The Magical Lighthouse: Sleep Meditation Bedtime Story

In this bedtime story with sound effects (the story is about 40 minutes long followed by the sound of rain on a window and a distant storm outside continuing to the end of the track), you journey through a magical woodland, finding your way to a cliff overlooking a stormy ocean. You walk along the cliff towards a lighthouse in the distance, as a storm rolls in. You explore the lighthouse, before settling down and falling asleep to the sound of a crackling fire and the sounds of the storm outside. This story integrates two relaxation processes, a body scan relaxation process and a staircase relaxation process.

Transcript

Welcome to this slumberland sleep story.

I'll be your guide as you journey through a magical woodland,

Finding your way to a cliff overlooking a stormy ocean.

You walk along the cliff towards a lighthouse in the distance as a storm gently rolls in.

You explore the lighthouse before settling down and falling asleep to the sound of that storm outside and the rain gently tapping on the window.

As we begin I would like to wish you the most peaceful night's sleep and pleasant dreams.

Before we start the story you can take a few moments to settle down comfortably.

You can shift about a little if you need to,

To make yourself even more comfortable.

And when you're ready you can just let those eyes gently close.

And as the story unfolds you can take a few deep relaxing breaths,

Allowing the out breaths to be a little longer than the in breaths.

This triggers the body's natural relaxation response.

And as you relax you can find yourself walking through a magical evening woodland gently illuminated by the dancing light of the moon and the occasional silvery speckles of light in the moonbeams.

You can hear the sounds of the evening woodland enveloping you,

The distant sound of an owl hooting,

The gentle scurrying sounds of small mammals in the undergrowth.

Perhaps noticing the sound of a squirrel not yet settled,

Finding its way home through the canopy above and the soft rustling of the leaves as the wind gently tickles at the tops of the trees.

As you continue to walk through the woodland with the soft crunch of each step,

Navigating your way through the silhouetted trees,

You can smell the slightly damp woody fresh nighttime air,

Finding something about that scent calming.

As you head further into the deep dark relaxing woodland you rely on your peripheral vision,

Finding that you're more able to see the environment around you out of the corner of your eyes in the dark and what you can observe directly in front of you.

Although the longer that you're out here in the dark,

The better adapted to the inky blackness your eyes become.

As you navigate through the woods,

You have your hands gently out in front of yourself and you move your hands around carefully,

Working almost like the way that cats whiskers work to feel and sense the world around you,

Touching branches and moving them aside as you approach,

Occasionally softly touching the trunks of trees,

Feeling the sensation of the cool damp bark under the fingertips.

You can hear the soft sound of each footstep pacing over the woodland floor as the dancing moonlight continues to shift and move with the swaying of the branches.

As you near the exit of this magical woodland,

So the sound of the ocean increases,

You can see the moonlight creeping into the woods from in front of you,

Catching a small glimpse of the patchy sky.

You walk out of the woodland and find yourself in a meadow on top of an undulating cliff,

Overlooking the most beautiful nighttime ocean,

The taller grasses and flowers stroking your legs as you walk closer to the cliff edge,

The moonlight tinging the scene before you with silver as the grasses ripple and wave in unison with the wind like the surface of a calm,

Gently undulating ocean.

As you near the cliff edge,

So the sound of the ocean increases,

You can hear those waves crashing onto the beach below.

A short walk along the cliff,

You find a bench,

You rest down on that bench,

And while you sit here you can feel the breeze on your face.

You can smell that fresh salty air of the sea and notice soft flashes of lightning on the horizon.

A short distance along the cliff from the bench,

You notice a lighthouse and see the way the light is scanning the sea,

Swings around towards the cliff face,

Passes over where you're seated and continues to scan around the land and then back out to sea again.

You can have this feeling like the storm is slowly moving towards the shore,

But for now it seems a long way off,

So you decide to just relax back on that bench,

Take some deep comfortable breaths of that fresh cool nighttime air,

Feeling that air pass in through your nose,

Across the roof of your mouth and down into your chest.

You take a few moments to get yourself comfortable and allow your eyes to close as you continue to breathe in that salty fresh air and begin to drift into a pleasant reverie in your mind.

