Good evening.
Welcome to your sleep story.
My name is Stephen Dalton and it's my great privilege to be the voice that you listen to as you go to sleep tonight.
In tonight's story,
I continue my series Wonderings of an Irishman Abroad in which I share with you personal stories of my own adventures as I've travelled around the world.
I hope that you get something from the story as you move towards sleep.
Tonight's story brings us to Mexico and to a yoga retreat that I did there a number of years ago.
It will be very calm,
Very safe and very tranquil.
So,
Let's do the relaxation session before we move into the sleep story.
Tonight,
We'll do a little visualisation to begin to open your awareness and imagination so you can really see the world I bring you into.
So as you lie in your bed tonight,
Just feel that support beneath you.
Whether you sleep on a bed or on the floor or in a hammock or in a tent,
Wherever you might be,
Feel that support beneath you.
That support coming from our home,
Our planet,
Earth.
And as you lie here,
Begin to just notice your breath.
That amazing yet beautifully simple life-giving force that enters and leaves your body thousands of times a day.
And now,
Let's begin to engage our imagination.
Allow yourself to see yourself from above.
See yourself lying in the bed beneath you.
Feel empathy for yourself.
How often do you feel that?
That feeling that you deserve peace?
You work hard in life.
I'm sure you do.
I'm sure.
So just feel compassion now.
As you look down upon yourself,
Let's go higher.
High above your city or town or maybe you live in the mountains or in a forest.
Wherever you live,
Look down upon your world now.
Most of what you know is here.
Allow yourself the freedom to let all of that go in this moment.
You are but a conscious being living in a world that is made of consciousness.
All the ins and outs and ups and downs of our daily lives can sometimes take us away from what really matters.
So let go now.
Get some perspective.
Now let's go higher.
High into the night sky.
See our beautiful blue planet from high above.
Feel the idea that all of us here on this blue planet are just doing our best.
Allow that feeling of compassion to spread further now to all of those you love and to all of those you don't even know.
Remember,
This is a safe place.
You are so safe.
Allow me to bring you on an adventure.
My own adventure that I had a few years ago that I would love to share with you now.
So allow your focus as you look down on our beautiful blue planet to bring you gently and slowly to a beach in the Yucatan Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea in Mexico under a starry night sky.
As I sit on this beach I contemplate what got me here.
Only a few weeks previously a good friend of mine had called me and said that she wanted to go to Mexico to do a yoga retreat.
I have always loved yoga.
The connection it offers to the body and inner workings of our mind.
The beautiful simplicity of how when we move we ignite peace within our souls.
And so the idea of going to Mexico to do yoga really appealed to me.
Now I don't know if you've heard of a vision board but I did one once.
In fact only a few months before I went to Mexico.
I printed off some pictures of things I wanted to achieve in life.
I won't bore you with all of them.
Two of them were definitely worth mentioning tonight.
I had always wanted to see the New York skyline and had never made it so far.
And I had always wanted to do yoga in a beautiful place by the beach.
And so two of the nine or so photographs that I printed out were aiming towards those two things.
Going to New York and doing yoga in a beautiful place.
In case you don't know the idea of the vision board is that when you have these visual representations of your dreams printed out and see them every day then they stand a better chance of coming true.
Or so they say.
So when it transpired that in order to get to Mexico my friend and I would have to spend one night in New York well,
I started to find the whole thing quite interesting.
Just so you know every single thing that I printed out for that vision board came true.
And so we were off to Mexico and now on my first night here I find myself sitting on this beautiful beach looking out at a starry night sky.
You know it's funny when you travel you can see the entire world from the comfort of your home you can sit in your armchair and watch video after video.
But when you travel to a place it's amazing how the energy is what makes it so interesting so different perhaps from what you normally know.
And that's one of the things I remember most about Tulum in Mexico.
It was in fact an energy I had never felt before.
It was powerful.
It was freeing.
It was universal.
Universal.
Whatever it was.
Maybe words can't explain it.
The house where the yoga retreat was happening was a beautiful wooden house right on the beach.
The house itself was pretty special.
Walking into the bedroom and looking at the perfectly made bed.
It was late afternoon and the windows were open and the soft wind gently travelled through the room and the sound of the waves outside into the moment.
I remember as well the gradual softening that occurred within me The house was occupied by the various people who would be partaking in the week long yoga retreat on the first evening.
We all introduced ourselves.
It was nice to meet people from all around the world.
People who were in search of different things.
Some were there for healing.
Some with themselves and with the world around them.
And some just wanted to escape and they had found the perfect place to do it.
I remember going to sleep on the first night in that bedroom.
The bed was so comfortable and a giant net was draped over the bed which added to my feeling of safety and protectedness.
It also meant that I could leave the window open and listen to the sound of the waves as I drifted into sleep.
I don't think I ever slept as well as I did in that bed next to that beach in that powerful place called Tulum.
Every morning sleepily met the day.
It was in a way like continuing my sleep I would open my eyes and meet what was to me a dream world.
Nearly every morning I rose before the sun rose I rose in darkness when the stars still hung in the heavens humbly watching down upon us all Step by step in my bare feet walk down the wooden stairs outside and breathe the healing air around me I would walk through the area under the canopy I would in an hour or so be practicing our first yoga session of the day and I would quietly walk onto the beach my feet meeting the sand like an old friend When I am on a beach I feel at home I think it has something to do with being Irish We are,
After all an island nation and are connected to the ocean in a special way I would walk the beach and when it felt right I would wait for the gradual appearing of our nearest star coming to say hello again Other people at those other souls it is in these special moments that we get to see the humanity in others that we realize that we are all connected connected powerful things universal things like the sun the sun that sustains life within us the sun that is a star I would swim I would feel the serene waters of the Caribbean Sea cleanse my mind body and soul I feel alive I feel at peace and take some deep breaths and find within myself gratitude for this moment back towards the house I feel ready to be in communion with others to be in communion with myself the group are getting ready I grab my trusty mat and roll it onto the wooden floor we are outside under a beautiful wooden canopy made of bamboo and other types of wood on one side is lush vegetation and on the other is the beach and the Caribbean Sea beyond our instructor is a beautifully still person a person you know is very connected to herself we begin the practice moving through the various postures in unison in yoga we move together in unison from downward dog to cobra to child's pose to happy baby all of these poses bring me and the group into a better place as I move as I move I find the truth of who I am it took me a long time to know myself to meet myself and I can honestly say that finding meditation and finding yoga were crucial steps on that journey as we continue to move together thoughts come that it is not about perfection we are all beautifully flawed some poses I can't do some poses others can't do sometimes I overthink sometimes I don't think enough we are all on this path and when we come together in moments like this my understanding of what it is to be a human being comes more into focus as the class draws to a close and I feel suitably invigorated I take my leave and go back towards the bedroom I have nothing to do until the evening yoga session I am free free to do what I want I could do anything run along the beach go and swim in a nearby cenote an underground swimming cave go snorkeling with the fish go and visit the ancient Mayan ruins not too far from here or I could lie on my bed feeling the gentle breeze caress me enjoying the inner glow of joy that comes for free after yoga I do all of those things over the coming days but in this moment I choose to lie here beautifully present beautifully aware my eyes feel heavy I gently rejuvenating restful sleep I'm in the process of finding peace in my heart and soul I am in the process of meeting who I am and so in this moment on this Mexican yoga retreat I choose rest and sleep to aid me
