Hello,
This is a bedtime story to help you feel calm and sleepy,
So lay down and get comfy and you can put one hand on your tummy if you like and just let those wriggles come.
Help yourself get super comfortable and you can say hello here to your breath,
So you don't need to change it but just notice that you're breathing in and that you're breathing out,
Maybe you feel your tummy rising and falling.
It's normal to need to move a little bit,
It's normal to sigh,
You're getting comfy and take your time.
You might be able to hear your breath and feeling perhaps your tummy expanding,
Your chest expanding and relaxing and your body breathes perfectly on its own,
You can trust it to keep doing that.
Maybe you feel your head sinking into your pillow and the whole of your back resting on your bed,
Your comfy bed,
Your shoulders,
Your arms and hands,
Your legs,
Knees,
Ankles,
Heels and feet,
Your whole body relaxing on your bed.
Are you ready to go to sleep?
Yes?
So you might imagine your own little rowing boat,
This is your own rowing boat just yours and you choose the colour.
Picture it bobbing gently at the side of a lake,
It's dusk at the end of the day and the light is very soft.
The air,
Temperature,
How does it feel against your skin?
Maybe it's slightly warm or there's a slight breeze.
You might hear a very gentle lapping of the water against the bank and against the boat and when you're ready you step into your rowing boat and it wobbles and then steadies in the water.
Your whole body is gently rocked in your little,
Little rowing boat.
On the water you can smell the lake water,
The green smell of the trees.
Does it smell like somewhere you've been?
By the water in the forest and the breeze carried over the lake?
And if you like there could be someone in the boat with you,
Maybe someone you love,
Maybe your pet,
Maybe a friend.
So there might be someone here with you who makes you feel safe and cosy or you might be on your own.
This is your little rowing boat,
This is a space for you.
You feel a gentle sway,
Side to side,
Side to side,
On the water.
And now your little rowing boat moves off from the bank.
So maybe you want to row or maybe it just moves on its own across the lake,
Whatever you're imagining is just right.
The oars dip into the water and out and the water trickles down into the lake.
The soft lapping,
Lap,
Lap,
Lap of the water and the rhythmic movement of the oars up and out of the water.
Water dripping,
The gentle splash of the oars into the water,
Through the water and rising up and down,
Dipping in and pulling through the water.
And ripples travel out from the oars and from your rowing boat,
Ripples around your rowing boat as it moves across the lake.
You are safe and gently rocked in your little rowing boat on this beautiful lake.
You might look down into the water.
It's clear even in the twilight.
Is it shallow or deep?
Can you see through the water to the sandy bed of the lake?
You might easily see the sandy bottom or a quick flash of silvery fish.
Perhaps you want to dip one hand into the water and feel the cool water trickling off your fingers.
It's all around you,
The deep blue of the darkness,
The darkening night,
Getting deeper and softer as the sun sets.
And the air might envelop you with its warmth or its breeze.
And as you proceed across the water,
Floating in your little rowing boat,
And the light falls,
You become aware of a small twinkling light in the centre of the lake.
A little light that beckons you,
That invites you towards the island of sleep.
So as you're carried across the lake,
You might want to cosy up now in your rowing boat,
Get wrapped up really warm in some blankets as you're rocked,
Rocked,
Rocked on the water,
Heading towards the island of sleep.
You are safe and relaxed,
Lying back.
The sounds of the water,
The breeze,
And looking up,
Looking up you see an amazing view of the sky above.
The deep blue of the sky getting inkier and darker now,
The stars becoming brighter.
You see the moon,
Your breathing is very slow and steady,
Matching the rhythm of the rowing,
The rocking of your little rowing boat over the lake.
And now you reach your little island in the middle of the lake.
It's just for you,
For you and whoever you choose to be with you.
The little rowing boat bumps up against the bank,
You climb out onto your island and feel soft grass underneath your toes.
Your feet might,
Underneath your feet,
And you might hear the rustling of dozing creatures in the trees,
Or a hooting owl,
Birds calling.
In the middle of the island you spot a little wooden cabin sheltered under a few tall trees.
This is where the light was coming from,
A soft orangey light,
A golden light glowing through the windows of the cabin.
It's as if the cabin is waiting just for you.
And you feel once more the soft earth beneath your feet and smell the damp nighttime smells of the trees and grass beginning to be covered in dew.
Your little rowing boat is tied up safely by the shore,
Gently bobbing up and down.
It will be there for you when you need it.
So you make your way towards your cabin,
Across the dew covered grass,
Under the deep night sky,
Under the constellations,
The light of the stars.
You reach your cabin,
Open the door,
Go inside.
It's warm inside and in the middle of the small room is a comfortable bed.
You climb into bed under the covers and you feel that your journey has come to an end and you're ready to go to sleep.
You feel so cosy and comfortable in the soft warm bed against the sheets,
The clean soft sheets against your skin,
Ready to lie down and sleep after your journey across the lake.
You have the beautiful images in your head of the deep blue sky above,
The constellations,
The stars and the moon reflected in the water.
But now it's time to sleep,
Yes,
And how relaxed you are here,
Here in your bed.
The water laps,
Laps,
Laps.
You have everything you need here on your island of sleep.
You float deeper into sleep,
Deeper and deeper into sleep.
