Bengal Forest

This path leads deep into Sukna Forest, nestled into the Himalayan foothills. The light here is mild. The path is unpaved, hence the softness of the sound of our footsteps upon it. The mountains that these foothills belong to are a majestic blue. Winding through the mountains, the forest path is almost never a straight line. For what is ever a straight line in the natural world? It runs along like the letter S, a stream of soil. The unpaved path, like the tea gardens nearby, are a reminder of the presence of humans, those who have come to visit the forest before you. Trees grow thicker as to path cuts deeper into the forest. Staggering views of these blue mountains await. But before we begin, let's take a moment to calm the senses with a brief wind down. Tonight's wind down is an exercise we call noting. It helps to soothe the mind, and once you've learned it, you can even use it if you wake up during the night. We're going to be counting our breaths, and then just gently noting thoughts and feelings as they arise. We're not trying to change them. We're simply labeling thinking as thinking, feeling as feeling. It may sound incredibly simple, but it can help to create distance between ourselves and the thought, and ourselves and the feeling. So we don't get so involved in it. That in turn creates a more restful state of mind. In other words, the perfect conditions for gentle restful sleep. So to begin, just take a moment or two to get comfortable, make sure you're nice and cool. Just starting with some big deep breaths, breathing in through the nose, and out through the mouth. And with the next out breath, allow the breath to return to its natural rhythm, in and out through the nose, and feeling the weight of the body pressing you down into your bed. And in your own time, starting to count the breaths as they pass. One with the rise, two with the fall, just up to a count of 10. When you get to 10, you can stop, and start again at one. And remember, anytime you get distracted, the moment you realize you're distracted by thought, simply note it, thinking, and return to the breath, or if a feeling arises, note it as feeling, and return to the breath. Noting is very gentle, not harsh at all. Think of it like a feather, just gently touching the surface of a crystal glass. I'm gonna give you a few moments just to keep counting the breath, and noting any thoughts and feelings that arise. That's great. The forest parts are scattered with remainders of what must've been a foraging expedition. The fiddlehead fern is a favorite of people in Northern Bangor. It smells like a forest might, if it were to be condensed into the curls or a fern. There are others which have been left behind only because...