And as you drift comfortably into that reverie,

You can have a sense of relaxing your mind and body.

You focus on the top of your head,

You can feel the breeze around your head,

How comfortable your head feels,

Resting there,

Perhaps noticing the finest tickle of salty sea spray swept up to the top of the cliff from the crashing waves below.

You imagine the muscles around your scalp and the back of your head softening and relaxing before moving your awareness around your face.

You focus on what it's like for that relaxation to spread around your face,

Your ears and your cheeks,

Having the muscles in these areas soften and relax.

Relaxing the muscles around your eyes and across your forehead,

While the muscles around the side of your head and over the top of your head begin to also relax.

And you continue to allow that relaxation to spread down around your mouth,

Relaxing your lips and your jaw,

Relaxing the muscles around the side of your neck,

Around to the upper back of your neck and around your throat.

As your jaw relaxes and hangs slightly loose,

Limp and comfortable,

That relaxation can continue to move down to your shoulders and upper back.

And I don't know whether that relaxation will happen faster around the back of your shoulders or the upper back or perhaps down the tops or the front of your shoulders.

As that relaxation progresses around your neck,

Around your back and around your chest,

Softening and relaxing those muscles fully and deeply.

And as those muscles soften and relax while you rest there,

That relaxation can begin to spread down the arms to the hands,

All the way down to the tips of your fingers.

And I don't know which arm will relax fastest,

Whether it'll be the left arm or the right arm,

Or whether you'll discover that both arms relax at the same rate and speed.

And as that relaxation continues through those arms,

It can flow gently down through your stomach,

Sides and lower back,

All the way down to your bottom,

Before extending deeply down through your legs to the tips of your toes.

And as your body becomes deeper and deeper relaxed,

So your mind begins to relax.

And as the beam of light from the lighthouse passes across you,

You can feel that light on your face.

Notice the gentle light in your inner experience.

And you can have a sense that this light is passing a healing light into and through your body.

Almost like imagining the magical healing power of nature and your connection with nature around you,

Passing that healing,

Restorative,

Recuperative light down through your body.

Like discovering that every breath you take you breathe in a little more healing,

Calm relaxation,

Which flows deeply throughout your body,

From the top of your head to the tips of your toes,

And you breathe out any stress or tension.

You can hear those waves rolling in and out,

Like the breathing is synchronising with those waves,

Breathing in that healing and wellbeing,

And breathing out any stress,

Tension,

Discomfort or dis-ease from within the body.

And as you continue to do this with each breath,

You can find your mind drifting deeper and deeper into a reverie,

Imagining yourself taking a canoe out into that stormy ocean.

And as you drag that canoe towards the water,

You find yourself knocked back.

You push on however,

Bracing yourself against the waves as they approach.

And those waves push on you,

But you hold firm,

Braced with each knock,

Learning to move with those waves as they roll in onto the shore,

To be able to pass that wave line.

You continue to push through those waves,

Bracing,

Relaxing,

Making slow progress at first,

Until you clear the breaking waves.

And once you clear those breaking waves,

You climb onto the canoe,

And sit in the canoe.

You paddle a little further from the shore.

You can hear the breaking waves behind you,

As your canoe bobs up and down on the rolling waves away from the shore.

You notice how much easier it is to manage the canoe here,

Away from the shore,

Where the waves are passing underneath you,

Compared to near to the shore,

Where the waves were rising up,

Curling over and crashing onto the beach.

And once you find a comfortable spot,

A short distance from the shoreline,

You rest in your canoe,

And just enjoy the experience of letting your boat float,

Feeling the gentle rise and fall of the canoe,

Hearing the water lapping softly around the canoe,

Watching the way the moon's light shimmers on the surface of the ocean,

Like a sea of sparkling diamonds and the interplay of the moon and clouds in the sky,

With the storm clouds still off in the distance.

And after being absorbed in your reverie for a while,

You hear a gentle rumble of thunder,

And are aware that the storm is nearing the shore.

