Hushed Theater

The velvet seats are empty, and the show has ended at our hushed theater. Visitors at this hour are few and far between. Usually only the cast and crew remain. However, you've come at just the right moment to get a rare peak behind the scenes, as everyone wraps for the night The wardrobe room is easily one of the most fascinating corners of the theater. Full of activity and rich luxurious fabrics. Tonight, the lead costume designer has let her crew go early, as she tidies up after the show. Stacks of costumes are left to hang and fold, but the designer focuses on a pile of delicate velvet coats and silk dresses. One coat in particular catches her eye almost every night. She found it hiding in the racks at an old thrift store, a location she prefers to keep secret, as if it were her personal closet. She knew the coat would be perfect for this show, elegant and striking. In one indulgent motion, she drapes the green velvet coat over her own shoulders. She feels the fabric, and recalls the moment it's on stage, shining under the spotlight, as the main character pleads with their best friend to escape their small sleepy town together. The costume designer takes the coat off, and hangs it up, as it's time for her to move on to the next stack of clothes. There is always more work to be done before the theater is ready to welcome a whole new audience tomorrow night. But first, let's begin with a little wind down exercise. Tonight's wind down is a visualization. So when you're ready, let's begin. So no matter what's been going on today, whether it's been a busy day or a calm one, this is an opportunity to put everything down, to let go of any inner chatter, and find a place of rest in both the body and the mind. So first, get yourself comfortable in bed, just taking a moment to pause and be still. And when you're ready, taking a big, deep breath, breathing in through the nose, and out through the mouth. And as you breathe out, allowing the body to sink down into your bed, feeling the weight of the body, allowing thoughts to come and go. Now imagining a steady flow of warm sunlight flowing down through the body, dissolving any tension, any discomfort, as it begins to fill the body, starting with the toes, moving up through the feet and the legs, being filled with sunlight. The qualities of warmth, space, and ease, as it continues to travel up through the body, up past the waist, through the back and the stomach. It's as though it washes away any discomfort. It continues up through the chest and the upper back into the shoulders, and down the arms, all the way down to the hands and fingers. A sense of relief in the body and stillness in the mind, as it continues to...