Autumn Cabin

Explore a cozy cabin to help yourself relax after a long day. Take the stairs to the first floor, step by step, until you reach a special place where you can find peace, reducing stress and anxiety. Look at the forest and the sky while calming yourself with breathing excercises.

Transcript

Hello everyone,

This is Nathan McCann,

Your guide for today's meditation.

We will be exploring a beautiful cabin in the woods near the edge of town.

During this meditation,

I would like you to keep your eyes closed.

So,

Let's begin.

Please pick a point on the wall or the floor or the ceiling,

Just any point at all,

And look at it while you start blinking your eyes closed.

And with each blink,

Keep your eyes closed a little longer.

Feel the weight increase your eyelids.

Feel them getting heavier,

Lazier.

Just feel them relax.

Keep blinking slower and slower,

Keeping your eyes closed longer and longer each time,

Until at last they are completely closed.

And with those eyes closed,

Turn your attention inward to the scene that I'm about to describe.

This one is a cabin in the woods near town.

The season is autumn,

The trees around are colorful.

They're mostly red and yellow.

You'll see maple trees with a few pine here and there to keep things green all year long.

And you find yourself at the top of the set of stairs.

We're going to go down ten stairs until we reach the bottom.

Second floor represents a task or a set of tasks that we've just completed.

These tasks are nothing remarkable,

Just things we do during the course of our day.

Dull,

A little repetitive,

Maybe a little stressful,

Maybe a little bit fun even,

It doesn't really matter,

But this is this is the end of our work time and the beginning of our relaxation.

So taking one step down in your mind,

Imagine that those tasks have become one step further away,

One step further away from your imaginary self and in your mind.

And take a second step down and feel a little bit of lightness in your shoulders as those tasks have been completed.

You've left them behind up there.

They were weighing you down and now they're not,

They're not coming with you.

And as you go down that third step you realize that you have not just left something dull behind,

But you have some nice things to look forward to,

Some nice things waiting for you at the bottom of these steps.

With that you go down one step further,

Taking the fourth step down,

And now you're beginning to see a window at the bottom of these steps.

Facing a small town,

You can see people moving about in the distance.

They're close enough to see,

But not close enough to hear easily.

And they're moving about a little slowly.

They're just walking around.

You see someone carrying a bag of groceries,

A few just going in and going out of their homes.

As you go down another step,

You realize that there are wonderful things waiting inside the cabin for you as well.

Simple,

But wonderful as many times the best things in life are quite simple.

As you take the sixth step down,

You realize that two of those things are right in front of you.

There's a nice couch to your left and a nice chair to your right.

We'd like to rest in those as we do a breathing exercise that's coming up shortly.

For now,

We have a little bit to go.

Take another step down,

The seventh step.

And we've by now forgotten the tasks upstairs that we were coming from.

It's a little fuzzy and it doesn't matter.

You notice that they've stayed upstairs and they have not followed you.

They're moving down to be away from them for a while.

Going down the eighth step,

You feel a bit of anticipation.

You feel that all that work you finished was worth it because now you are free to relax for a bit.

Maybe for just a bit,

Maybe for quite a while,

But however long you have at least the rest of this meditation.

As you go down the ninth step,

You smell something nice coming from the kitchen.

Maybe it's pumpkin pie,

Maybe it's freshly baked bread.

Maybe it's something a little more savory.

Maybe it's something that's more savory,

Maybe it's a stew.

Nice winter,

Fall vegetable stew.

Whatever it is,

It is very comforting.

And as you take the final step down,

You breathe in and just look around.

Take in the sights.

There's a window in front of you.

And there is the furniture on either side of the window.

The kitchen is off to the left,

The door is to the right.

And the rest of the room is small and cozy.

There is a soft light on in the corner.

It's a whitish light with a little bit of yellow,

Sort of the color of sunlight.

Speaking of the sun,

You look at the window and you realize that it must be just about three o'clock.

The sun is starting to become a little more yellow,

Golden.

Some of the heat is fading a bit.

Still warm in here,

Still very cozy.

But everything in the room is starting to get a yellowish hue as the sun is getting lower in the sky.

So before we go any further,

Let's check in with our body.

Right now we're standing at the bottom of the stairs.

So in your imagination,

I'd like you to sit back just a little.

Sit back on those steps and think about your body.

Like most things,

Your body enjoys being listened to.