You gently awaken on that beach,

Feeling so refreshed,

Revitalised and full of energy,

From this 20 minute or so moment of inner focus,

Taking that break from what you have been doing.

On awakening from this reverie,

You can see that the storm clouds have gotten closer.

The moon is now almost fully hidden behind the thick veil of cloud,

With the slightest slither of moon peeking over the voluminous wall of cloud.

You walk from the bench,

Towards that lighthouse for sanctuary,

From the approaching storm,

Its constant beam sweeping the landscape with comforting regularity.

You can feel that the wind has begun to pick up,

Saline micro droplets peppering your face and the occasional drop of rain,

The sounds of the storm closing in.

And as you near the lighthouse,

You appreciate its build quality.

The lighthouse is made to withstand the most challenging conditions,

As a beacon in the dark,

Resolute,

Faithful,

Unwavering.

Something ships,

Crews could depend on to be there for them in their time of need.

The rain suddenly increases,

Dozens of large drops exploding on contact with you every second,

Rain precariously clinging on to your eyebrows and those large drops massaging your cheeks.

At the lighthouse,

You carefully run your fingers around the white painted brickwork,

Feeling the texture of the rain soaked brick as you head around the lighthouse to find the door.

You discover a large,

Solid,

Heavy red wooden door with a black iron knocker almost head height on the centre line of the door.

You knock on the door and wait.

After a few moments you knock again,

And still no answer,

So you carefully open the door,

Saying hello.

It doesn't seem like there is anyone in this lighthouse.

You walk into the darkness and close the door behind you.

Inside the lighthouse,

The sounds from outside are more muted.

You feel the walls searching for a light switch.

You don't find one near the door.

You can hear the rain pounding onto a small window.

You carefully navigate in darkness towards that sound of the rain.

You can just about notice the faint silhouette of objects on a ledge in front of the window,

Recognising what looks like a candle.

You slowly reach for the candle,

Grasp that candle and can feel that it is in a candlestick holder.

You gently guide your hand down the candle and holder to the ledge and feel the ledge with the tips of your fingers.

As you feel that ledge,

Your fingertips tap a weighty small metal object.

You take hold of that object which fits comfortably in the palm of your hand and recognise it as a lighter.

You flick the lid of the lighter open and sharply push your thumb down on the flint wheel.

With a small flash of sparks,

The flame dances to life.

You light the candle,

Gently illuminating the room with the faint flickering soft glow of light.

You can smell the aroma of the flame and melting candle wax as you place the lighter in your pocket in case you need it later and pick up the candle and its holder,

Carrying it around to see if there are more candles to light.

You light a few more candles around this room,

Noticing that the whole level is a single circular room with minimal furniture.

As you ascend,

Following the spiral staircase up to the next level,

You find yourself instinctively counting the steps and count 20 between the ground floor and the first floor.

On this first floor,

You light a few candles and notice that this level has a small but comfortable looking bed covered in thick blankets and an armchair situated near the fireplace.

You head over to the fireplace,

Notice a small stack of chopped wood beside the fire.

You place some of the wood into the fireplace.

You use a tool you find beside the fireplace to create shavings from one of the logs.

You place these shavings into the fireplace.

Then you take the lighter and start that fire.

At first,

To help the fire along,

You blow softly with long breaths into the base of the fire.

Once the fire takes hold and you can hear the crackling,

Popping and slight rumbling sound of the fire,

You take your outer layers off and hang them up.

You place that lighter on top of a cabinet before standing in front of the fireplace to dry off.

You face the fire at first with the heat from that fire warming your cheeks.

You feel like your cheeks are probably going a rosy shade of red.

After a short while,

You turn around and start to dry the back of your clothes.

While facing this way,

You can see the dancing shadows around the walls as the fire flickers in the fireplace.

It takes a while but once you're dry,

You decide you want to continue to explore this lighthouse.

You take a candle and climb to the next level,

Noticing that there are 20 steps again,

But the room that you arrive on is smaller than the one below.

This room seems to be like a library.

There are curved bookcases around the walls filled with old looking books.

You head over to take a closer look by candlelight,

Pulling out a few books,

Smelling that musty old books smell.

