Soothing Scottish Loch

There are few places in the world quite so serene as Loch Dormant. Its position is one of near-perfect isolation. High up among the rolling, seemingly endless moors, it's not one of the country's most well-known lochs. No one has ever claimed they've seen a monster poking its head from the water's surface. And yet, it is a quiet and mysterious place. The loch, it's island, and the tall mountains which rise up on either side of it, have a kind of magisterial stillness about them. The water is calm and therefore its effect on the mind is calming, too. From here in the lodge we have a superb view out over the loch and it's this view that we'll be enjoying this evening, observing the various features of the landscape and its wildlife. Before we do though, I always think it's nice to begin with a little 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. Watching 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. Our lodge here was built long ago. The oldest sections, the kitchens and the great room, are more than 300 years old, in fact. But today it has all the trappings of comfortable highland living. Deep-buttoned wingbacked armchairs, a large stone fireplace fed in the winter months with fragrant fir wood. A red patterned Turkish carpet worn almost threadbare in places, particularly in front of the fire....