So just take a moment to allow your eyes to close and allow yourself to begin to relax.
And as you begin to comfortably drift to sleep,
I don't know whether you'll drift to sleep faster to the sound of my voice or whether it'll be to the spaces between my words.
And as you comfortably fall asleep,
You can take a moment to allow yourself to get comfortable and imagine a healing light softly,
Slowly and gently passing down from the top of your head to the tips of your toes.
Relaxing gently down through you as I count down from 10 to 1.
And with each count,
Your mind can quieten and calm as the muscles soften and relax.
And you can begin the process of drifting peacefully asleep from 10,
That healing light relaxing the muscles around the top of the head,
Around the back of your head gently,
Carefully,
Relaxing the muscles around the side of your head,
Around your temple,
Your forehead.
And with each out-breath that relaxation can deepen so peacefully,
So comfortably,
As it flows down around the eyes and around the ears.
Nine.
That relaxation moving down around the jaw,
Relaxing the jaw,
Allowing the tongue to relax,
The lips to relax,
The nostrils to gently relax.
With that relaxation moving carefully,
Slowly,
As that healing light passes down the back of the neck,
Softening and calming those muscles around the sides of the neck,
The front of the neck,
Down from the head.
Gradually moving that calming,
Healing light out across the shoulders,
The shoulder blades relaxing those muscles,
Like a deep massage passing through your mind and body.
Eight.
As that relaxation begins to move down those arms,
And I don't know which arm the relaxation will move down fastest,
Whether it'll be the right arm or the left arm,
But you can be aware of that healing light spreading gently down those arms,
Around the biceps,
Triceps,
Down into the forearms.
Seven.
Moving all the way down to the wrists,
The palms of the hands,
Down to the fingertips,
And perhaps as that relaxation continues through those arms,
With each out breath,
The arms begin to feel heavier,
Or lighter,
Or some other sensation as relaxation sets in.
And you know the process for sleep is that the body begins to relax,
And while the body becomes physically relaxed,
So the mind begins to drift and dream,
Initially to brief reveries,
Before settling on the first dream of the night.
Six.
And that healing light can spread down from the shoulders and down around the chest,
The upper back,
Softening and relaxing those muscles so gently.
Calming the breathing,
Helping you drift deeper and deeper into the experience.
Five.
The healing light moving down towards the stomach,
The lower back,
The sides,
Relaxing those muscles as it goes,
Bringing a deep sense of peace and calm to your upper body,
Releasing any tension,
Perhaps occasionally finding yourself shifting just a little to get more comfortable.
Four.
With that relaxation,
Spreading down around your buttocks,
Down into the upper parts of your legs.
Three.
Passing that relaxation down towards the lower parts of your legs,
Perhaps those legs feeling heavier and heavier,
Maybe as the body becomes deeply relaxed and your focus drifts inside more on what's going on for you in your mind.
You lose some awareness of the body as it becomes incredibly still.
Two.
The relaxation spreading down to your feet,
Calming,
Softly relaxing,
All the way down to the tips of your toes.
And one.
As a final wave of relaxation pulses gently through you,
From the top of your head,
Down through your body,
All the way down to the tips of your toes,
As your mind begins to drift and dream and wander into tonight's sleep story.
And you find yourself as a shepherd,
Out in the fields herding your sheep.
You're whistling and calling words to your sheep dog.
As the dog rushes around those sheep,
Running one side encouraging them the other direction,
Running around the back to the other side to encourage them to narrow down and all huddle together.
And you can see in the distance,
A thunderstorm gently approaching.
And so you're just calmly encouraging your sheep dog to help you to herd these sheep.
When you herd those sheep,
You get them in to where they need to be,
Closing the gate.
The air can smell so fresh as a storm approaches.
The dark sky and the landscape illuminated by the sun in the foreground can create such a striking contrast.
And that sun illuminating the foreground shining towards that oncoming storm,
Casts a rainbow across that darkness.
So bright and vivid against the dark grey blue background.
