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.
If you are new to the channel,
I'd like to welcome you,
And if you are a regular listener,
You know you are welcome.
Tonight's story continues my series,
Wonderings of an Irishman Abroad,
Where I share with you personal adventures that I have had as I have travelled the world.
Tonight's story is set in Transylvania,
Romania,
A place that I have called home for the last little while.
I will share with you a very simple day,
When a storm came to my town,
And I cozily sat inside,
Watching the rain fall outside my window.
The thunder and rain sound that you will hear tonight was the actual recording that I made while sitting cozily inside.
As always now,
Before we move to the story,
Let's do a relaxation exercise to help you say goodbye to the day.
Just become aware of the room that you are in.
Become aware of your breath.
Make sure that you are in a comfortable position.
If you need to readjust,
Feel free to do that.
Feel the support of your bed,
Or the floor beneath you.
Your day is done.
Whatever has been,
Has been.
Whatever tomorrow will bring,
It will bring.
But right now,
All you need to do is listen to the sound of my voice,
Listen to your breath,
To the silence of the room that you are in.
And just be in this moment,
For this moment is your life right now.
Enjoy it.
Enjoy the opportunity to luxuriate in sleep.
I'm going to count down now from 10 to 1,
And as I do,
I'll remind you to let go or to soften and relax further and further.
Continue to notice your breath,
Continue to be present with the sound of my voice.
Noticing any sensations in your body now,
Any area that feels like it needs to soften or let go.
Just pay attention.
Maybe it's your face,
Or your feet.
9.
Remembering that you deserve this moment.
Each and every one of us deserves rest.
Rest is what feeds our lives.
We should always feel justified in rest.
8.
Continuing to notice the breath,
This life-giving force that enters and leaves your body thousands of times a day.
7.
Allowing yourself to feel gratitude now,
For this moment,
For the simple gifts in your life,
Whatever it may be.
Just allow yourself to feel grateful.
6.
Moving deeper and deeper towards rest and sleep.
5.
Allowing a little light of joy within you at the prospect of hearing tonight's story.
Continuing to let go.
Let your body let go.
It's worked hard for you today.
It needs some time off.
Your feet,
Your hands.
3.
Surrendering more and more to this moment.
You have nothing to do.
Enjoy that fact.
2.
Allowing your imagination to be open and ready to enjoy tonight's story.
3.
Surrendering that you are so safe right now,
As I take you to a cozy,
Stormy day in Transylvania.
It's July,
And I'm inside.
I'm safe,
In my home.
I have the window open,
And as you can hear,
It's raining outside.
There's also thunder,
But it doesn't bother me.
I love the sound of it.
There it is.
I feel very safe.
At the moment,
I am standing by the window.
I look down upon the street below.
People,
Who were only a few moments ago,
Enjoying a sunny lunchtime,
Are now running to take shelter from the storm.
My wife hands me a warm cup of tea.
A herbal tea,
With some honey in it.
Honey that comes from her father's beehives.
I enjoy the coziness of this place.
This place,
That they call Transylvania.
You might have heard of it from a certain book.
People sometimes don't believe it's true that I live here.
They say it doesn't exist.
But it does.
It's a beautiful region in northern Romania.
A lot of people don't know much about it.
It has beautiful high mountains.
Not unlike the Alps.
It has some of the oldest forest in all of Europe.
It has beautiful wildlife.
Bears,
Wolves,
Eagles.
Lynxes.
It has kind and generous people.
And it has a wealth of beautiful architecture.
A lot of the architecture was built by the Germans,
When they lived here many years ago.
The building I stand in today,
As I look out upon the storm,
Is an old Saxon building.
Built by people more than 200 years ago.
I love being in this building.
It has very high ceilings.
And beautiful,
Ornate features.
It always strikes me that people took more time over things back then.
Things weren't made in a hurry.
Things weren't necessarily made for profit.
They were made for the sake of being made.
To serve a function.
Being an Irish person,
I'm used to rain.
