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So good.

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A (2:17)

Now get yourself into a safe and comfortable position and let's begin. Just allow your eyes to close easily and gently. And bring your awareness to your breath. Your boring old breath. The breath is so utterly boring in the best kind of way. It's always there. So when we focus on it, the mind is invited to slow down just a bit. The mind never stops, but it can speed up and slow down. If you were to look at the brainwaves of your mind out in the day, all excited about doing stuff. They're very high frequency brainwave. But as we settle in tonight and relax. And your body sinks deeper and deeper into the bed. Your brain waves are slowing down, Becoming more like these big, soft waves on the ocean. Good. So let's bring your awareness now down into the one of your hands. Bring your awareness down into your dominant hand. And if you're ambidextrous, choose a hand. I'd like you to allow this hand to be really, really heavy. Imagine that your hand is, in fact, just for a moment, made of lead. Like it's really heavy. So heavy, there's no way you could pick it up without help. You're just imagining this. But our job here is to let your imagination dominate the more logical reality. So give yourself permission to imagine that this hand is made of lead and feels heavy, like it's almost sinking into the bed or whatever it's resting on. And in a moment, I'm going to ask you to lift your hand. More specifically, try to lift your hand and you'll find that it remains on the bed because it's so heavy in your imagination, you're sort of trying to lift your hand, but ups. It's too heavy to lift. And for those of you who are very analytical, you may need to lift your hand to sort of prove that you can't. And that's okay. But then do the exercise again and let your imagination win, let the heaviness win. So accepting the suggestion that your hand is way too heavy for you to lift, I'd like you to try and lift your hand and find that you cannot. That it's stuck to the bed. Good. Well done. So let's imagine this heaviness, not quite as heavy as lead. Let's imagine this nice, relaxed heaviness moving up your arm, up into your shoulders, down your other arm and into your other hand. So your arms feel nice and heavy. Let's imagine the heaviness now moving up into your neck and head. It's soft now. It's just a nice relaxation that's causing your head to sink into the pillow. The muscles of your face are letting go. Now that your brain is slowing down, you can imagine warm waves of relaxation lapping up against the beach of your mind as you enjoy those warm waves of relaxation lapping up against the beach of your mind as all mental tension disappears. And the relaxation moves down inside your body. This lovely warm relaxation inside your chest moving down into your belly as your whole inner world softens and expands. And any tension you may have been holding inside of yourself today. Just disappears. As you allow the relaxation to move down into your legs, moving down, rolling down. Down deep into your feet. And your toes and your legs, too, are being taken over by a nice, comfortable heaviness. And even if the hand we began with is feeling lighter, more relaxed, and you can move any part of your body that you want to at this point, but you just don't want to. And that's okay. As you bring your awareness to any sounds that may be going on around you, what are you hearing. Now? Let those sounds move through you as vibrations and take you deeper and deeper into your own relaxation, Into your own peaceful world inside of you. Good. And the sound of my voice is also moving through you as a vibration, taking you deeper and deeper. Imagine you are walking along a country road in the woods of Connecticut. It's very close to bedtime, and on either side of you are huge trees. Maples, black birches and native pines towering up into the sky. It's technically still summer, but the air has cooled off nicely this evening. The moon, not quite full, is guiding your way. You come to a small dirt road that winds up a gentle hill. This will take you to your sleeping cabin. You take a step onto the soft earth and feel it give under your foot. And you relax, going deeper and deeper as you tune in with the sounds of the forest. The cracking and creaking of the branches, The whoosh of the breeze through the leaves. Above your head, An owl hoots high up in the trees. You take a nice deep breath and smell the earth. It rained today, so the forest floor smells wonderful. As you continue to walk, you notice that everything is bathed in the silvery blue of the moon, with shadows playing everywhere. But it's dark enough that you. You need more than your eyes. Tonight you feel yourself dropping into your body, into your belly, into your feet. As you take step after step up the dirt road, Your hearing is sharper. And you notice your breath moving in and out of your nostrils. You're tuning in to a sixth sense in your body. As your inner being expands into the night. It feels. Feels so good. As you walk higher and higher up this wooded hill, You hear the trilling sounds of toads. There must be a pond nearby. And you feel the chirping of crickets all around you. The sounds are moving through you, And as you raise