And the moisture in the air seems to freshen the air.
You encourage your sheep dog to follow you.
As you head back towards the farmhouse,
You work your way down,
Through the fields,
Through a gate,
Onto a dirt road.
Each footstep,
Crunching gently underfoot as you walk,
The sheep dog walking alongside you.
As you follow this road,
Hedgerows either side of you.
Starlings in those hedges,
Chatting with each other,
But going silent just as you pass them.
And then talking again,
Behind you as you pass by.
And you can hear the rumble of the thunder.
You can begin to notice some of the flashing of the lightning.
That storm still quite distant,
But being aware that there's more moisture hanging in the air.
You arrive at the farmhouse.
Unlatch the door and walk inside,
To the warmth of this farmhouse.
Your sheep dog shaking some of that moisture off of their coat.
Panting a little before settling down in front of the fire.
And you head to the kitchen and you make yourself some food and drink.
You grab yourself a bottle of water.
Sit down beside the fire.
The sheep dog at your feet.
You drink that water,
Feeling the coolness of the water.
As it passes down through you with each sip.
You eat that food and all the while you can hear the distant rumbling getting closer and closer.
After finishing the food,
You place your plate back in the kitchen.
You go and sit back in the chair and begin to read a book.
You hear the first large smatterings of the approaching storm.
Large raindrops striking the windows.
Almost sounding like berries splatting on the glass.
You notice the occasional flash of light come through the windows from the storm outside.
Five or six seconds later,
Hearing a deep guttural rumble stretch across the sky.
Until eventually,
That storm getting closer and closer is almost overhead.
And the rain is pounding at the windows.
The fire is dancing in the fireplace.
As wind from outside works its way down the chimney.
And that thunderstorm is cracking away outside.
Light flashing into the room.
And although still just the afternoon,
It's so dark outside it could be night.
But as you listen to the thunderstorm outside,
You just feel more relaxed and so cosy here inside.
Just reading that book,
Relaxing in the chair.
Your farmhouse,
Such a relaxing space.
With the plates standing on shelves in the kitchen.
Dried flowers hanging alongside the edges of the shelves and dotted in other locations.
Your large rustic dining room table and chairs.
The old farmhouse kitchen with the agar.
Delicate curtains hanging over the windows in the kitchen.
And thicker,
More homely curtains hanging up in the living space.
And the front door opens into the living room.
And so at the foot of the front door,
You have what looks like a long dog resting.
To prevent any draft from coming in through the door.
And beside your chair you have a small wooden side table.
Above the fireplace are some ornaments.
An old picture that's been passed down through the generations.
A painting of this farmland hanging above that fireplace.
And wrapped around on the far side of the fireplace and then along the far wall.
A wooden bookcases containing old books.
And some side tables with some pictures and photographs.
And the occasional lamp dotted through the room.
And currently as it's still daytime and has just temporarily gotten dark,
None of those lamps are on.
And so the only illumination in the room is the gently crackling fire dancing in the fireplace.
It's light dancing around the room.
Shadows flickering and moving and the sheepdog just continues to relax and sleep on the floor.
Almost as if it's completely unaware of the storm which has arrived and is passing overhead.
And you continue to just read with the sounds of the rain and that thunderstorm helping to just bring a deeper sense of peace and calm to your body.
Even without you paying it any real attention.
Although as you read under the glowing firelight,
Your eyes have had to adapt to the darkening room.
But after about 15 or 20 minutes,
You notice the sounds of the thunder gradually moving overhead and the rumbling coming from the other side of your property.
As that storm is passing away.
And as the storm passes overhead,
Those storm clouds gradually move their way on.
So some light begins to return to the room.
The rain on the windows begins to soften.
You start to hear more sounds of birds outside.
Birds which are coming out after the storm.
Perhaps to forage around the ground.
Seeing what's come out while the rain has fallen.
And within an hour,
You can barely hear the thunder at all.
Just the very occasional soft rumble.
So distant.
And the light returns to the room.
