Beloved,
Close your eyes and let the day come to a gentle end.
Make your way back to that safe place within,
That is already waiting for the shape of you.
Let your body be received,
Just as it is.
Feel the weight of your limbs,
Your head,
Your torso,
Giving yourself fully to gravity.
This quiet,
Invisible kindness that holds you without question.
Take a slow breath in,
And a longer breath out,
As if you are offering yourself back to the earth.
Imagine a scene gently coming into focus now.
Slowly,
You begin to notice an open woodland.
It's night time.
The moon softly shimmers across the surface of a stream that runs calmly beside you,
Weaving itself through the hushing trees.
Small creatures have found their voices,
And are singing lullabies into the cool night air.
The bank you are standing on is soft and grassy,
And your bare feet press gently into the damp earth.
As you begin to walk,
Flickers of fireflies appear,
And in the distance,
An owl calls softly into the night.
You can smell the sweetness of pine and cedar,
And sense the warmth still resting in the smooth face of a stone from a day of sun.
Crickets beat out their quiet rhythm,
And the whole woodland seems to be here with you,
Holding you,
Watching over you,
Gently guiding you deeper into stillness.
As you walk beside the stream,
You notice a pulsating blow just ahead.
It shines from the window of a small pottage,
Nestled behind spruce trees,
Whose feathery skirts brush the ground.
A thin thread of smoke curls from the chimney into the dark and starry sky.
As you approach the cottage,
You can see that the door stands open,
Welcoming and kind.
You walk up the wooden steps to the porch,
And notice that the room inside is lit with a soft amber glow.
A fire flickers gently,
Casting golden light across the wooden floor,
Toward a bed resting in the corner.
Before stepping inside,
You place your heavy backpack down beside the door.
It carries your longings,
Your fears,
Your past and your future,
Your problem solving and your searching.
You set it down gently,
Knowing there is nothing you need to carry right now.
You can return to it in the morning if you need to,
But for now,
You feel the lightness in your body as you step inside and quietly close the door behind you,
The sound of the stream softening softening into the distance.
The warmth inside meets you immediately.
Your feet move softly across the floorboards,
And the air carries the comforting scent of burning logs.
The bed is simple,
Made up with soft cotton sheets and heavy linen blankets.
As you sit on the edge of the bed,
You notice a small table beside you,
And resting there is an ornate golden box in the shape of a heart.
It glimmers in the firelight and is covered with beautiful symbols.
It feels familiar somehow,
Like you know it from somewhere.
You sense,
Without needing to understand how,
That there is a message for you inside this box,
Something quiet and true,
Waiting to be revealed in its own time.
There is nothing you need to do,
Nothing you need to open.
The box remains closed beside you.
It belongs to your dreams now.
As you lie down,
Feel the bed receive you.
The blankets settle around your body,
The pillow supporting your head.
As you sink slightly,
As a long breath leaves you,
You notice the gentle crackle of the fire,
The quiet presence of the night beyond the walls,
Everything around you holding you exactly as you are.
You are safe here,
Held by the cottage,
By the night,
By the earth beneath it all.
Now notice the space around your body,
Still,
Open and at ease.
This space holds you too.
Without effort,
Your body rests within it.
Feel the peace of this empty space around you,
That shares its nature with love,
Acceptance and oneness.
Let yourself soften a little more now,
Without the heavy bag of memory and anticipation of me and a world.
There is nothing you need to solve or fix,
Nothing you need to follow or figure out.
Nothing to hold,
Nothing to let go.
There is just this,
The distant call of the owl,
The deep hush of the spruce,
And the quiet flow of the stream.
The gentle rhythm of your breath,
Like a tide beneath the milk-white moon.
Rest here,
As if resting were a return home to being held.
Let the night hold you,
Let the warmth carry you,
Let the space imbue you with peace.
Let your body grow heavy with surrender,
While gravity unfailingly supports you.
Let the golden heart's message find you through your dreams.
No need to go anywhere,
Let yourself drift,
Supported by everything around you,
And everything within you,
As sleep comes naturally,
Quietly,
And slowly.
