Mindfulness Bedtime Story: Willow Tree And Star

Drift off to sleep with a mindfulness based bedtime story. Written and read by certified meditation instructor Lori Westbury. During this story join in on a peaceful adventure, allow your mind to let go of the days stress and become part of the gentle adventure. These storeis are made without any high plot points so you can let go and drift to sleep.

Transcript

Mindful Bedtime Stories Written and narrated by Laurie Westbury Welcome to our mindful bedtime story.

Before we begin,

Take a moment to make sure you are nice and comfortable.

Dim the lights,

Adjust your pillow,

And curl up in your blankets just how you like them.

While you are enjoying this story,

Know it's okay to peacefully drift off to sleep.

Wishing you a very restful night,

Sweet dreams.

Willow Tree and Star As my alarm goes off at 5 a.

M.

,

I have a brief moment of complete nourishment.

I take a moment to simply lay in my bed and set an intention for my day.

Stillness.

I let this intention sink in.

And I then open up to gratitude.

I had so much to be grateful for.

My life looked much different now than it did before.

My day started at 5 a.

M.

,

But instead of being greeted by honking horns and cars outside my apartment building,

I was greeted by complete silence.

In my bedroom,

I was surrounded by wood.

The man who built my home used knowledge passed on from his father.

All of the wood for the walls and floors had been harvested from the 50 acres of land that my home sat on.

The stall was like a log cabin,

But with a slight modern twist.

Four bedrooms,

Two bathrooms,

And a kitchen large enough to entertain many guests.

As I turned off my alarm,

I could smell the delicious coffee being brewed by my automatic machine.

As I said,

I still like to have some modern things.

I grabbed my robe and headed downstairs.

My morning meetings and deadlines had now been replaced by a group of energetic animals who waited lovingly for their breakfast.

But first,

Coffee.

When I decided to take over the farm,

I kept the original name,

Willow Tree House.

Just outside my front door,

A little over to the left,

Was a giant willow tree.

The first thing I did when I moved into my new home was place an outdoor recliner under the willow tree.

Its strong branches grew so wide on one side that the long leaves touched the ground.

When I would spend time under the tree,

I always felt like I could breathe in the freshest air.

Like Willow was extremely good at her job of keeping the air clean.

I also kept all of the animals,

Which to many of my close friends was a complete shock.

I had no previous knowledge of running a farm.

Truth be told,

The only pet I had growing up was an overweight cat named Sam.

Still,

Ever since I could remember,

I dreamed of owning my own land,

My own home,

And my own farm.

I had this deep sense of connection with people who lived off the land.

When I was little,

One of my favorite books was about a couple who were living completely off-grid.

Although my farm was still on the grid,

I felt like I was truly living the life I was always meant to.

I wanted things to be simple and to have meaning.

I wanted to have time to really enjoy my life.

At this same time every morning,

I always put a loaf of homemade bread in the oven.

I would usually have a slice later with my lunch,

But most of it went to my pig Annabelle.

Annabelle was more of a house pig than a farm animal.

She had this amazing,

Intelligent personality,

And sometimes I was sure she could outwit even the smartest dog.

She was usually the first animal awake each morning.

She wasn't a morning person per se,

But she was just obsessed with food.

She wanted to be the first animal near the kitchen when I walked downstairs in the morning.

Our horse Carrie was next on my list.

Her favorite morning routine was a nice,

Long gallop.

Her obsession was freedom,

Much like my own.

She enjoyed her breakfast,

But not before she spent at least an hour in our pasture.

She would run and kick as if she was greeting the day with gratitude and excitement.

Just watching her become so elated over something as simple as open space always made me smile.

Soon Bryce,

Our neighbor,

Would be here to milk our cows.

One of the ways I now generate income is to provide my community with fresh,

Whole milk.

Our cows are grass-fed,

And we believe in a completely free-range lifestyle.

Bryce showed up every morning like clockwork.

He volunteers to spend his time with our cows collecting milk so he can bring some home to his family.

He also leaves with fresh eggs and homemade pies on occasion.

Our community runs on connection.

Three times a week,

Our local farmer's market is where most of my products can be found.

Our market is busier than any traditional grocery shop.

And if something needs to be repaired at the farm,

A list of handy helpers is only ever a phone call away.

My morning routine of feeding the animals takes a good two hours,

But it's my favorite time of the day.

I've learned this past year how healing animals can be.

Just being around them and their nonjudgmental energy is so uplifting.

Spend any amount of time with larger animals,

And they become a mirror reflecting your deepest truths.

My first few times with Carrie,

She could sense my hesitation,

My lack of confidence.

So she displayed the same behavior towards me.

It wasn't until I leaned into trusting her that she began to trust me.

Soon our relationship started to develop into an unmistakable bond.

As I wandered over to the chicken coop,

I took some time to say hello to all the ladies.

Just the sight of me in the morning had them running with joy.

Amelia was a true mother hen.

She always laid the biggest eggs,

And she also liked to be in control of all the other chickens.

She was the first to eat,

Had the biggest spot under the sun in the coop,

And demanded respect from everyone.

I often wondered if she knew she was the smallest chicken I had ever seen.

I opened the small gate and gave everyone lots more room to run today.

