Vineyard Sunset

Hello, and welcome. We're so happy you could join us for an evening at the vineyard. At this time of day, the view from the outdoor patio is unlike any other. The sky is painted with a dreamy blend of orange and red, and the grapevine fields before you appear to be endless. Row after row of neat, evenly spaced plants sprawl as far as the eye can see, giving the landscape a clean, manicured look as if freshly combed. A stack of large wooden barrels sits at the far edge of the patio. While seemingly lifeless on the outside, the inside of each barrel brims with activity. In the stillness of the approaching night, you can almost hear the gentle bubbling of last season's harvest as the sugars ferment and dissolve before taking on their new form. Now, as the sun drifts below the horizon, you allow the activity of your day to drift away with it. Let us deepen this state of relaxation with a short 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, feeling a sense of the muscles switching off. The feet, the arches, all those muscles switching off. Same in the lower half of the legs. Notice any tension being let go 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 are 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, chest 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. A hidden trail lets out at the edge of the vineyard. Just as you begin to wonder who might spend an afternoon exploring the surrounding fields, a friendly man emerges, his face hidden by a wide-brimmed, well-worn sunhat. His gait is slow but determined. The trails are clearly familiar...