But in Transylvania,
The rain falls heavy.
Heavier than in Ireland.
Especially in the summer,
When it gets very warm.
Then the storms come.
It feels like this year,
There are many storms.
But beautiful days along with them.
I sit and watch the rain fall.
I decide that now would be a good time to journal.
I write that I feel somewhat cleansed when the rain comes.
I feel a rejuvenation of spirit.
I feel a peace in my heart.
And I feel connected to the moment.
I take some deep breaths.
In.
In.
I write about my connection to this place.
I am connected by marriage.
But am I connected by spirit?
It's a question I'm still answering.
I listen to the sounds of people outside.
And how the mighty thunder drowns out their voices.
I continue writing.
I find there are similarities between my people and the Romanian people.
We are friendly people.
Welcoming people.
Generous people.
Although I think the Irish say sorry more.
Something to do with our history,
I suppose.
I continue to write feeling grateful for the moment that I am given.
Grateful for my life.
Grateful that I can live and work where I want to.
I dwell on the word rest.
Sometimes I don't allow myself enough of it.
Sometimes I luxuriate in it.
As I move through life I am learning that rest is not a bad thing.
It is an essential thing.
And should be embraced with every fiber of our beings.
I finish writing and feel even cozier as I light a candle and a stick of incense.
I choose a lavender smell for today.
It is lavender time here in Romania.
I sit back in my chair and watch the darkening clouds outside.
The light from the candle offers me comfort.
It is a ritual of mine when I want to find peace to light a candle What is it about a flame?
A little flame on top of a stick of wax that gives us such peace?
It is a very natural thing.
In a way it is like bringing nature inside.
Maybe that's what it is.
Maybe that's why I like plants so much as well.
I decide that now is a good time to meditate.
I close my eyes and I begin to notice my breath.
Whenever I notice my breath everything becomes more simple.
I let go of all of my worries.
I listen to the rain.
I am happy it rains today.
I enjoy it.
I feel present.
After some time I finish my meditation and I open up a book.
It is a book about Romanian history.
This fascinating and complex place has such a rich and deep history.
So many empires have fought over this place.
The Dacians the Romans all have come here for its beauty and for its rich variety of food.
As I read the book I look at the faces of the people in the photographs very old photographs some well over 100 years old.
I look at the details of their faces the expressions they wear and in a funny sort of way I feel connected to these people.
They are just like us human beings going about their day.
What were they thinking when this photograph was taken with this strange looking contraption?
Where were they going?
Did they see the world in a similar way to me?
Maybe not.
Or maybe we had more in common than I might think.
Who knows?
I turn the page and see a photograph of people growing vegetables.
That is one thing I love about Transylvania.
People here are still very connected to the land.
A lot of people grow their own vegetables and like my wife's father make their own honey.
I recently tried my hand at beekeeping.
I enjoyed the connection to nature and the peace I felt as I saw all of that beautiful honey being produced.
There is a wildness to this place but I also feel very safe in this place.
I go back to the window.
The thunder continues to rumble.
The rain continues to fall.
And the street is nearly empty.
I start to feel sleepy.
And so I lie down on my bed.
The sound of the rain continues to comfort me.
I love this moment.
And as I lie here feeling very sleepy I think about the idea of being away from my home country.
In some ways it's very exciting.
Very freeing.
And in other ways it feels a million miles from all I have ever known.
Of course the reality is that I can fly to Ireland in a matter of a few hours.
My wife once told me about the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancus who lived in the late 19th century and first half of the 20th century.
And Brancus walked from Romania to Paris.
It is said that it took him one year.
So by that logic I could walk from Romania to Ireland but it would take me more than a year because Ireland is further away than Paris and I'd need a boat.
Funny how things have become so fast and our ancestors lived life at a slower pace.
In this moment I feel so relaxed.
So peaceful and so ready to allow my eyes to shut and to be soothed into a gentle peaceful slumber as I listen to the rhythmic rain outside my window here in Transylvania.
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