your face to look at the moon, A drop of water falls from a leaf onto your brow bone. And you close your eyes. As it slides down the side of your face, A leftover from the storm. Your breath is beginning to deepen and warm as you walk up the road. And just as it turns, it opens up onto a private property. You see a large lawn of grass glowing in the moonlight, with an old cabin in the distance. And on your left, just up ahead, is an amazing sight. It is a horse, a beautiful cream colored mare, standing in the moonlight. She's in a small paddock connected to a big red barn. You look into her black eyes with her long golden eyelashes. She's calm and relaxed and accustomed to to visitors. You smile and say hello. She is tall and strong, an exquisite palomino with a beautiful blonde mane. You reach out and offer your hand and she sniffs it. Your connection has begun. You touch the silky skin of her muzzle and feel the heat of her breath on your fingers. She is sensing you. And you are sensing her. As you go deeper and deeper into relaxation, So does she. You bring your hand up to her forehead. And stroke down the bridge of her nose, Exchanging energy and affection. She snorts gently as you stroke the side of her neck. So warm and strong. She's a beautiful specimen out here in the moonlight. Her muscles rippling beneath her cream colored hide. She looks at you. She trusts you. She feels your relaxation. And she's getting sleepy. You walk around the side of the paddock toward the barn entrance, encouraging her to go back into the barn. She follows, retreating to the barn through the paddock while you enter through its door. And at first everything is dark inside, so you take a nice deep breath. You smell the sweet, earthy scent of hay and fresh straw. As you walk carefully into the barn. You hear your own footsteps against the concrete floor. You detect the earthy smell of manure. As the mare enters the barn from the paddock and goes into her stall. Your eyes are beginning to adjust to the dark. You see three stalls. There are two other horses here tonight. You see that one is large and caramel colored and is facing toward the back of her stall. She's sleeping standing up. Shh. The third horse is black, large, and stands with her head over the half door of her stall and she wants some attention. The moonlight is coming through the barn door behind you and through a skylight above her stall. And you see her raven coat gleaming in the light, almost blue. She watches as you explore the barn. As you look around, you make out the saddles, the bridles and crops hanging on the walls. You smell the leather and the scent of polish that's been applied to them year after year. You kick some stray hay on the floor and you watch as dust particles float up into the shaft of moonlight and then slowly, slowly spiral back down. There are several hay bales stacked neatly in the corner, and next to them a sack of grain. You go over to the sack and reach into it. The grain smells slightly malty as it runs through your fingers. You take out a handful and bring it back to the stalls. You flatten your palm and offer it to the black horse. She snuffles it up from your hand, grateful for this midnight snack. The palomino comes to the front of her stall and sniffs, curious. You go back for another handful of grain and offer it to her, and as she eats from your hand, you notice the brass nameplates on their stalls. The black horse is Belle and the palomino is Dreamer. Nice to meet you, ladies, you say as Belle brings her nose down to your hand again looking for more treats. But it's time to go to bed. They seem to be listening, and their eyes are sparkling even as their eyelids are getting heavy. I know you'll sleep well tonight, you say. As you slowly back out of the barn, waving goodbye. When you turn around, you see your cabin nearby, across the lawn. It's made from a silvery wood worn from the elements. Its shingled roof is strewn with pine needles and maple leaves left over from the storm. Its windows are small, with wooden shutters that have been bleached by the sun and battered by the rain. You find a small, worn path leading to its front door, so you walk along the path, going deeper and deeper. With every step, Ready to sleep. When you arrive at the cabin, you step up three granite steps to the wooden door. You open it, and as you enter, you feel the cabin's cozy atmosphere. The walls are paneled in cedar and have absorbed the scent of the forest over decades. As you take your first few steps inside, the wide wooden floor planks creak and groan. A small window lets in some moonlight, and it's casting a glow on the room's few furnishings. There's a wooden dresser with an old mirror on top, A rocking chair, And a small table with a lamp. You open the window slightly to let in the sounds and the smells of the forest. The fresh night air feels good. You notice the bed. It has a simple wrought iron frame and a cozy mattress. It's been made up with soft cotton sheets, A big fluffy pillow, and an intricate handmade quilt. You slide between the sheets and get comfortable. Your head sinks into the pillow. As you close your eyes. And hear the sounds of the forest. The crickets are chirping, The toads are trilling, And the owl hoots again. As you go deeper and deeper, You drift. And float. And dream. It. It.