Star Wars™ Islands of Ahch-To™

The suns have just begun to set along the rocky coast of Ahch-To, home of the first Jedi temple. A gentle rain falls down through the patchy clouds, glimmering off the fields of wild grass that cover the cliff side. Along the edge of the island, a collection of large boulders stand upright, seeming to defy gravity. Their jagged edges have been carved by centuries of wind and erosion, giving each one a unique character and presence. At this time of day, with the suns hanging low on the horizon, the rocky cliff side becomes a resting place for the island's natural inhabitants. Families of porgs make their way into their burrowed homes, huddling together for warmth as night quickly approaches. At the hilltops, the island's devoted caretakers, the Lanai, wrap up their daily duties and take refuge from the rain in their stone huts. Now, with the island's activity coming to a slow stop, let's settle in for the evening with a short wind-down exercise. Tonight's wind down is an exercise we call noting. It helps to sooth the mind, and once you've learned it, you can even use it if you wake up during the night. We are 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 a 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 are 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 a 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 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. The sea laps against the coves along the island shore. It splashes over the lip of an obsidian ledge. Kelp...