The Cottage By The Canal: Bedtime Tale

This is a bedtime story about a girl visiting a cottage beside the canal. She visits a friendly, elderly woman. That night, she drifts into a therapeutic dream. Her experience has her meet a farmer harvesting cupcakes, watching another farmer harvesting marshmallow fields, she finds a flipbook in a tin in a treehouse, which tells the story of a lizard cello player.

The girl finds a key in the tin, which opens a door to a magical mansion. She explores that mansion, meeting a snowman. The next day, she starts her training with the elderly lady, exploring her mind and consciousness & achieving wellbeing.

After many days, the training ends with her being guided through a mind expansion and deep inner healing process, before she heads to bed and, for the last night before returning home, drifts peacefully asleep into Slumberland.

Transcript

So just take a moment to allow your eyes to close and allow yourself to begin to relax and as you begin to comfortably fall asleep I don't know whether you'll drift asleep faster to the sound of my voice or whether it'll be to the spaces between my words and as you comfortably drift asleep I'm just gonna tell this bedtime story in the background and in this bedtime story a girl is out exploring she's walking through a meadow on a beautiful summer's day some fluffy clouds passing overhead the sounds of summer songbirds the warmth of the Sun beating down onto her cheeks the sight of bees and butterflies flitting from plant to plant just absorbing herself in her own thoughts while she walks the sound of her feet moving through the grasses a slight rustling sound the dull thud of each footstep the gentle tickle of the grasses against her legs the occasional breeze blowing across the top of the meadow as her mind drifts and floats gently into a reverie and jumps softly meandering and focusing on roaming through the meadow to being lost in thought in the most pleasant dreams and she wanders through this meadow heading towards a very straight canal that cuts through the landscape eventually arriving down by the canal ambling along the bank along one side of that canal the gentle waves lapping on the shore the light of the Sun glistening and dancing on the surface of the water dragonflies darting around and hovering above that water the occasional person on a canoe heading down the canal on the sight of some long canal boats moored up at the sides of the canal and she follows this path along the bank passes some dog walkers and heads into woodland as the canal cuts through this woodland the trees rustling around her the mottled light dancing before her and in the canal she can see many families of ducks and their ducklings just swimming around in their rows sometimes the little ducklings getting distracted and having to dash to catch up with the group and the occasional swan gracefully traversing that canal and yet she continues walking enjoying the atmosphere unsure exactly where she's going but curious what she'll discover on the journey and when she gets there and while walking along the canal she counters locks and she stops and watches as a lock is opened and a boat moves into the lock and it's closed behind the boat and then the water is carefully drained out as that boat lowers down and then the front of the lock is opened and the boat continues its journey just as the girl continues her journey walking along with almost a skip to her step not a real skip but that kind of skip you do when you're walking along and you're enjoying what you're doing and while continuing along through this wooded area she sees a stag at the edge of the woodland which stops eating and glances up at her and it carefully watches as she passes by almost remaining motionless just following her with its eyes and she watches it back and as she clears that stag so it resumes its eating as she resumes her walking and passes out the other side of the woodland continuing along in the sunlight and alongside the canal a large open fields and she sees in one of the fields what looks almost like an army of chicks chirping in the field chowing down on grain and continues on and sees all the chickens enjoying the food enjoying the sunlight and she continues walking and while walking passes a field of cows one glancing up giving a deep moo before continuing to eat and she walks through the day and the sun begins to set and while the sun seems to slowly set over the horizon so the color of the sky in the distance begins to turn shades of pinks and reds while the sky behind her takes on a rich dark blue hue and the stars in the sky begin to turn on one at a time jumping to life and she watches as those stars turn on in the sky and she sees before her a small cottage near a lock along the canal and there are cozy lights on in the cottage shrubberies in the garden and some lights dotted through the garden the solar powered and emit just a very low level of light to give the garden a gentle glow and she opens the gate closes that behind her walks up to the front of the house rings the doorbell and a friendly old lady answers the door and invites her in and the girl enters this cozy cottage and she apologizes for running a little bit late but says that the walk was so nice and relaxing she just found herself lost in thought and she wanted to take it all in and enjoy the journey to the cottage and the old lady says that's perfectly fine she's here now and asks if she's hungry and the girl says that she is feeling a little peckish and the woman says she's prepared some soup and homemade crusty bread and she gets taken through to a dining room and on the dining room table is what looks almost like a swimming pool of soup just a giant bowl of soup and the soup has just gentle wisps of steam rising from it and she says this soup is a secret recipe it's an ancient recipe that's been passed down through her family for generations from even before the family built this cottage and the cottage was built about 400 years ago and she stirs the soup with a ladle and the girl finds it almost mesmerizing watching that soup gently turn,

