Plum Pottery

A gentle autumnal breeze carries through the streets of this small quiet town where a rising quarter moon illuminates the stucco facade of the very charming Plum Pottery Clay Studio. Tonight is very special because you've been invited for an evening visit. We're so excited to show you all of this unique studio's best features. The name of the studio has been beautifully embellished on the glass of the front door. The P in Plum holds a ripe, purple fruit with a single green leaf designed in its center for a playful accent. Meanwhile, a ceramic pitcher has been painted into the P in Pottery. And a red mug hangs on the curve of the lower case Y. The design as a whole feels playful and welcoming as is just about everything happening inside. Along the side wall of the studio are shelves with bags of clay from all over the world, just waiting for an interested artist to choose them. A studio favorite is the Moroccan sand clay, which spreads so nicely on the wheel and whose texture often results in a beautiful, smooth, nearly glass-like finish. Perhaps this is the clay for you this evening. But feel free to take your time and find what calls out to you. No matter which clay you choose, the studio will welcome. But before we begin, let's take a moment for a brief 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. 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, note it as feeling and return to the breath. Noting is very...