Holiday Chalet

The faint smell of pine and cinnamon wafts throughout this cozy home, greeting all visitors with a cheerful welcome. In the family room, a hand-crafted stone fireplace draws in each invited guest. The fire lets out a gentle hum, joining with the chorus of old music that fills the halls. The house calmly buzzes with joy and warmth as our yearly holiday dinner is almost ready. The host gets ready in the kitchen, pausing to make sure everyone has a cup of tea, or her speciality, hot apple cider. A collection of mugs catches your eye, each steaming with the freshly poured cider. It is one of the host's special traditions to pour the cider from a large antique pitcher with a patternated brass spout that recalls many years of use and joy. It connects all the new guests to those that came before them. With such a warm, tasty drink, it's natural for anyone to fully relax into such a special evening. But before we dive in, let's pause for 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'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, 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 1/2 of the arms and the lower 1/2 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. Oona's partner enters the dining room wearing a cozy wool sweater with large silver buttons. He balances a stack of fresh laundry in his arms. There are 10 place mats and a green tablecloth. He sets the place mats aside, then,...