Noticing the weight and the thickness of the soup and then she tootles off to the kitchen and comes back with a wooden board of bread,

Places it down on the table as a waft of the scent of the freshly baked bread tickles the inside of the girl's nostrils and dances around her senses as her mouth responds to the smell of that bread and then the elderly lady cuts up that bread into slices places some onto a plate,

Hands it to the girl and she puts it down beside her,

Then hands her a bowl and tells her to help herself to the soup and she takes that ladle and gently stirs the soup before lifting some up and pouring it into the bowl,

Watching it slop into the bowl,

Bounce gently around the side of the bowl flowing within that bowl before settling softly in place and then the lady does the same and sits opposite the girl and asks her how her walk was and what she's been up to if she's seen anything interesting,

While they gently eat the soup and the bread,

Dunking the bread into the soup,

Finishing the bowl of soup having felt the warmth of that soup gently pass down through the body,

Softening,

Relaxing,

Calming the body and then wiping around the bowl with some bread and the lady says you can have some more and she feels deeply relaxed from this soup and makes herself some more,

Pours that into the bowl continues chatting while eating,

Dunking the bread,

Wiping the bread around the empty bowl and repeating and the lady smiles and says you're going to sleep well tonight,

This soup is great for sleep and carries on eating her soup and after eating the soup and the bread,

The lady invites the girl to sit out by the canal at the end of the garden drinking a warm drink,

Listening to crickets and other night time sounds,

Hearing the gentle flow of water the darkness of this space,

Seeing the galaxy stretching overhead and just talking,

Following just a flow of consciousness from thought to thought,

Unsure really where the thoughts are going,

But finding it so easy to talk to this woman who sits and listens so well who shows a deep interest in what she's got to say and as the night gets later and later,

So the girl begins to feel tired and begins to want to go to sleep and they head inside and inside the girl gets shown to the bedroom she'll be sleeping in and it's a cozy small bedroom with a bed containing multiple layers of sheets and the comfiest looking pillows and a small lamp on next to the bed and the woman says goodnight and closes the door and this bedroom has a fresh,

Comfortable scent to it and the most gentle coolness and the cozy light brings a deep sense of comfort and kindness to the girl's heart and she settles down in the bed and begins to drift peacefully asleep and as she begins to comfortably drift asleep she starts to dream about walking down some steps from the back of this cottage down to a secret path on a comfortable summer's day and as she takes each step,

Curiouser and curiouser down to the path she hears a voice in her mind counting her down those steps 10,

9,

8,

7,

6 and she descends those steps slowly and meaningfully,

Each step feeling so solid beneath her feet and yet bringing her closer to that path closer to a deep understanding of something just out of grasp 5,

4,

3,

2 and she steps onto the path and finds the bright sunlight too bright and realises she's carrying an umbrella and she holds that umbrella above her head,

Opens the umbrella out and it's an umbrella of the softest,

Lightest fabric decorated with spring flowers with a gentle,

Frilly edge to the edge of the umbrella that's blowing softly in the breeze and it shades her gently from the sun as she walks along this path and this path is a gentle gravel path and she can hear each step slightly gravelly while she walks and finds herself exploring some landscape she's never explored before and at first,

The landscape seems fairly typical,

There's a field of cows along one side,

A long hedge separating the field from this path there's a slight bank down the other side,

Then it heads off into woodland and the trees in the woodland are gently rustling and she can see the light dancing through the branches weaving around the woodland floor,

But then as she continues to walk,

So the landscape seems to begin to shift the trees stop making a sound as they move,

The fields begin to look more spongy and foamy,

Like she could bounce on them and while she continues walking,

Suddenly she notices what at first she thought was a field of corn or some other kind of plant being grown but notices at the top of each stalk is a tiny cupcake and she sees in that field a combine harvester only the combine harvester is travelling through the field so delicately,

Cutting the tips of those stalks,

Just gathering up the cupcakes from the tops of each stalk and instead of it shooting grain out of a pipe into a trailer,

