Emerald Mountain

(rain pattering) Dusk is setting quietly over the forests of Emerald Mountain. A low drift of pale mist moves through the evergreens. It isn't a wave of weather, just a steady veil that clings to bark and branch. Moisture beads are gathering in droplets that glide from needle to needle before falling into the spongy green moss below. Nearby, a slender stream threads through the mountain. Its surface barely ripples, yet its sound is a constant, easy murmur. Before we settle in, let's take a moment for 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 learnt it, you can even use it if you wake up in the night. We are going to be counting our breaths and then just gently noting thoughts and feelings as they arise. We are 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, 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 gentle, restful sleep. So, to begin with, just take a moment or two to get comfortable. Make sure you are 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, anytime you get distracted, the moment you realize you are distracted by thought, simply note it "thinking" and return to the breath, or if a feeling arises, "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. (rain pattering) (rain continues pattering) That's great. Walking along the mountain trail, one can see how the forest arranges itself into layers. The ground is cushioned, covered in a quilt of dappled greens. A little farther in, the colors shift. Thin reddish-brown strips of cedar bark are scattered across the ground like wooden snowflakes. Sodden by weeks of rain, beneath a clump of wood reveals a slender sprout pushing up wood. Something new has settled in. It's a young conifer tree. In this early stage, the seedling looks almost translucent against the dark mineral soil, as though gathering...