The Wash Away River - To Relieve Stress And Induce Sleep
Let the ‘Wash Away River’ wash all your little one’s worries and fears downstream. Viv has written this track with 6 to 10-year-olds in mind, however, it would suit older children who still like cuddling up at night with their favorite toy! The track is 23 minutes long and is accompanied by the beautiful music of composer Christopher Lloyd Clarke (Viv's favorite!) A track to help your little ones let go of any worries and drift off into a lovely restful slumber.
Transcript
Let's take this time now as an opportunity for you to really relax.
You may be listening to this at bedtime or in the day and it really doesn't matter what time of day it is.
All that matters is that you want to relax,
To slow down,
To be calm and to be quiet.
All around you is safety,
Peace and calm.
If it is bedtime or even if it isn't,
Why don't you snuggle down with your favourite cuddly toy,
Bring it close,
Snuggle in tight,
Breathe in that familiar smell,
Allow yourself to feel safe as this is your time.
Time to do nothing more than to breathe and to cuddle your favourite toy.
How lovely it is to have nothing else to do but this.
And you know this,
What you are doing now,
Being still or giving in to sleep is one of the most important things,
Loving things,
That we can do for ourselves.
You are going to learn to be your own best friend because you are worth every penny.
You are you,
Special,
Like a twinkling star,
Bright,
Shining out sparkling light wherever you go.
So let's start this special time by relaxing and calming the whole of your body.
I want you to start that lovely process of calming the whole of the body by thinking of the very top of your head and just allowing all those muscles around the head,
The top of the head to just relax.
And now all the muscles of your face,
Just let it go slack,
Just feel everything relaxing,
Your forehead,
Your eyes,
Can you think about your cheeks,
Your chin,
The jaw muscle,
Your mouth,
Everything just relaxing more and more,
Becoming more floppy,
More calm,
More quiet.
And I wonder if you can think down the neck and across your shoulders,
Down into your arms,
Right the way through your elbows,
Down into the forearms,
Into your wrists and then right the way down through the hands to the very tips of your fingers and tips of your thumbs,
Just everything releasing and relaxing,
Releasing and relaxing.
And then you might like to think about your breathing,
Just notice your breathing even more steadily,
Even more slowly,
As you relax more and more,
As you think on down into your tummy muscles,
Just allowing your tummy to feel really quiet,
Calm,
Relaxed.
And think into your back now,
Just imagine a lovely wave of relaxation travelling all the way down your back,
Into your waist and then travelling down,
Down through the hips,
Into your thigh muscles,
Down through the thigh muscles,
Into your knees and following down into your shins and calves,
Down into your ankles,
Through your feet and then right the way down to the very tips of your toes so that all the muscles in your body now just feel beautifully relaxed and calm.
And now you feel so wonderfully relaxed,
I wonder if you can find the part of you that feels the most relaxed,
Comfortable,
Calm and quiet.
Maybe it's one of your hands,
One of your fingers or maybe it's your tummy or your neck,
Everyone is different you see and there is no right or wrong way here,
I just wonder if you can find that part of you that feels the most relaxed,
Comfortable,
Calm and quiet.
And when you've found it,
That part of you that feels the most relaxed,
Comfortable,
Calm and quiet,
I wonder if you could give it a colour,
What colour would it be?
What colour would that part of you that feels the most relaxed,
Comfortable,
Calm and quiet be?
Would it be a beautiful blue like the blue sky on a sunny day or the blue of the clearest oceans or would it be a light green like the first buds on the trees in spring or a bright yellow like the sun or pink like the sweetest rose or white,
Purple,
Gold or silver?
Would it be the same colour as the cuddly that you're snuggling with right now?
Whatever the colour is,
Imagine that colour of relaxation and comfort radiating out,
Rippling out to make the rest of your body feel the same way,
Relaxed and calm.
And if there are any areas of stiffness or tension or tightness,
Imagine the colour moving through those areas and making those feelings disappear,
Disappearing like a snowflake in your hand,
Melting away any worries,
Any fears,
Any concerns so that you can rest and relax,
Rest and relax.
You are safe,
You are strong.
So I want you to imagine for me,
If you can,
That you are walking up a beautiful hill on a warm summer's evening.
Your favourite cuddly toy that you're cuddling now is with you,
All your favourite people are there and maybe your favourite animals are there too.
You're having such fun running,
Walking,
Skipping up this beautiful hill.
Notice the flowers,
The smell of the green grass,
Maybe you can see or hear the birds singing.
