Soak up Acadia’s Ocean Sounds

It is early evening here at Acadia National Park. The tide along great head Beach is high signaling the handoff from day to night. The fading sun hovers low on the horizon. With the pale moon slowly rolling into view. This sprawling landscape is home to a wide range of native flora and fauna, stretching from coastal waters to the towering peaks of nearby Cadillac Mountain. There is all manner of life to witness and explore in this vast space. As day slowly gives way night, the air within the park becomes still and serene. A perfect setting for a night of rest and letting go. So as we settle in for the evening, let's begin with a brief wind down exercise. Tonight's wind down is a visualization. So when you are ready, let's begin. 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 a 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 are 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, through the back, and the stomach. It's as though it washes away any discomfort. It continues up through the chest and the upper 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. Acadia's landscape is no stranger to change. Igneous granite has been sculpted over the millennia by sliding glaciers within the span of a year. Green hues give way to warm yellows and intense reds until a white shimmering blanket of snow takes hold every winter. Each day brings a cyclical dance of sea and sand swaying at the tide's tempo. The water responds to the sun and moon's gravitational pull like an archer's bow aimed toward the planets. The effects of this celestial play can be seen on the beach at Bar Harbor where a land bridge appears during low tide, the massive sea retracts letting the sun warm The...