Historic Hacienda

(insects chattering) (footsteps crunching) Across the grounds of an old Hacienda, a wide field of bright yellow sunflowers stretches toward the horizon. (insects chattering) When warm sunlight falls across the field, the flowers seem to glow. A soft breeze passes through, gently rustling their leaves and carrying a few loose petals into the air. They drift slowly to the earth, leaving little flecks of yellow scattered across the ground. (insects chattering) Before we wander through the sunflower field, let's ease in with a wind-down exercise. (insects chattering) Tonight's wind-down is an exercise we call noting. (insects chattering) It helps to soothe the mind, and once you've learnt it you can even use it if you wake up in the night. (insects chattering) We're going to be counting our breaths and then just gently noting thoughts and feelings as they arise. (insects chattering) We're not trying to change them, we're simply labeling thinking as thinking, feeling as feeling. (insects chattering) 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. (insects chattering) So to begin with, just take a moment or two to get comfortable. Make sure you're nice and cool. (insects chattering) Just starting with some nice big deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. (insects chattering) And then 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. (insects chattering) And in your own time, (insects chattering) starting to count the breaths as they pass. (insects chattering) One with the rise, two with the fall, just up to a count of 10. (insects chattering) When you get to 10, you can stop and start again at one. And remember, anytime you get distracted, the moment you realize you're distracted by a 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. (insects chattering) I'm going to give you a few moments just to keep counting the breath, and noting any thoughts and feelings that arise. (insects chattering) (insects continues chattering) That's great. (insects chattering) (leaves rustling) (insects chattering) When the Molina family lived at Rancho Tranquilo, they spent much of their time tending to the sunflowers and harvesting their seeds with love and care. It was slow, patient work. The sunflowers were given time to dry beneath the desert sun before their seeds were carefully gathered by hand. There was a quiet rhythm to it, moving from flower to flower, taking time with each one. The seeds...