Compass Gardens

So here we are right at the very center of things. The still point in a busy world. Our journey tonight will be calming, refreshing, and ever so slightly magical. There's nothing left to do today except to let your mind wander with us to sleep and dreams. Each night, we like to start with a short wind down. It's particularly helpful if you're troubled by a busy mind when you're trying to get to sleep. You can even use it if you wake up in the night. We're going to be counting our breaths, and then just gently noting thoughts and feelings as they arise. We're not going to replace them with anything else. 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, 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 state of mind for a gentle, restful sleep. So to begin with, just take a moment or two to get comfortable, make sure you're nice and cool. Just starting with some nice, 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 just feeling the weight of the body pressing 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 thought, simply note it, thinking, and return to the breath. Or if a feeling arises, feeling, and return to the breath. That 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. You are standing in a street where nobody seems to be in a hurry, just a few passers by are out strolling. Some are resting on benches, the light in the sky seems soft, very soft. The sun is shining softly and the wind is blowing so gently but it feels like the wind has given you the gift of a shawl. Feeling the gentle wind blow is like wearing a luxurious, open weave shawl. It's like being able to be out in your pajamas and it's okay, it's the perfect temperature and you're wearing a perfect clothes. As your neck and shoulders relax, you look down. You are standing in a street made of dove gray stones. The stones are wide and nicely weathered. How many people have stopped...