Sundown Place

Sundown Place is a beautiful red brick apartment building set around a central courtyard in a quiet part of the city. It's a peaceful spot, despite its urban setting. It's residents, a considerate neighborly people, perhaps a little eccentric, and whether you're just visiting or you're here to stay, they're always so welcoming and kind. There's such a lovely view from the windows here, always something to look at, out in the courtyard or in the apartments opposite you as the sun sinks below the roofs and evening takes hold. Before we begin enjoying the view, I always think it's nice to repair the mind and the body with a little wind down. Tonight's wind down is a visualization, so when you're ready, let's begin. 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. Just 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, just a sense of the muscles switching off. The feet, the arches, all those muscles just switching off. Same in the lower 1/2 of the legs, any tension just letting go as the muscles switch off, shut down. In the upper 1/2 of the legs, any tension just melting away, just letting it go. Into the area of the hips, the pelvis. Again, any muscles just shutting down for the night, completely at rest. Everything from the waist down is heavy and at ease. The muscles in the lower back and the stomach now just switching off, there's the middle of the back, around the diaphragm, the upper back and the chest. So any muscles not needed just shutting down, switching off for the night. The shoulders switching off, the upper 1/2 of the arms and the lower 1/2 of the arms just switching off. The hands, the fingers, just switching off. Any muscles around the throat and the neck just switching off. The head, the face, the jaw, the eyes, any last areas of tension, melting away as the muscles shut down and 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. It's early evening and you're gazing out of a window, actually a tall set of French doors, 1930s style, opening out onto a dainty balcony. There's just room enough for two people to perch out there on the rustic pair of bistro chairs that someone picked up at a flea market. For now, though, you're inside. The doors are slightly ajar and you can feel the warmth of the apartment at your back and the cool air from outside, touching your face and arms. Is there anything more relaxing than resting by a window and...