Lazing Lagoon

The waters of the Lazing Lagoon are calm and the currents mellow. The weather is rather mild today. A light breeze wrinkles the water's surface causing the houseboats to rock gently at anchor. From here on the deck of our boat, The Sylvia of the Sea, the view is tranquil. The brilliant blue of the sky with a few white wisps of cloud against it, and the green blue of the water, and the white sand of the beach with the dunes beyond it. It's not hard to see why the place was named as it was. The proper thing to do here is to settle in and relax. To laze away this never-ending afternoon. Before we begin our tour I think it's nice to begin with a little wind down. Tonight's wind down is an exercise we call noting. It helps to soothe the mind and, once you've learned it, you can even use it if you wake up in the night. We're going to be counting our breaths, and then just gently noting thoughts and feelings as they arise. We're not trying to change them. We're simply labeling thinking as thinking, feeling as feeling. 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. So to begin with, just take a moment or two to get comfortable. make sure you're nice and cool. Just starting with some nice, big, deep breaths. Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. And 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. And in your own time, starting to count the breaths as they pass. One with the rise, two with the fall. Just up to a count of 10. When you get to 10, you can stop and start again at one. And remember, any time you get distracted, the moment you realize you're distracted by 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. I'm going to give you a few moments just to keep counting the breath and noting any thoughts and feelings that arise. That's great. There is an old fishing boat, tethered to the end of the jetty that ferries people to the houseboats morde in the lagoon. The boatman wears an orange t-shirt. The thread has worn so thin, you can see through to his chest. He cares for the boats out of season, when all the holiday makers have gone home. All...