Aquarium

The aquarium is a dreamy place. The dim-colored lights and the slow movements of the fish, the warmth of the air and the low hum of the pumps all contribute to a uniquely cozy atmosphere. We can walk these rubber tiles in our element and you'd observe the fish in there's. Isn't there something dreamlike about that? The aquarium is near empty, but there's no need to hurry our visit. Tonight is late opening, so we can stay as long as we like and taking the science in our own time. Before we begin, I think it's nice to prepare with a little wind down exercise. Tonight's exercise is a really simple breathing exercise. So when you're ready, let's begin. First, get comfortable in your bed. Now just bringing the attention to the breath, noticing where you feel it. In the nose, the throat, the chest, the diaphragm. You're nice and relaxed. We're going to be taking a deep breath in for four, holding it for four, and then breathing out for six. So, are you ready? Let's begin. In for four. Two, three, four. Hold it for four. Two, three, four. Now breathing out for six. two, three, four, five, six. In for four. Two, three, four. Holding for four. Two, three, four. Out for six. Two, three, four, five, six. In for four. Two, three, four. Holding for four. Two, three, four. Out four six. Two, three, four, five, six. In for four. Two, three, four. Holding for four. Two, three, four. Out for six. Two, three, four, five, six. Great. Now, returning the breath to normal. Pause for a moment at the tropical fish. Orange, yellow, blue, green. They're beautiful, before moving on. To one side is a small tank, empty apart from a plump pink starfish shrugging its way along the sand. It's moving so slowly, it could almost be a stone. You might mistake it for a stone were it not glowing, luminous, as if lit from within by a fluorescent bulb. In the same tank but a little further back, a crimson-colored bit of seaweed sways, knocking its leafless branches gently on the glass. It's nice to be stopped here, watching them, the starfish and seaweed. There's something about the scene which the eye likes, their stillness, perhaps, the way they're just being together in a pleasantly wordless sort of companionship. Looking up along the length of the aquarium, the row of fish tanks look less like fish tanks and more like windows onto another world. It's like standing on the beach, looking out to sea, that sudden release as if by coming to the edge of the land, which is where we do our work. We can finally relax. The 30 or so catfish in the tank are moving at different speeds. Some drift in lazy, slow arcs, others dart after each other playing. The shimmering bodies, unsettling the sand beneath them in a slow cloud, their mouths open and close almost imperceptibly...