So as you listen to me and begin to drift comfortably asleep,
You can make sure you're comfortable,
You can close your eyes.
And I don't know whether you'll drift more comfortably asleep with the sound of my voice,
With the spaces between my words,
Or with the words themselves.
And so as you drift comfortably asleep,
You can listen to me tell this story in the background.
And there was a lady who enjoyed going out camping.
She enjoyed peace and solitude.
She enjoyed being one with nature,
And felt that being one with nature,
Being out camping on your own,
Helped to connect with the world around you,
Helped to keep you grounded.
And so she decided to go out camping,
And with her backpack on her back,
She trekked out into the countryside.
She trekked through woodland,
Enjoying the sounds of the birds,
Hearing a woodpecker at a tree,
The sound of a distant stream,
The sounds of rustling leaves as the wind blows a breeze,
The sound of each footstep,
The smells in the woods.
And occasionally she would touch a branch of a tree to feel that connection,
To feel the sensations of the bark on the fingertips.
She would stop and watch butterflies dancing around flowers,
And the way beams of light would dance from the canopies above.
And she appreciated the reduced sound that you get in the woods,
The way everything just seems so much more peaceful and calm.
And after some time walking through the woods,
She found herself reaching a gate,
Passing through that gate,
And entering into a vast meadow with hills either side,
Deer off in the distance,
Just grazing and watching out.
She could see birds flying overhead,
And other animals in the meadow,
And all the different wildflowers.
And she set up a camp up on the hillside overlooking the meadow,
Able to look one way to the woodland,
Able to look the other way,
Further down into the meadow,
All the way down to a lake way off in the distance.
And she prepared her area,
Then created a campfire,
And set up a tent,
And then sat down just inside the tent in front of that campfire,
Listening to the crackling fire,
As the fire began to burn down.
So just be giving off heat and very few flames,
Just a glowing fire by nightfall,
Just some glowing embers.
And as the sun set,
So she began to hear and notice bats flying overhead,
Catching insects,
And just the calming sounds of the outdoors.
And she could feel the warmth of the fire while she sat just inside her tent,
Having something to eat.
And she enjoyed this experience,
And valued this experience,
Of being able to look up and see the stars across the sky,
Of noticing the way the firelight makes shadows dance,
And seems almost hypnotic as you gaze at it.
And as she sat there,
Gazing at the fire,
She started eating on an apple,
Enjoying the sweetness of the apple,
Valuing the way that the apple was created with its skin to hold the goodness in.
And then she noticed that it was starting to rain a bit,
And she'd camped in all conditions,
And she liked it when it rained.
She felt it calming and comforting.
So she backed into her tent,
Climbed into a sleeping bag,
Zipped up the entrance to the tent.
She knew her tent was well and truly grounded,
Safe and secure.
And at first she could hear large drops of water hitting the fabric of the tent,
And she had a light on inside the tent,
Just hanging above her.
You could notice the drops of rain hitting the tent.
And those drops started large and infrequent,
And gradually started to get more frequent as the rain got heavier outside.
And she knew that the rain would put the fire out.
But as she was approaching bedtime anyway,
She wasn't going to need the fire.
She was plenty warm enough in her sleeping bag in the tent,
And she just rested back in that sleeping bag,
Felt all snuggly and warm and cozy,
Just listening to the way the rain bounced on the tent,
The way the wind made the sides of the tent move.
And she found it so calming,
So relaxing.
A bit like sitting in a conservatory on a rainy day,
Or sitting in a car on a rainy day,
Just being able to listen to that rain while keeping dry and warm and comfortable.
And she relaxed back listening to the rain,
And found that the rain was rhythmically guiding her asleep.
Found the rain was just rhythmically guiding her asleep.
And although she was attempting to keep her attention focused on the rain,
On enjoying the sound of the rain,
Her eyes would flicker,
And she'd find that she kept dropping off asleep for a moment at a time,
Until eventually she totally fell asleep comfortably.
And the next thing she knew,
She woke up in the morning feeling so refreshed and revitalized,
To the sounds of birds and morning animals announcing the morning.
She opened the tent and saw the sunlight,
And breathed in the fresh air that seemed even more fresh,
As if the rain had washed any pollutants out of the air.
She could see the morning dew across the meadows,
Across the plants,
See some of it turning to mist as the sun continued to rise.
And she climbed out of the tent,
Stretched herself,
And then went and prepared herself for the morning,
Went and restarted the fire to make herself some breakfast and a cup of tea.
Boiled a pot of water,
And just loved that moment when the pot would start whistling,
To let her know that she's ready to pour the tea.
