Vietnam by Moonlight

(door clinks) (door creaking) (rain pattering) Tonight, the moon glows over a mist-veiled temple in Vietnam as monks quietly make their way to a meditation hall at this monastery high up in the mountains and gentleness fills the pine-scented air. The glassy lake beneath the pagoda lies still under a drifting rain. It's the perfect place to pause for a brief wind down exercise. 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 downward 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, in 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. The moon gleans full and round in the sky overlooking the Hoai River. A man opens his window shutters and leans out, glancing towards the river. He hangs a red lantern with long red tassels from the roof where it stirs lightly in the breeze. Shopkeepers open their doors, the interiors glowing with candlelight. Families step quietly into the streets, walking down narrow cobblestone alleys towards the water's edge. They pass flickering altars on doorsteps and vendors selling lanterns laid out on blankets. On the river, sampan boats drift together towards the center. Like ghosts, the shallow skiffs glide over the dark current. A woman rows past the pier with slow, practiced strokes. She pauses for a moment, holding the lantern in both hands. Silently, she makes a wish before lighting the candle inside and waits as the lantern begins to glow. Gently, she lowers it to the water and watches it drift away...