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 may not be the most famous loch in the world, it may not even be the most famous loch in the country, and yet it is special in its stillness and its mystery. The water here is calm, magisterially so, and therefore its effect on the mind is calming, too. Its very presence insists upon tranquility, reminds you that tranquility is a naturally occurring phenomenon. 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. We'll be drinking it in, lingering long over the details of the environment, its landmarks and its wildlife. Before we do, I think it's nice to begin with a little wind down. 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 in 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, 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 state of mind for gentle, restful sleep. So to begin with, just take a moment or two to get comfortable, make sure you're nice and cool. Just starting with some nice, 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 just feeling the weight of the body pressing down into your bed. And in your own time, start 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, feeling and return to the breath. That noting is very gentle, not harsh at all. Think of it like a feather just gently touching the surface of a crystal glass. I'm going to give you a few moments just to keep counting the breath and noting any thoughts and feelings that arise. That's great. 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,...