And you continue to read.
And when you reach a good stopping point in the book,
You stop reading for a moment.
You head to your window and look out across the farmland.
Surveying to see that everything looks okay.
No damage has been done by the storm.
You look down towards the sheep.
Checking on those sheep.
You have some binoculars by the window.
So you pop those binoculars up in front of your face.
Looking through those binoculars.
The view slightly distorted around the edges.
But being able to zoom in and check closer on those sheep.
And you notice,
As you take the binoculars away from your eyes,
A bird of prey circling overhead.
And so you grab the binoculars up to your eyes again.
To take a moment to look closely at that bird.
Admiring its beauty.
The way it glides so effortlessly through the sky as you watch it fly.
Watching it circle overhead.
Tracking with those binoculars.
Until it circles and flies across the tree line and out of sight.
You then place the binoculars back down on the windowsill.
And head back over and sit back down in that chair and continue reading a little longer.
And after a short while,
The cuckoo clock sounds on the wall.
You go and grab your coat.
You leave your sheepdog resting on the floor where it is.
You head out of the farmhouse.
You head around the back of the farmhouse.
And as you head around the back of the farmhouse,
So you can hear the chickens.
And you head round to those chickens.
Now the storm has passed.
You open their hutches so they can roam free.
Within a large grassy space.
You place food for those chickens throughout that space.
Placing it within the grass to encourage them to move around and find the food and eat the food.
And before heading back into the farmhouse.
You grab a couple of the eggs.
Then head back into the farmhouse.
And back in the farmhouse you head to the kitchen.
You get out some baking items.
And grab different ingredients that you require.
And at the kitchen island you begin to bake yourself a cake.
The eggs and flour.
With some butter.
And whisking that cake.
The smell of preparing this cake.
You pour your cake mixture into two cake tins.
Placing them in your oven.
Setting a wind up timer.
Heading back and sitting in the living space.
Reading back in that chair.
In the background.
Hearing the buzzing of the timer as it moves.
But finding that your mind seems to almost block out that constant sound.
You forget that sound of the timer as you read.
And as the cake continues to cook.
So you start to notice the smell of that cooking cake filling the farmhouse.
Until eventually the timer sounds.
You place the book down beside you.
You head over to the kitchen and stop the timer.
You take out the two halves of the cake and place them on the side.
You grab a knife and gently,
Almost under its own weight,
Let it fall down through the cake.
And pull it out.
With a soft puff of steam.
And you can see the knife is clean and clear.
You repeat the process on the other half of the cake.
You leave those halves of the cake to cool down a little on the work surface.
As you head back and read some more.
And when you reach a good stopping point.
You mark that page in the book.
Place the book back down.
And your sheepdog gets up and takes a moment to head over to its food bowl and to eat some food.
Before heading back and settling back down under the warmth of the fire.
And you head into the kitchen area.
You pop both halves of the cake out of the tins.
You neaten them up a little.
And then you begin to compile your cake.
You make some filling,
Whisking that up.
And begin to spread the filling into the centre.
And then you place one half of the cake on top of the other.
And you carefully make sure that's aligned.
And push it down just a little,
Very gently.
And a slight bit of the filling oozes softly out of the sides.
And you carefully run a knife around the sides,
Just to neaten that up.
And then you mix up the topping.
And you begin to cover the cake.
Scooping that out and placing it on the top of the cake.
Smoothing it down.
Gradually smoothing it from the centre down to the edge.
And then around the sides.
And then over the edge.
To smooth it around the side of the cake.
And you carefully smooth that all the way around.
Gradually turning the cake as you go.
Each time,
Placing a dollop of the outside of the cake on top.
Smoothing it down to the edges.
And then around the edge.
To smooth it around the sides.
Until the whole cake is covered.
And then you begin to decorate the top of the cake.
And once the cake is done,
You put it up onto a cake stand.
You cover that cake over.
And you know you've made the cake for your nephew's birthday.
And hope that they'll enjoy that cake.