And that feeling of drinking a tea in the countryside out of a flask cup,
Or a camping cup,
Rather than a typical mug at home.
Something about holding that cup in her hands,
Feeling the warmth of that tea.
And she just sat back and enjoyed the view,
Enjoyed looking down towards the lake,
Enjoyed looking over to the woodland,
Enjoyed watching the birds in the sky.
And she knew the grass was still slightly damp from the night before.
But if it wasn't for that,
You'd almost not have realized it had rained.
Because of the fact there was no clouds in the sky,
Everything was just blue in every direction.
And the air was fresh and cool.
And she could feel it in her nostrils,
Feel it on her skin,
As she rested there drinking a tea,
Enjoying this moment's peace and solitude.
Enjoying this time inside her mind with her own thoughts and ideas about nature,
About what there is to enjoy in life,
To look forward to in life,
To appreciate in life.
And she gazed down at the meadow.
And she thought it was curious how every single blade of grass is actually unique and different to every other single blade of grass.
Yet at a glance,
You could just assume that all those blades of grass are just a blade of grass looking like any other blade of grass.
But it's only when you get down to each blade and truly and honestly take a close look at each blade of grass that you notice that each one is slightly different to each other one.
And yet,
All of that difference doesn't take away from the beauty of the meadow,
The harmony in the meadow,
The way everything seems connected,
Everything seems to have a purpose out here in the country.
And she enjoyed her little insights like this.
Like the sadness of a predator catching its prey.
And yet,
Had the predator not caught the prey,
It wouldn't turn out so well for the predator or the predator's offspring.
And the joy when the prey gets away.
And how that turns out well for the prey's offspring.
And how everything from the blades of grass,
To the deer,
To the birds of prey,
How everything is connected in a way.
And she's just an observer on this.
And she enjoyed having thoughts like this.
Thoughts that allowed her to connect,
To understand deeper meaning and appreciation for the world around her.
She could almost feel the countryside in her heart,
As if she was one,
In step,
In rhythm,
In harmony with the countryside,
With the world around her.
Able to just enjoy being in the moment.
Not trapped in the past in her mind,
Worrying about other things.
Not trapped in the future in her mind,
Worrying about what might be.
But enjoying being in the here and now.
Accepting that what is,
Is.
And just enjoying what she can do here and now.
And during the day as the sun rose higher,
She kept her camp set up and wandered away from her camp.
She wandered down the hill,
Wandered through the meadow towards that lake.
She walked all the way to the lake.
And barefooted,
She walked into the lake,
Just a little way in,
To feel the water,
To feel the coolness of the water on her feet,
As it flowed and lapped gently on the shore.
And gazed down through that water at small fish swimming around her feet,
Tickling her toes.
Darting out the way whenever she moved her feet.
And then coming back again when her feet were stationary.
And just stood there with her eyes closed,
Breathing in and out,
The fresh air.
The way the air smelled even fresher over the water.
Enjoying the way the sun glistened on the lake.
The way the breeze blew across the lake.
Enjoy the peace and silence here,
With no one else around,
Just her in nature,
Able to connect,
No worries,
No phones,
No distractions,
Just a connection with the environment.
And through the day she wandered around the lake,
She sat by the lake,
She meditated,
She took in the environment,
She felt a connection with the environment.
She had something to eat at lunchtime.
Then as it approached the end of the day,
She went back to her tent to settle down for another night.
And again she lit a fire,
Just for some light,
A bit of warmth in the evening,
And to cook some food with.
And she had something to eat in the evening,
Listened to the crackling fire,
Felt its warmth,
Enjoyed the way that shadows danced,
The flames flickered,
As that fire gradually burned down to just embers.
And then when she was ready and felt it was time to sleep,
She moved back into the tent,
Zipped up the entrance,
Lay down in her sleeping bag,
And just listened to the evening sounds outside.
And as she listened to those evening sounds outside,
So she began to breathe deep comfortable breaths,
With each out breath being longer than each in breath,
Having a sense of a connection with the world around her,
Focusing on her breathing and on the sounds around her.
As she began to drift comfortably asleep,
And as she drifted comfortably asleep,
So she drifted into some comfortable dreams for the night.
And she knew she was going to enjoy those dreams,
Before waking in the morning,
Again feeling so calm and refreshed,
To enjoy another day on this hillside and in this valley.
And she knew she was going to spend a few more days out here,
Exploring and enjoying being one with nature,
Before deciding to head back home to her real life,
Back to normality.
She was going to make the most of this time here first.
And she thought all that as she just drifted comfortably and relaxed asleep.
.
You.
.
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