It's funneling the cupcakes onto small conveyor belts and they're being moved from the front of the combine harvester through the combine harvester on small conveyor belts into rows at the back of the combine harvester and once one row on the trailer is filled,

The mechanism lifts up,

The conveyor belts are just slightly more than the size of a cupcake and it starts forming a new row on a new layer in the trailer,

Filling that trailer with cupcakes and she can smell how sweet those cupcakes smell and she continues to walk until she reaches the edge of the field and she sees by the edge of the field a farmer and she calls over to the farmer and asks about the farm and the farmer explains that each field has different cupcakes to be grown and farmed,

These ones are carrot cake cupcakes in another field they're plain cupcakes with vanilla icing on top,

Another field has chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing on top and he says that his favourite cupcakes are the strawberry flavoured cupcakes and he goes and grabs one of those cupcakes and offers it to her and places a small little gummy bear on the top of the cupcake,

Squidging it into the icing he says that makes all the difference and he hands her that cupcake and she can smell that strawberry smell as she moves the cupcake towards her mouth and she takes a bite of that cupcake and the strangest experience happens that as she bites into the cupcake,

It's like an explosion of a taste sensation like popping bubbles bursting around the inside of her mouth,

Fizzing,

And as the cupcake dissolves while she chews,

It seems to turn to liquid almost as if the cupcake is like a solid form of a drink and she acknowledges to the farmer the unique taste and sensation of consuming it and the farmer explains that each cupcake turns to pink lemonade once chewed and the bubbles fizz and pop triggering that sensation around the inside of the mouth,

The throat expanding the taste and she eats the second half of that cupcake and gets given an additional cupcake to take away with her and she says goodbye to the farmer and continues walking and as she's walking,

So she notices some trees with pink petals waving gently in the breeze and a gust of wind whips around the trees,

The sound of that wind rustling up the leaves and like a mini tornado whipping the pink petals from the trees up into the air and they rise high in the air before the wind fades away and those pink petals gently fall towards the ground,

Floating on the breeze and she reaches down and picks up one of the petals,

Feeling its waxiness and feeling this urge to take a bite of the petal just to try it and as she gently takes a bite of that waxy petal,

She notices that it tastes so sweet and brings a tingle to her senses,

Almost like it's heightening her awareness of the surroundings and so she eats the rest of the petal and feels her consciousness connecting,

Expanding,

Touching the world around her noticing each and every movement of each and every twig,

Every rustle of every leaf,

The movement of every single blade of grass can hear the flapping of the wings of every bird and every insect and feels that something about the experience is trying to communicate with her a direction to go and so she jumps the hedge and starts cutting through a marshmallow field,

Walking along that marshmallow,

Her feet gently sinking into it as she walks and she can see at the far end of the field is a farmer with a tractor that seems to be almost hovering or sliding along the top of the marshmallow dragging behind it what looks like two blades that seem to be cutting the marshmallow into slices and then there's a device behind that that seems to roll it up into an enormous rolled strip of marshmallow that once it reaches a certain size gets cut and lands in a trailer and she continues bobbing along this marshmallow field finding it difficult and time consuming to walk through this field,

Like trying to walk along a stony beach but eventually she reaches the far side of the field and she feels drawn to something over here,

She jumps the hedge this side and in the heart of this woodland is a tree that seems to be humming with the gentle sound of a million bells and she looks around the tree and gazes up into the tree and high in the tree she notices a rickety old tree house that's grown up with this tree over hundreds of years and she scrambles up the side of the tree into the tree house and inside the tree house it smells of wood and ever so slightly musty and there's a small weathered metal box and on that box is what looks like a combination lock only not like a modern combination lock,

Looks like something that somebody invented specifically for this box and so she touches that combination lock,

Carefully moves each number around,

Feeling to see if she can notice anything that will reveal when the number facing her is the correct one and she pushes with a little pressure while doing this and she notices there's a very slight bit of tension at one specific point and so she assumes that that probably relates to the number needing to be facing her or facing away and so she feels on each number and makes it so that the tension is facing her and then tries to release the lock and it doesn't release so she does the same but makes sure the tension is facing away from her and this time when she tries the lock it slides open easily and effortlessly and she opens that metal box and inside the metal box she sees a flip book and a pen which looks like it was the one used to draw what's in the flip book and she begins to flip through that flip book and she watches as a lizard wanders into the scene,

