Black Forest Chapel

It's magic hour, here in the Black Forest. Dusky sunlight streaks its way down through the canopy above, mottling the forest floor with a golden mosaic. The trees cast long, slender shadows as the sun sinks down, down, down into its celestial slumber. But before it does, let's take a moment to calm the senses with a short wind-down exercise. 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 are 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 are 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 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, any time you get distracted, the moment you realize you're distracted by a 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 going to give you a few moments just to keep counting the breath and noting any thoughts and feelings that arise. That's great. Autumn leaves of lemon yellow and apple red have started to fall, drifting down to the forest floor and laying a soft, thick-piled carpet. Amongst the fallen pine needles, golden linden leaves litter the floor. And there are alder leaves too and oak leaves. With its five rounded lobes, the distinctive silhouette of the oak leaf ripples and curls like cresting waves. The sappy sweet scent of the trees evokes their rich history. This forest first provided shelter for the Alamanni tribes hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Great chieftains used to gather here, they say, celebrating the solstice and sharing the warmth of a campfire. How many feet have walked this forest path before? Further footprints have been left in the spongy earth today, yielding to the weight of...