Cozy Farmhouse

A starry night sky takes hold as the last bits of an orange and violet sunset fade away. In the near distance, a farmhouse calls to you with warm amber light spilling out of its box-shaped windows. Delicate vines crown the oak front door, illuminated by a singular metal lantern that hangs from above. A lantern has welcomed generations of tired travelers with its gentle glow. I know this little farmhouse quite well and tonight, we're so looking forward to welcoming you. One of my favorite sights is visible out of nearly every window, a family of old, tall pendulum pines surrounds the house. Their thick, droopy branches extend across the roof leaving a light dusting of needles on the shingles below. The gentle scent of pine floats around the house, connecting the cozy interior to the nature that surrounds it. Another scent drifts in from a nearby orange grove. The orange blossoms pair wonderfully with the pine to create a calming, subtle aroma. The finest candle makers cannot recreate if they tried. As night falls, drip irrigation in the orange grove comes to life, surrounding the house with a cool wave of moisture floating on the otherwise warm breeze. So many more details make this cozy farmhouse a place to be cherished. But before I show you the rest, I think it's nice to take a moment to relax with a brief 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're gonna 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 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...