making your way into a residential neighborhood. You arrive at 432 Hermosa Place. This is where you'll be staying tonight. It is a sleek bungalow designed by an architectural pioneer, Donald Wexler. You walk from the sidewalk down its long diagonal concrete path that leads to a covered walkway. You notice the beds of succulents along the side of the walkway in a small, quiet, burbling fountain. Just the sound of the fountain makes you feel cooler inside. You arrive at the front door. On each side of it there are floor to ceiling glass windows that allow you to peek inside. You see a highly polished floor, a wall built from warm brown stone, probably rocks from the desert, and tasteful mid century furniture. It's warm outside. You're in the heat of the day and you're looking forward to cooling down you open the door and enter into a large foyer that spills into the living room. The floor is made from terrazzo or concrete, infused with chips of brightly colored granite and polished to a shine. You take off your shoes and feel the coolness of the floor on the soles of your feet. And you relax, going deeper and deeper. You look up at the ceiling made from warm dark brown planks of wood. And hanging over your head is a chandelier straight out of the swinging 60s. A spray of long skinny arms ending with lights resembling groovy desk lamps. Donald Wexler designed this house in 1965 for Dinah Shore, the beloved singer, actress, television personality. It is one of the most admired homes in Palm Springs and a perfect example of the architectural style that developed in this area in the mid 20th century. As you walk through the foyer and peer around corners, you see that there is glass everywhere. Glass sliding doors leading to the backyard and large floor to ceiling windows throughout the house. Mid century modern architecture is known for incorporating lots of glass, eliminating the boundary between the inside and outside worlds. With its clean lines, an open floor plan, you're getting a sense of the elegant and thoughtful design of this house. It makes you curious. You take a few steps up into the living room. Across from you, on the other side of the room, is a large stone fireplace carefully crafted from local rocks. You are feeling relaxed, so you sit down in one of the two chairs in front of you. Your body sinks into its bright yellow leather cushions and you relax your arms on its sleek chrome armrests. It feels nice to sit down. Even though this is a high end designer chair, it feels very, very comfortable. You look up and see that the ceiling has the same warm brown wooden planks you noticed in the foyer. In the center of this living room are two large vintage sofas facing one another. They are very long, beige and built low to the ground. Each one has three brightly colored throw pillows on it to bring a pop of color to the room. Between the sofas sit two enormous glass coffee tables with large cubes of wood as their bases. And the walls of this beautiful living room, they are made of glass. This is a room and yet not a room. It is more like an optical illusion, fooling you into feeling like you are outside, closer to the palm trees, the pool and the mountain. This glass living room is the heart of the house and yet it offers a continual invitation to go outside. Dinah Shore was an ambitious woman, born in 1916 in small town Tennessee. She had a difficult childhood, marked by her own bout of serious illness. And the sudden loss of her mother. The family moved throughout the south, and Dinah eventually attended Vanderbilt University, graduating with a degree in sociology in 1938. She was intelligent, independent and driven. You notice a beautiful baby grand piano in a glass alcove off the living room. You move over to it, sit down on its bench, and begin to play around on the keys. Dinah Shore was a singer. As a young child, she regularly entertained the customers at a store her father owned, and after graduating from college, she decided to pursue singing and moved to New York City, where she began a career in radio. You stand up from the piano bench and slide open a glass door. You are hit with a warm blast of desert heat. After being inside for a while, it feels good to be out here again. And the outdoor space is beautifully appointed with an outdoor seating area and dining table. And across the green lawn is a swimming pool, and its bright blue water is overlooked by a group of impossibly tall palm trees swaying in the breeze. And around the pool you notice several chaise lounge. As you walk closer to the swimming pool, you're taking yourself deeper and deeper. You sit down on a lounger and relax. Dinah Shore worked very hard and eventually became a star, breaking into television, film and hosting her own talk show for decades. She made lifelong friends in the entertainment industry, dated Jimmy Stewart and Burt Reynolds, and was at the center of the Palm Springs scene at the height of its Hollywood heyday. As you close your eyes, you can almost hear the clinking of glasses around the pool as Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. And Lucille Ball mingle and laugh. You get up from the lounge chair and slide onto an inflatable mattress at the side of the pool. And as you get comfortable lying in the water, you push off into the center of the pool. As your hands dangle in the clear blue water, you spiral slowly and gracefully into the center of the pool. You look up at the palm trees. They're fronds, so shiny they look like plastic. You close your eyes as you drift and float, and you swear you can hear Frank Sinatra at the baby grand piano singing Come Fly With Me. Dinah Shore and Old Blue Eyes were good friends. He probably swam in this pool. And as your body relaxes to, your mind relaxes. And as your mind relaxes, your body relaxes. The sky is getting darker now and the moon is rising over San Jacinto Peak. You get out of the pool and head back to the house, which is glowing in the twilight. You open a sliding door and enter your bedroom and you step on the cool terrazzo floor. You see the beautiful bed, which is raised on a shallow platform. Its design is unique with its headboard made from a soft fabric with a geometric design recessed into the wall. So this bed, too is a comfortable work of art. Next to the bed is a cozy seating area on a shag carpet with two armchairs around a small glass coffee table. You crawl into bed and get warm under a puffy down duvet. It's dark out now and you can hear the cricket chirping in the night. You imagine the shifting sand of the desert, the shifting sands of time, Frank and Dinah doing a duet at the piano as your body shift into rest at the base of San Jacinto. Sam.