It's such a beautiful evening,
One of those times where you wish it could last forever.
You feel safe,
You feel calm,
You feel like you're not alone.
You feel safe and happy,
Nothing bothers you,
Nothing at all.
You are safe,
You are strong.
And eventually you reach the top and wow,
The view is terrific.
You can see for miles and miles in all directions and the sun is beginning to set.
It's a beautiful sunset,
The sky is filled with colour,
Different shades of gold,
Pink,
Orange,
Yellows and the wispy clouds look almost silver.
And you just stand there at the top of the hill looking at the view.
It is breathtaking,
Magical and you know in your heart that what you are looking at is something very special,
As though it has been put there just for you.
Because you know what,
It has.
You sit down and watch the sun set and notice how the sky changes.
It gets more and more beautiful as you watch.
You look at the clouds and see all different shapes and patterns.
As you snuggle your favourite cuddly,
Something magical happens.
A beautiful beam of golden sunlight seems to fall on your cuddly toy and before your very eyes,
You see your cuddly toy rub their eyes and look up at you and smile.
Wow,
You say,
It can't be true.
Yes,
It is and you both are about to go.
On a wonderful adventure together.
You both get up and hold on tight to each other,
So pleased that you're together and you see a little path going down the other side of the hill.
You both trot down it,
Holding on to each other and come to 10 large steps.
You look at each other with excitement and then jump down,
Counting together.
10 9 8 7 6 4 3 2 1 All the way down now to zero.
And at the bottom you find yourself in a wonderful enchanted wood.
There are lots of soft mossy parts that you both run around and they're almost bouncy,
They're so soft.
You play hide and seek together and eventually you come across a lovely stone wall with a little wooden door in it,
Painted in your most favourite colour.
You both look at each other and with excitement open the door and step inside.
At first the light is so bright the other side of the door,
It takes a while for your eyes to adjust,
But quite quickly they do and you can see that you are by the most beautiful river.
You can see the water lazily moving and you can see the reflection of the sky above in the water.
It's a beautiful day,
You feel the warmth of the sun on your skin,
You feel so peaceful,
Safe and strong.
You are safe,
You are strong.
You both walk down to the water's edge and watch the water for a while.
You look down at your feet and notice lovely flat oval pebbles of all different sizes and colours.
A beautiful green pebble catches your eye and you pick it up and hold it for a little while,
Feeling its smooth surface and then you throw it in the river and watch it plop into the water.
As it does,
The water ripples out with all the colours of the rainbow.
You can't believe your eyes,
What happened?
It was beautiful.
You try throwing in another pebble and the same thing happens and when it does you feel a sense of happiness,
Pure happiness.
You both walk a little further down the river and come to a sign with a pot of pens next to it.
The sign says in multi-coloured lettering the following words.
You have found the magic Wash Away Worries River.
This river is just for you.
Write your worries on the pebbles and throw them in.
Let the water of the Wash Away Worries River take them away.
You look at the pot of pens and bend down and take one and you look down at your feet at the flat pebbles.
You pick one up and start to write a worry,
A fear,
A concern on the surface.
Maybe you're feeling scared or worried about things.
You write it,
You write it down on that pebble and then throw it in the river.
When the pebble hits the water an explosion of colour ripples out in all directions,
All the colours of the rainbow and you feel suddenly lighter.
It felt so good to you that you write on another pebble,
Another concern,
A worry or upset and you throw it again into the water.
A kaleidoscope of colours ripples out again and the pebble washes away down the river.
Again you feel lighter,
You feel safe,
You feel strong and you keep doing this,
Feeling lighter and lighter all the time.
Each time a pebble disappears into the water,
The colour cleans away the fear,
Leaving you with a clearer and clearer mind.
No longer does your head feel full of worries and noise.
It feels quiet,
Strong,
Clear and confident.
You feel safe,
You feel strong.
Eventually you feel no need to write anything else.
You feel free to be happy again,
To be you again,
Free to be your own best friend,
Free to look after yourself by focusing on happy thoughts and happy and positive feelings as you say the words,
I am safe,
I am strong,
I am safe,
I am strong.
And now it's time to leave the Wash Away Worries River,
Knowing that you can visit it whenever you feel you need to.
Even if it's for the smallest of worries,
The river doesn't mind.
It is there to help you,
To help yourself.
So if you are about to go to sleep now,
May you have a wonderful restful night's sleep and when you awake,
May you remember how wonderful you are,
Strong,
Confident and calm.
I am safe,
I am strong,
I am safe,
I am strong.
