Northwest Rainforest

Welcome to the Northwest Rainforest. It's a lush, green, temperate rainforest with a canopy of trees stretching out for miles in every direction. Miles of paths, and of plants, ferns, and trees. We've arrived at the perfect time. The rain has settled, and there's a light breeze wafting around us, warm and comforting. Underneath the forest entrance sign are daffodils and bluebells that are just beginning to bloom. There aren't too many visitors today so we'll have the place to ourselves. And perhaps, if we're quiet enough, we might even encounter some unexpected wildlife along the way. Before we enter the rainforest I always like to start with a wind down. Tonight's wind down is a visualization. So when you're ready, let's begin. So just take a moment to get comfortable. Letting go of the day. Enjoying that feeling of having stopped, of having nothing left to do. We're going to focus the attention of the mind on the different parts of the body. Feeling as the muscles in the body switch off for the night. Leaving the body feeling rested and leaving the mind more at ease. So, starting down at the toes, and just a sense of the muscles switching off. The feet, the arches, all those muscles switching off. Same in the lower half of the legs. So any tension being let go of as the muscles switch off, shut down. In the upper half of the legs, any tension melting away, being let go of. Into the area of the hips, the pelvis, again, any muscles shutting down for the night, completely at rest. Everything from the waist down is heavy, at ease. The muscles in the lower back and the stomach, now switching off. Middle of the back, around the diaphragm. The upper back and the chest. So any muscles not needed shutting down, switching off for the night. The shoulders switching off. The upper half of the arms and the lower half of the arms, switching off. The hands, fingers, just switching off. Any muscles around the throat and the neck, switching off. The head, the face, the jaw, the eyes. Any last areas of tension melting away as the muscles shut down, switch off. At rest for the night. And allowing thoughts to come and go. Allowing the mind and body the space they need to rest. Walking along the path, you see a sign up ahead, and three roads that converge at the sign. You decide to follow the Hall of Mosses trail that curves up toward a higher elevation. Your body feels good as you breathe in the moist, clean air in big gulps, your heart thumping happily. You're feeling so light and active, propelled forward by the strength you feel in your thighs, that you are surprised at how quickly you arrive to the edge of an expansive and ancient grove of maple trees, all impossibly tall and twisting, that look as if they're dripping with moss. You stop for...