Majestic Zion

Night has just begun to fall here at Zion National Park. The sun hangs low on the horizon, casting long shadows down into the slot canyons scattered throughout the park. As the heat dies down, the desert wildlife makes itself known. Rock squirrels race from bush to bush, their feet beating softly into the rust-colored sand. A herd of mule deer amble through the southern basin, pausing here and there to chew on the branches of a juniper tree. In the hills behind them, a lone bighorn sheep carefully scales the rocky cliff side, scanning for grass and other things to munch on. Everything is in its place here, flowing as one collective ecosystem in perfect balance, the ideal setting for relaxing and letting go. So as we settle in for the evening, let's deepen our state of relaxation with a short wind down exercise. 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 during 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 and 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 conditions for gentle restful sleep. So to begin, just take a moment or two to get comfortable. Make sure you're nice and cool. Just starting with some 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 feeling the weight of the body pressing you down into your bed. (no audio) 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, anytime you get distracted, the moment you realize you're distracted by thought, simply note it thinking and return to the breath. 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. (no audio) (no audio) (no audio) (no audio) (no audio) That's great. (no audio) The towering cliffs of Zion are what remain of sand dunes from a vast desert that once covered large swaths of the North American continent. In the present day what's left of these ancient sandstone structures are enough to remind anyone that we are small entities...