It enjoys when we check in with it all day long,

Especially if we're focusing on tasks like those tasks that we just finished upstairs.

We are bombarded with signals from our body that we really just don't have time to listen to,

Or at least we don't feel like we have time to listen to.

So now we're taking that time specifically to listen,

Just to see how our body is doing.

I'm going to ask you to feel your body,

And when I say that,

I mean not to move your hands to feel your head,

But just to feel it in your mind,

Just notice how different parts of your body are feeling.

We're going to go from the very top to the very bottom.

And with that,

Let's start the body scan.

First,

Let's check in with the brow and the eyes.

This is a place where people tend to store attention,

And for good reason.

Our eyes are one of the most important sensory organs in our body.

We experience the world through our eyes,

Mostly,

And they send us signals that our brain interprets as being very important,

Very loud,

If you will,

And so they do have a tendency to get overwhelmed at times.

So just pay attention not to what they're seeing,

Because we're still closing our eyes,

But pay attention to how they're feeling.

See if there's tension there,

If they're a little restless,

If they're relaxed.

And during this scan,

During this body scan,

It doesn't matter what you are being told by your body.

The only thing that's important here is to listen.

It's like being polite in a conversation.

Don't judge.

Don't be too quick to judge.

Just listen for a while.

Soon,

I'll be asking you to flex and release parts of your body,

And when I ask you to do that,

I'll ask you to flex,

And then I'll count to three and tell you to release.

And when we do this,

Please be very gentle.

We're not trying to show off.

We're not trying to win the eyebrow strength contest momentarily.

We're just seeing how things feel,

Just flexing and releasing a bit.

That'll help us gain some calm and some relaxation in our muscles.

So remembering to thank your eyes,

Your brow,

For all the very,

Very intense work they do throughout the day.

Go to your brow and your eyelids,

And flex one,

Two,

Three,

Release.

Our body is starting to notice that we're paying attention to it.

Likely,

You won't be able to feel this consciously yet,

But as we move down through the body,

Your body will start to appreciate more and more that it's being listened to,

That its input is being respected and heard by you.

Let's move down to the neck and shoulders.

I'd like you soon to roll your shoulders.

Let's start now.

One,

Two,

Three,

And move your neck around.

One,

Two,

Three,

And clench the muscles in your shoulders.

One,

Two,

Three,

Release.

Just feel that group.

When we help that group,

That is often the first time people start to physically feel the stress melt away.

We're going to go down to the arms now.

I'm not going to ask you to remember the different groups of muscles.

What I'd like you to do now is flex all of the muscles in your arms.

One,

Two,

Three,

Release.

And these muscles are stronger than the others,

So still being gentle,

We're going to do it again,

But a little more intensely.

So flex,

One,

Two,

Three,

Release.

And with that,

Inhale and then exhale deeply.

Now you're feeling better.

Now your body really knows that you're paying attention to it.

That was proof.

The fact that we've done listening to several parts and also just put in some effort right there.

Let's go to the hands too.

Our hands are another part of a body that we ask to do a tremendous amount of work,

Especially in this day and age.

Lots and lots of grabbing,

Grasping,

Lifting,

Holding,

And especially now a lot of typing,

Moving mice around.

So just a moment of gratitude,

Please,

For your hands,

For all that they do,

How they help us interact with the world.

And we're about to make a fist.

And I'd like you to be very,

Very gentle on your hands.

They've likely had a long day already,

So make a fist,

Clench,

One,

Two,

Three,

And release.

And just slowly wiggle your fingers a little bit,

Very gently.

And again,

Make a fist,

Clench,

One,

Two,

Three,

Release.

And your hands,

If they aren't already,

Will soon be very grateful for that attention.

And now we're turning our attention to a larger group of muscles,

Very important muscles here in your torso.

Again,

I'm not going to call out muscle groups by names,

But just pay attention to the spot around your belly button,

Your abdominal muscles mostly,

And breathe in just a little bit deeper.

Inhale and then exhale.

Feel the way that that has tightened and then loosened again and realize that those muscles are not only being asked to keep you upright and straight,

But they're also being pushed with every breath.

They're used to it,

But still they have some unusual stress.

Not much in this way,

But they have an unusual experience like the rest of our muscles.

They're all different.

And so now we are going to this whole muscle group around your belly button.