Looks left,

Looks right,

Picks up a cello case carries that along,

Seems to be setting up at a musical event,

Like a concert,

Opens the cello case but finds that the cello is broken and then the lizard's eyes droop and the lizard can be seen to be sad and then a jester dances its way into the scene pirouetting,

Jumping,

Springing about,

Full of joy and happiness and the jester drapes a large cloth over the cello and then is seen to be whipping that cloth away rapidly and then the words,

Ta-da,

Appear on the flip book page and as that cloth clears the cello,

So the cello is in one piece and small hand drawn stars and sparkles can be seen around that cello and then the jester points to a calendar as the lizard glances to the calendar and points to what date it is and then the jester can be seen holding their belly and laughing and the lizard can be seen shaking their head and the jester then bounces and cartwheels off the scene as the lizard plays that cello before an audience with a single spotlight shining down on them as they do a solo and then the flip book ends with the page lighting up the spotlight now gone and a crowd cheering and standing up and clapping and a tear in the lizard's eye and then it says the end and the girl places that flip book back into the tin and looks at what else is in this tin and finds inside this tin a key attached to some purple ribbon and she takes that key and looks at it and wonders what it's for and the only keyhole she can see in this treehouse is into what looks like a medicine cabinet attached to the trunk of the tree just a small door in the shape of a box and so she pops the key into the lock,

Twists that key with a slight click,

Opens the door of that cabinet and notices that instead of seeing the inside of a cabinet or even seeing the trunk of the tree,

She sees the inside of the most opulent mansion and so she crawls up into the cabinet,

Crawls through that cabinet and climbs down the other side,

Climbing down into a living room of a vast mansion with marble floors,

Thick rugs,

Dense curtains hanging by the windows,

The most incredible furniture,

Paintings many times her size hanging on the walls in golden frames and silver candlestick holders dotted around the shelves and above the fireplace with tall white candles in those holders and she walks around exploring this mansion and as she explores,

She feels drawn to a dark corner that seems like it's hiding something and she heads over towards that dark corner and in the corner,

She sees a small door,

Like a secret door built into the wall she crouches down and heads through that small door and finds herself walking through an icy snowstorm and yet can tell she's still inside and in this icy snowstorm,

She encounters a snowman who shares with her that they are that part of who you are that you often keep locked away,

Not because they're bad,

But because you'd rather not experience their presence if you don't have to but they do serve a purpose,

They can be helpful and it is helpful to know and deeply understand yourself and all aspects of yourself because there's a time for them,

Just as there's a time for all those others you've met on this journey,

As you've been wandering around the inside of your mind,

Exploring all the corners of your brain in a way that you can understand and connect with and the girl talks with this snowman and learns even more before finding that the ice storm is calming and so the snowman recommends it's time now for her to go because she's diluting who they are and they're a part of who she is and she heads back out of that room and she explores some of the other rooms in this mansion before beginning to feel that pull of wakefulness,

Beginning to realize she slept through the night and as she starts to wake up,

So the experience around her begins to fade and dissipate to black and as it fades,

She wakes feeling so comfortable in that bed and can smell the most beautiful breakfast being prepared and she goes and enjoys that breakfast with the elderly lady,

She smiles and says I can see the soup worked wonders I can see that you've dreamt and your mind has expanded and you have a deeper understanding of yourself and the girl enjoys the breakfast and the lady and the girl plan what they'll be doing through the day,

What they'll be doing through her stay as she learns more about herself over the coming days,

Each day getting to spend some time resting by the canal each day learning new skills and each night integrating those skills deeply within her enjoying the most incredible food,

The most transformative food and on her last day as it approaches her last night before she'll be heading back home the lady says there's one last thing for you to experience and that's to experience connecting deeply and comfortably with the world around you and the girl sits in the most comfortable chair and the lady sits opposite and on a coffee table between the two of them the lady places a metronome,

Starts that metronome ticking and tells the girl to remain very still and with just your eyes watch as that metronome ticks and tocks and I'll be just talking to you in the background and so the girl gazes at the metronome and her eyes follow the tick and the tock as it ticks and tocks and ticks and tocks and the lady speaks and says it isn't about the ticking or the tocking,

Just watch that metronome as it ticks and tocks but focus your awareness on the spaces between the sounds,

