El Mercado

Good evening, (speaks foreign language) and welcome to Il Mercado. The late night corner market of local legend. In the parking lot, a gentle soundtrack of trumpets and violins play through the speaker system, beckoning customers to enter and explore this one of a kind place. Inside the store, light from the ceiling above bounces off the sleek linoleum floors, producing a crisp clean glow that radiates throughout the aisles. After decades of operation, Il Mercado has become a staple of the community, a long standing beacon of culture, tradition and history for the neighborhood. The character of this market can be found in every bite of fresh Pandolce and every thread of handwoven textile no matter how many times you've visited, you're always bound to discover something new and unexpected sitting on the shelves. As you settle in for the evening, let's deepen your state of relaxation with a short wind down exercise. Tonight's wind down is a visualization. When you're ready, let's begin. So just take a moment to get comfortable, letting go the day, enjoying that feeling of having stopped, of having nothing left to do. We're going to focus the attention of the mind on the different parts of the body. Watching as the muscles in the body switch off for the night, leaving the body feeling rested and leaving the mind more at ease. So starting down at the toes, feeling a sense of the muscles switching off. The feet, the arches, all those muscles switching off. Same in the lower half of the legs. Notice any tension being let go of as the muscles switch off, shut down. In the upper half of the legs, any tension melting away, being let go of. Into the area of the hips, the pelvis. Again, any muscles shutting down for the night, completely at rest. Everything from the waist downward is heavy, at ease. The muscles in the lower back and the stomach are now switching off. Middle of the back around the diaphragm, the upper back and the chest. So any muscles not needed, shutting down, switching off for the night. The shoulders, switching off. The upper half of the arms and the lower half of the arms, switching off. The hands, fingers, just switching off. Any muscles around the throat and the neck, switching off. The head, the face, the jaw, the eyes, any last areas of tension, melting away as the muscles shut down, switch off, at rest for the night. And allowing thoughts to come and go, allowing the mind and body, the space they need to rest. A mural of an indigenous woman with a pink ribbon braided into her black hair, holding a brown ceramic pot, looked down over the fresh fruits and vegetables with love in her eyes. She sits on a large balcony, book ended by Calla lilies and being Croesus. In the distance, the red rooftops of a small town and its large cathedral overlook the edge of...