Clench,

One,

Two,

Three,

Relax.

Thank you.

And now we're going to move down.

We're at the largest muscles in our body by far.

The muscles in our legs are huge and therefore we have a huge amount of tension stored in them.

And these muscles are something we use constantly.

You actually use the muscles in your legs even when you're sitting down.

So they get a lot of use.

They don't get a lot of chance to rest.

So let's do that.

Be thankful first for them.

They don't give us that much sensory input,

But they do do a lot for us.

They're the strong and silent type,

You might say.

Now both legs,

All of the muscles in your legs,

Gently,

Gently,

Gently clench.

One,

Two,

Three,

And release.

And I'd like you to breathe in and breathe out just like this.

And feel that in your legs.

And then pay attention upward as well.

Feel how all of this has made the tension in our body melt away pretty well by this point.

And since those legs of ours have so much muscle and we ask them to do much,

Much throughout the day,

Let's start to clench them again.

Clench.

One,

Two,

Three,

And release.

And now they should be really feeling good.

If they're not,

Your mind is just preoccupied with something else,

But most likely they'll be feeling pretty nice right now.

And finally,

We're going to be going to the feet.

Another group that,

Like our legs,

Provides support to us throughout the day.

We pay a little more attention to our feet,

There's more sensory input coming from our feet.

We even give them shoes,

Which perhaps makes them feel special.

And does make them feel supported,

Literally.

Hopefully,

Anyway.

And I'm going to ask you to make an unusual motion with your feet.

So when you start to do this,

Be extra careful and extra gentle.

So I'd like you to just don't do anything but imagine grabbing the ground with your feet or perhaps making a fist with your feet.

Either way,

I'd like you to do that now.

Clench.

One,

Two,

Three,

And release.

Ah,

That's nice.

Your body is grateful for that.

Please,

Again,

Share that gratitude with your body and feel the shared relaxation.

Your mind is one with your body and your brain is part of your body.

So when one relaxes,

It helps the other relax.

So at this point,

You should be feeling pretty nice.

Pretty nice indeed.

As you ponder that briefly,

Your attention is turned to the rest of the cabin again by that smell coming from the kitchen.

That wonderful smell.

Whatever that might be for you.

And visually,

We are seeing again the window in front of us.

Immediately to our left is a chair.

A nice reddish-brown chair.

It looks quite new.

The colors are muted,

But you can tell the fabric is in very good shape.

So you move in front of the chair and then again feeling some relaxation in your body,

You sit back in the chair.

As you do,

You realize that the first layer of cushions on the chair is very soft.

You sink into it.

Conforms to your body in a really nice way.

It's like being given a hug.

But then you also realize that there's a firmer layer underneath that supports not just the cushions,

But also you.

And you realize that this place is special.

Like other places we may have been together,

And we will be together in the future,

Everything here is for you.

You're creating this in your imagination.

It's not my words.

I'm just a guide.

You're the ones who are creating it.

So as something you've created for yourself,

Everything is here for you.

This chair,

For example,

Is better than any chair you'd find in the real world.

Because as you sink a little into the softer cushions,

You feel that the stresses and anxieties of the day don't follow you.

They get stuck.

You realize the firmer part of the chair is too firm for them to penetrate any further.

They just get stuck and then slide off the sides of the chair,

Drift off towards the floor,

And then disintegrate here.

There's no need for them here,

So they disappear.

They're not all gone yet,

But that was a nice big chunk.

So just feel in your imagination some lightness that we've just gained.

We've exchanged thoughts about tasks that are not currently necessary for some lightness,

Some space that's been freed up in our minds.

And with that,

Let's pay attention to the window.

As I said before,

It's autumn.

The trees are mostly yellow and red,

Beautiful maple trees,

Beautiful maple trees.

And we're going to do some breathing.

You may have done many breathing exercises in the past with some complicated and very useful instructions,

But here we're going to keep things very simple.

Very simple indeed,

Because this place is not so much about us.

Our mind is just a place for us to experience this scene.

So we're going to keep the breathing exercises very simple.

There are going to be two steps and two steps only.

Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.

You can do this at whatever pace is comfortable for you.

You can hold your breath or you can immediately exhale.

It doesn't matter.

So begin now.

Breathe in through your nose,

Out through your mouth.

And as you do,

Please,

Every time you breathe in through your nose,

Count a tree.