Focus your awareness on the nothingness,

Not on the tick or the tock but on that space in between and as you focus on that space between the tick and the tock,

You can notice how the more you focus the deeper you can go and the deeper you go the more you focus and the more space you find between the tick and the tock noticing that it seems to just take longer to tick and tock and for every tick of real world time,

The tock can take longer to arrive and the longer that tock takes to arrive,

The more time you can find before the tick and I don't know as you listen to the tick and the tock,

Whether the ticking and the tocking will stretch further and further apart to the sound of my voice or the spaces between my words or the changes in your mind as you become so absorbed in that nothingness,

In that space between the ticking and the tocking,

The space between the in-breath and the out-breath the space between the words that you say to yourself,

The space between the flap of a butterfly's wings,

The space between the movement of the clouds the space between the earth and the moon,

The planets and the stars,

The stars and each other,

The galaxies the space between thoughts,

The space between particles,

Between atoms,

The space between the crests of the waves that make up the particles,

The space between the gentle fuzz of space itself focusing attention so much on that space between,

So much on nothingness,

Like focusing narrower and narrower from the largest scale through the fuzz of reality,

Through those quantum fluctuations beyond the Planck scale,

Passing through space passing through the space between all of space,

Focusing so narrowly,

You pass deeper and deeper to a point of nothingness a point where there is no space,

Where there is no time,

Where there is just now and letting your mind sit now,

And wander perhaps from one to now,

To now to one,

Flipping one and now,

And now one absorbing yourself in that fundamental point,

And then noticing your consciousness begin to sparkle in that point and noticing that spark of consciousness leap to the next nearest point,

And then the next and the next and each spark of consciousness leaps to all the sparks of consciousness nearby,

Exponentially,

Spreading from one point of consciousness to 2,

To 4,

To 8,

To 16,

To 32,

To 64,

Doubling each time as your consciousness jumps from one fundamental point of space and time where there is no time,

Nor space,

Doubling each time,

Only at the rate and speed that you relax deeper and deeper more profoundly into the experience of expanding consciousness,

Of shifting realities,

Exploring the multiverse following your path,

As you see those sparks of consciousness jump to life,

Like tiny bells playing around you with each spark of light,

Until very quickly,

That consciousness,

The timeless consciousness,

Doubles to fill the universe and only then,

Do you feel that connection with all things,

That deep compassion and understanding,

A new perspective of yourself,

The world you live in in a way that brings deep peace and harmony,

That will continue with each and every breath you take and that will continue to build and expand and grow with every dream,

In every way that's good for you,

Your well being that spreads peace and kindness to others,

And when that's happened,

And it becomes a part of you then you'll begin to drift back,

To noticing the ticking and the tocking,

And the way it just gently continues with that regular rhythm,

So comfortably,

So deeply,

And the girl sits with the experience for a while and the lady quietens down in the background to give her time,

For her consciousness to expand,

To understand,

To connect to the changes undulating deep within you now,

And then when the time is right,

The girl's eyes gently open and she smiles a deep and comfortable smile,

And the lady stops the ticking metronome,

And the girl feels ready for bed she feels like her mind has expanded in ways it needs to learn and rest,

To process the changes that have happened here,

Now and after an evening drink,

And a final chat with this lady,

Knowing in the morning she'll make her journey home she heads back to bed,

Settles down in bed,

Pondering the experience she's had the last few days,

The metaphorical exploration of her brain and the deep,

Meaningful meditations connecting her with herself,

With others,

With the world around her,

Helping to improve mental health helping to reduce worry,

Helping to calm anxiety,

And find peace and clarity,

And understanding,

And a focus and her eyes feel heavier as she rests in bed,

They gently close,

And she feels herself,

Swimming deeply in consciousness through a pool of peace,

Light,

Love,

Feeling that through her body,

As sleep begins to take hold softening,

Relaxing her head,

Relaxing the muscles around her face,

Calming,

Softening with every single out breath,

The muscles through her neck,

Her jaw softening and relaxing down the shoulders,

Down each arm,

All the way down to the fingertips,

And deeply and comfortably down through the body the breathing softening and deepening,

Her body relaxing,

Inner healing taking place,

Relaxing the lower back,

Calming,

Softening feeling a light sense of deep relaxation,

Spreading down the legs,

All the way to the tips of her toes,

As she drifts and floats so calmly,

So deeply,

So peacefully into slumberland