Monsoon Hour

You are safe, watching the birth of a monsoon from a hill, high above the paddy terraces. At your back, a home of strong wood stands, its walls worn smooth by its many years of service, as a refuge from tumultuous seasons such as this. Lanterns, like wonder filled eyes, glow from its windows. You can almost feel their shadow plays tickling your back. It is evening and the rains are coming. It's time to put down the day, and prepare for rest. To help us make the most of this special time, I think it's nice to begin with a little wind-down. Tonight's wind-down is a visualization. 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 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. The monsoon is a chorus for and of the planet. For a moment, your whole body sings with it. In the house, you refresh your cup of tea, adding a sprig of fresh mint, and refill the dimming lanterns. Their halos of small, brown moths with their tender wings accompany the confident movements of your hands. Out there, the bamboos bend like ballerinas. Fruits blown off their branches make a colorful display on the dark, wet earth. Mangoes, plums, jackfruit, cantaloupe. A family of monkeys has collected some of this bounty and taken shelter on a corner of your porch. From the window, you watch them sway against each other as they crack open their bounty. The city lights are waning. Children have returned to...