Any tree,

Doesn't matter which one.

And it doesn't matter how closely you count the tree.

Just say in your mind,

One,

And visualize a tree as you're inhaling.

And as you exhale again,

Say,

Two,

In your mind.

Visualize another tree.

We're going to be doing this for just a while as we breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.

And while we're doing this breathing exercise,

I'd like you to listen to me,

But not too carefully,

As you breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.

My words are just background noise.

What's really important are the breaths.

So don't listen to me too hard.

I'm here.

Just have a few things to say,

But breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth is the important part here.

Let's do that for just a little while.

In through the nose,

Out through the mouth.

If you've lost track of the trees,

That's fine.

We're not really trying to count all the trees in the forest.

In fact,

The trees in this forest are not important.

They're not really fixed either.

This is a bit of a fuzzy place,

Especially the forest outside.

It doesn't quite matter how many trees are there.

So it could be one number one day,

And when you revisit this place in your mind,

It will be another number.

And that number doesn't matter.

It's just important to visualize a few trees as you breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.

If you lose track again,

Just go back to any number.

It doesn't matter.

Just keep breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.

Just a little longer,

Imagining the softness of the cushions beneath you.

One final breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.

And return your attention to the cabin.

And now please do listen to me a little more closely.

A little more closely.

Because I'd like to tell you about the blanket that you're about to pick up.

It's going to help you warm up just a little bit.

So imagine yourself reaching down to the right and pulling a blanket up over yourself.

You can pull it as high as you like.

Maybe you just like to cover your feet.

Maybe you'd like to bring it up to your knees.

Maybe you'd even like to cover everything below your head.

But as you do,

Feel the softness and the warmth,

But also feel a little bit of weight to the blanket.

And like the chair beneath you,

This blanket is special.

It's unique in that it cannot be found in the real world.

This blanket is not just a blanket,

But it's also a shield.

It has the softness of a real blanket.

It has perhaps more softness than you could find in the real world.

But it also has a firm strength.

And you at first don't notice this strength,

But as some stress and anxiety and tension tries to come back to you,

You see that it is repelled completely by this blanket.

It cannot penetrate.

The blanket is light,

But unimaginably strong.

And nothing can get to you while you have this blanket on top of you.

And you contemplate the blanket and for now the blanket is going to give you a bit of its strength.

After this meditation,

You'll be just a little stronger.

Each time you do a meditation like this,

You'll be a little stronger.

You're taking some power from this blanket.

You'll be able to repel stress just as this blanket does.

This meditation is almost over,

So imagine that blanket on top of you.

Imagine taking some of its strength.

Don't worry,

It's not losing any.

It is infinitely strong.

It is durable like everything else in this place.

But it is also,

As always,

Happy to help you.

In fact,

That is what it exists for.

This meditation is about to end.

So get comfy in the chair and your imagination for one last moment.

And realize that although the meditation is over,

This cabin is not going to disappear.

It's a place that I have described,

But that you've made.

And so it is a place made by you for you.

Nothing can take it away,

And no one except for you can change it.

You can come back here at any time if you're tired,

Stressed,

Worried,

Or bored.

Or if you just want something to feel nice about,

You can come back to this at any time.

So imagine holding this cabin in the palm of your hand.

Imagine it as if it were wrapped in a leaf.

The leaf obscures the view of the cabin,

But you know it's still there.

Imagine it being a nice big maple leaf.

A red,

Beautiful red leaf that you're wrapping around the scene of the cabin.

And hold it in your hands and feel how although you're about to squeeze,

It is indestructible and eternal.

So as you squeeze it,

Imagine it getting smaller and smaller.

And finally close your hand,

Open your palm,

And in your imagination,

Know that the scene is no longer visible.

But that's not because it disappeared,

Because it cannot disappear.

Know that it is now part of you forever.

It is with you always.

All you need to do to come back here is return your attention to this cabin in the woods at any time and for any reason.

And you'll be able to come back and experience anything or everything that we have today.

Again,

Just because it's so important I want to say again,

This place is eternal.

It is for you.

You will always be safe here.

Nothing can take it from you and you can come to it at any time.

So this meditation is now over.

Please enjoy the rest of your day and return to the cabin anytime you need.

Reviews

Incredible! Felt so relaxed and in tune with my body. Such an imaginative and supportive self care experience!