Windswept Lighthouse

The small white lighthouse turns a pale blue in the moonlight and the coastal plants dotting the cliff side below it sway in the night's gentle breeze. The lighthouse's emerald green door greets visitors as they approach though very few get a peek into the lighthouse at this hour just after sunset, but tonight is special. The seaside beacon has protected the harbor for decades with its strong beam of light, illuminating ships and sailboats as they anchor in the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean. Tonight the lighthouse keeper appears on the balcony with a steaming cup of peppermint tea in his hand. He takes in the last bits of light the sky has to offer before night takes over. A warm summer wind is starting to pick up. The lighthouse keeper finishes the last few sips of his tea and then heads back inside to settle down. I've been to this lighthouse many times and know its details well. But before we explore them together, let's begin with a short wind-down exercise. Tonight's wind-down is a visualization. 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 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 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 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, just 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. There are over 300 varieties of birds that call this land their home. But this evening, only one small brown and red sparrow hops its way into the garden just outside the lighthouse's front windows. It's easy to understand why birds might make their...