Flicking through the books,

Feeling the texture of the paper,

The sound each page makes to turn,

The weight of the book while reading.

Eventually finding a first edition book you decide you're curious to read,

20,

000 leagues under the sea.

Carrying that book,

You head over to the staircase and continue to ascend.

You climb those steps to the next level.

Each level seems to be a single room and each room seems to be slightly smaller than the size of the previous room.

You continue up through the rooms until you reach the top of the lighthouse.

The room just below the top floor is sparse.

It has a wooden floor,

A few coat hooks and clothes storage spaces around the outside of the room.

There is a yellow weatherproof suit consisting of a large yellow hat,

Large yellow coat and trousers and large blue boots.

The hat seems to be able to clip under the chin so that it won't blow off in strong wind.

Unlike the other floors,

This floor doesn't have a spiral staircase.

It just has a floor to ceiling staircase which rises up to a hatch.

You climb the stairs to the hatch,

Unbolt the hatch and push it open as you climb.

You find that you're inside the light dome.

As the light is turning towards you,

You close your eyes.

The light and the warmth given off by this light still feels intense.

As the light passes,

So you open your eyes again and look around.

You notice that this dome is like a domed greenhouse.

There is a glass door leading out to a narrow balcony around the outside of this light.

The balcony has a high wire safety fence going around the whole perimeter.

You can hear the heavy rain pounding on the glass dome,

The sound of the wind and the crashing sound of the waves some distance below.

The light comes around again,

So you close your eyes.

After the light has passed,

You head back down the hatch and change into the waterproof clothing.

You leave the candle in that room,

Head back up through the hatch to the light.

Once in the dome with the light,

You go to the door and open it to experience the weather up here.

You hold on to a rail.

As you get buffeted by the wind and rain,

You can see the sheets of lightning illuminating the night sky and hear the distant rumbles of thunder seeming to almost envelop you.

You head back into the lighthouse,

Close the door in the dome,

Head down the hatch,

Closing the hatch behind you.

Change out of these weatherproof clothes and begin to descend the steps with the candle and the book,

Heading back to the cozy room with the fireplace,

Comfy seat and that bed.

When you're on the floor above the one that you need,

You pass through the door to the steps,

Ready to walk down those steps,

And the movement of air from opening the door blows out your candle.

You left your lighter in the room one floor down and so can't relight that candle,

So you gently hold the rope which is being used as a handrail,

And you decide to count your way down slowly and carefully to the next floor,

Descending those steps from 20 to 19,

18,

17,

16,

Slowly,

Carefully,

Softly,

Slowly,

Descending,

15,

14,

13,

12,

Following that staircase all the way down,

11,

10,

9,

8,

Beginning to notice the faintest glow as you descend and head around that staircase,

Now able to see the merest hint of the steps and the staircase illuminated around you,

7,

6,

5,

4,

Approaching the bottom of the steps,

That glow increasing,

Now easily able to see where you're walking,

3,

2,

1,

Reaching the bottom of the steps and heading into that room,

You find that the room is as cosy and comfortable as you remember it,

You light your candle,

Head down to the ground floor,

Make sure that the candles are out down there before going back to the cosy room,

Settling down for a bit in front of the fireplace in that chair,

Where you take some time to begin to read that book,

You can hear that storm outside,

The rain on the window of this room,

Noticing the firelight flickering,

Occasionally hearing the low rumble of wind finding its way down the chimney,

Exciting the light of the fire as the shadows dance around the walls,

While reading,

Your eyes keep wanting to close,

The sound of the rain and the distant storm is making you begin to feel sleepier and sleepier,

And your eyelids begin to feel heavier and heavier,

And you try in vain for a while to fight the unconscious urge to close your eyes and fall asleep,

Determined that you'll make it to the end of the chapter that you're reading,

But eventually you give in,

You bookmark your page before putting that book down,

You put out the fire so that all you can hear is the background sound of the storm outside,

You head over to the bed,

Snuggle down into the bed,

Ready for the best night's sleep,

You blow out the candle,

Close your eyes and drift and float deeply and relax asleep into slumberland.