You then sit at the dining room table.
You take out their birthday card.
You take a moment to write that birthday card out with a personalised message.
Really giving some thought to the message.
Trying to think of something meaningful,
Yet something light hearted,
Perhaps a little humorous.
And in your neatest handwriting,
You carefully write that out in the card.
Leave it for a moment for the ink to dry.
Before closing the card up and placing it into the envelope,
Making sure that the back of the card is facing the opening of the envelope.
And then licking around the envelope to seal that envelope.
Writing their name on the front.
Placing that down near the cake so that you'll remember it tomorrow.
And then you take a gift you've hand made for them.
A beautiful carved wooden toy.
You wrap that toy in some tissue paper that crumples as you fold it around.
And then you wrap that in some wrapping paper,
Carefully sealing that wrapping paper.
You write a small label,
Attach that to the wrapping paper and place that with the card.
And you have all that put just to one side on the kitchen work surface.
Ready for you to take with you when you head to visit your nephew in the morning.
And then you make yourself some dinner.
You make a nice hearty roast.
It takes you about 90 minutes to cook your dinner.
But as you cook so the smells of the roast dinner fill your farmhouse.
And as usual,
Your sheepdog enjoys those smells probably more than you do.
And probably looks forward to the meal more than you do.
You know that when you eat it,
You're going to have to encourage them not to eat your food.
You'll share a little bit with them.
But you'll encourage them not to eat your food,
Never mind how much they sit looking so cute and so sweet with their puppy dog looking eyes.
Almost like they're begging for food.
You know you'll do your best to ignore them when they do this.
And as the roast finishes cooking,
So you take it all out of the oven.
The veg off of the hot plates.
You compile your meal.
Add some gravy.
You put a little bit of the food into a bowl for your dog.
You place that down near their food.
You then sit back down at the dining room table.
You eat that meal.
And after eating the roast dinner,
So you find yourself feeling tired and sleepy.
You decide to leave things clean and tidy.
So it won't play on your mind.
You wash up and dry up.
Clean everything away.
And then head back and sit in that chair and read a little longer.
Feeling drowsy as you do.
Knowing you're going to sleep so well tonight.
And after a few hours of sitting reading,
Pushing on to just about reach the end of your book.
Knowing you're so close you want to finish it before bed.
You read to the end of the book.
Close the book on the final chapter.
Rest the book on your lap for a moment as you ponder the story.
Think about what you've just read.
Absorb the story in your mind.
Before standing up and heading over to the bookshelves.
Finding the correct space for that book to go.
Placing the book on the shelves in the correct place.
And it's now dark outside.
And you head outside for a bit with your sheepdog.
Standing out in the cool air.
The sky now cloudless.
You can see all those stars twinkling overhead.
The moon lighting up the landscape.
You encourage your sheepdog to run around.
To take this opportunity.
To go to the toilet if needed.
They bring you a ball that you have out here.
You throw the ball for them.
It bounces around and rolls through the landscape.
They run off and find it and bring it back.
You do that a number of times.
Breathing in the coolness of the night air.
And after some time playing out here.
And the sheepdog doing whatever it needs to do.
You head back in to the farmhouse.
The two of you head up to the bedroom.
You encourage the sheepdog to go over to it's bed.
A really nice cosy space on the floor.
And they go and snuggle down in that cosy space.
And feeling really tired from that hearty dinner.
You head to bed.
And it takes very little effort for sleep to begin to encroach in your mind.
Your eyes closing.
Hearing the sounds of the sheepdog falling asleep in it's bed.
Seeming to almost do little dainty snores as it sleeps.
As you rest your head on the pillow.
Feeling it's softness under your cheek.
The weight of the blanket over you.
The temperature of the room being just right.
As you feel consciousness slipping away and dreams encroaching.
Allowing yourself to take hold of one of those dreams.
Almost pulling yourself into the dream.
Enjoying that dream as you drift and float.
So peacefully,
So relaxed asleep.
Into slumberland.
