Grand Canyon Dreams

(no audio) The sun has just begun to set here at Grand Canyon National Park. The sweeping vistas within this iconic landscape provide some of the most breathtaking views found on earth with cavernous valleys and towering columns of stone stretching as far as the eye can see. Within the canyon, just along Bright Angel Trail, is Havasupai Gardens, the starting point for tonight's journey. Here, the only sounds that can be heard are those of the natural ecosystem, a gentle stream passing through the landscape and the chirps of native ravens and wrens, the wind through tall reeds of grass. The vast, open sky above paired with the deep cavernous terrain of the park, leaves visitors with an overwhelming sense of spaciousness and buoyancy, the perfect conditions to pause, relax, and enjoy the bounties of nature. So as we settle in for tonight's journey, let's begin our evening 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 of the day, enjoying that feeling of having stopped, of having nothing left to do. We are 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 and 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. (no audio) Descending just below the coniferous forests and plateau of the Kaibab is the tree-covered Toroweap. Darker than the limestone above and the Coconino sandstone below, the softer gypsum and shale of the Toroweap has eroded more readily than its limestone to form a sloping connection between the two formations. The variation of flora and fauna as one descends from...