Jungle Ruins

(crickets chirping) Across the surface of an ancient limestone ruin, faint moonlight filters through the canopy above, settling in broken patterns on the stone below. In some places, water gathers into the grooves, catching the light and outlining shapes that tell of old stories. The space feels cocooned beneath the jungle leaves, while the steady sound of water moves from somewhere just beyond. Before we take a look around, let's take a moment for a brief, wind down exercise. But tonight's wind down, you are going to use your imagination. So get your imagination ready, and 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 to 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 are 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, to the back, and the stomach. It's as though it washes away any discomfort. It continues up through the chest and the 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 travel up through the neck and the throat, into the head and face, all the way to the very top of the body until there's nothing other than that sense of stillness remaining. And now, just gently bringing the attention back to the body. At night, the ruins take on a different kind of light. Openings in the canopy above allow the moon to pass through in narrow breaks, casting pale patches across the ground. Some patches settle onto the limestone below. Others rest higher up among the leaves. Along one section of rock, a band of carvings becomes visible. In one stretch, the lines gather into a repeating form, like a circle or something in motion. Though the full shape never quite holds. Time has worn the image unevenly. Sometimes the stone chooses to keep certain stories for itself. In a few of the deeper grooves, water has collected, resting quietly and holding the moonlight, tracing the lines just enough to make them visible. A current of sound moves through the ruins. Further from the walls,...