The sun was shining with a perfect cool breeze.

Suddenly I heard a very familiar caw sound.

I turned around and noticed my newest house guest was sitting on top of a pile of wood that had just been delivered from my fireplace.

Star,

Which I like to call her,

Was a massive coal black raven that showed up a few weeks ago.

I was out one evening checking on the chickens when I looked up to the pitch black sky to notice my favorite bunch of stars were missing.

A few seconds later,

Star swooped down and landed right beside me.

She was as black as the night sky.

I could tell instantly that she was hungry and very curious about all of the animals living on the farm.

I went inside and took some berries from my fridge.

Without any thought,

I placed berries in my hand and offered them to Star.

She took a few minutes staring at me deeply,

Turning her head from side to side.

She would take a few steps closer and then a few steps back.

Finally,

And to my surprise,

Star landed on the sleeve of my jacket and started to eat the berries.

And even more surprising,

I was completely calm.

I have always loved crows.

When I lived in the city,

I would often walk during my lunch and enjoy watching the crows from my favorite park bench.

From this moment on,

Star decided to move in.

The first few days she just observed.

She carefully watched as I made the rounds,

Jumping from place to place to take note of everything.

After a few days,

I noticed she would follow me much more closely.

I would have to be careful to step back as we walked from place to place as she was only a few steps behind me.

Next,

She started to follow me into the horse's stables.

I would catch her playing around in the hay,

Picking up exactly five pieces at a time and dropping it into the stall.

I guess that was her way of helping with the chores.

Yesterday,

Star made her biggest leap yet and came into the house.

I had both of my front windows open,

Allowing my blueberry pies to cool.

She must have thought they were for her,

As I would often feed her berries.

She flew right into my window and landed on top of my mail sitting on the kitchen table.

We both looked at each other with a sense of uncertainty.

She stayed here for a long time,

Not moving a muscle as if she had just crossed over into an entirely new world.

And I guess for her,

Being inside a home must have been a very unique experience.

The first thing she went for was my copper pan hanging on the wall.

She used her sharp beak to gently tap the pan.

She did it a few more times before I had to tell her that noises are for outside.

She seemed to understand.

I knew it was going to be a very interesting day on the farm,

But to be honest,

I knew I was in the middle of something very special.

It felt like Star had chosen me,

Which just went to show how smart she really was.

She watched me from afar taking care and feeding so many different animals.

She wanted her piece of the pie,

So to speak.

I decided to leave the window open for the rest of the day to let her come and go as she pleased.

To my surprise,

She never left my yard.

She would fly up and perch on top of the willow tree for a few hours and then come back down to see how things were going inside.

This morning I wondered if she would be gone,

But to my delight,

She was waiting patiently by the chickens.

I extended my hand once again with berries,

But this time she didn't wait.

I took her time,

Eating mindfully,

As if they were the best berries she had ever tasted.

I gently moved my hand above her head and placed my pointer finger on her crown.

She allowed me to gently pet her.

As the sun rose higher,

I knew it was time to take my favorite book under the willow tree.

I moved my arm up quickly so Star would know it was time to let go.

I went inside and grabbed a big red apple,

My book,

And a warm blanket.

As I walked over to Willow,

I noticed Star was not far behind.

I sunk in my chair and breathed in the fresh air.

I would be here for at least the next hour.

This was my time,

And I did this every day.

I took a few moments to just be.

I stared off and just took in all the land around me.

I had so much space.

I closed my eyes and just allowed myself to feel all that space.

Yes,

I think I would be here for a while today.

Sweet dreams.

Reviews

Such delightful story! It made me wish I could live on a farm or at least be in the country. Her words are so descriptive I could visualize everything she was saying! Thank you.

I liked this story. I became sleepy but I had to hear more! Thank you.

Thanks for making this meditation 🧘🏻‍♂️ love it best one l have ever herd 🤩🤩🤩

As many xs as I listened, I still don't know how it ends. Always fell asleep. Lori has a soft, soothing voice which makes her easy to listen to.

i love anything by lori, just wish there was more 😘

love the story, thank you 🙏🏽

Great not so good to listen to go to sleep but good in the mornings and in the shower. I recommend that you put music in it then I will be able to go to sleep to it. Thank you for this great morning meditation try my recommendation please namaste

Exactly what I have been looking for.

Hi Lori, this is my kind of story, perfectly delicious, since I can relate. I had a resident Crow who was my close companion as a girl. She would fly by my side to state school en tap on the glass window when it was time to go home by mid afternoon. She chose me, too. I named her Inkie.

very soothing, put me straight to sleep.

Oh
My
Gosh
That was awesome 😎 please make a part two

From: Eryn-Francis

That was amazing!

Love her voice and nice story

Love the story ❤️

I love your voice! I love this story

I am so glad that you love your life this much!!!👍🏼

Lovely 😊 Thankyou

Thank you for sharing 💙

Thanks Lori that was lovely 😇☯️💤

Your bedtime stories are wonderful, you have a very calming and comforting voice as you tell them. I had forgotten what listening to a bedtime story was like, it takes away all the frantic racing thoughts in your mind and allows you to clear that space for a much better and restful sleep- which is extremely important for my health & well-being.
Thank you so much
Many blessings. 💛