Lavender Fields

The countryside in Southern France is beautiful at this time of year, especially here in this tiny Provencal village along the Mediterranean coast. Located at the base of the Massif des Maures mountain range, this hidden town offers a unique mix of sights and sounds, with rolling green hillsides to the north and long stretches of beaches to the south. With night quickly approaching, the landscape feels even more mysterious and magical, radiating a calming sense of welcome and peace, inviting you to explore. So with the sun slowly falling below the horizon, let's settle in for the evening with a brief 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 the 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 your 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 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. The homes in this tiny village are built with nearly identical architecture and painted in a variety of colors: reds, yellows, pinks, greens, blues. The narrow spiraling streets lined with palm trees on either side, feel almost like a labyrinth. There are picture perfect restaurants, artisanal stores and cafe on nearly every block. So at this time of night, they are empty and sit peacefully still. Down through the city center, an older couple sits on a small brown bench sharing an ice cream cone. These two seem to be part of the scenery, having inscribed their love in the alleys of this Provencal village for many years. The atmosphere is calm, summery and relaxing....