Anxiety release in the haven.
This guided audio recording will help to gently guide you into a deep state of relaxation from where you will have the option to drift off to sleep.
In a few moments you will embark on a pleasant and gentle journey of visualisation that will take place within your mind.
To begin your journey,
Find a comfortable place where you'll not be disturbed and sit or lie down.
Close your eyes and take a few long deep breaths,
Allowing yourself to relax.
Now just fall into a natural breathing pattern and enjoy this immersive experience.
Whenever you come back to the haven,
You remember the outside world only as a kind of dream,
But you have come to know that you do carry some of the stresses with you.
The haven itself is healing but you also like to deal with the lingering stress as soon as you can.
The old lady has said or rather told you in no uncertain terms that you must be kind to yourself and this is one of the ways to show it.
What you do on your first day back sometimes depends on the weather.
If it's dry,
You might visit the old lady for a chat and a hot drink,
Or walk through the small wood down to the village.
They always seem to know when you have arrived and a delivery of food and a drink comes with the pony trap early in the morning.
Today there is rain and a strong wind,
So you decide to stay in your home.
The raindrops chase down the windows and the wind gusts in the trees,
But inside it is like a warm embrace.
Everything is just as you left it.
Because you are not going anywhere,
You wander around the house,
Always grateful for its welcome.
It is so perfect for you that it is as if you dreamed it.
Then someone took the dream and created it.
You seem to see the rooms with fresh eyes every time.
The spacious kitchen,
The hallway that leads to the other rooms.
There is a particular scent that summer or winter always lingers in your home.
You cannot quite put your finger on what it is,
But it is simultaneously fresh,
Clean and relaxing,
Like freshly laundered linen,
But not that alone.
The fires are lit and because of the dimness of the day,
The lamps spread soft,
Warm light.
It is still winter,
But when you stood on the doorstep and looked across at the wood,
You could sense that the season was beginning to turn.
Snowdrops cluster in your garden and the green spears of the daffodils and hyacinths are reaching up.
Today it is wild and stormy.
The tree branches are bare and sway against the cluster of the wind.
You take a deep breath of the air and turn to go back in.
Pinned above the letterbox,
You see a simple sprig of yew.
It was definitely placed there,
Not blown in by the wind.
You take it and think that although it might look simple,
Simple.
It must have come from the ancient yew in the fairy wood.
The fae also knew you were returning,
It seems.
You tuck the yew sprig into your pocket and go inside.
It is time now to be cosy,
To relax and shake off any remaining stresses you brought with you.
You go into your living room,
To your favourite chair.
Sitting down,
You listen to the fire and the counterpoint of the wind and rain for a while.
It lulls you and you close your eyes.
You take some deep breaths,
Imagining that as you exhale,
Any stress leaves your body and mind and whisps away.
It is made powerless by the safety of your home and the magic of the haven.
You feel your jaw and shoulders lose their rigidity and simply breathe.
Conscious of being here,
Protected and looked after,
You can breathe easily and unhurriedly.
There is nothing you need to worry about,
Nothing you have to do or rush around for.
You feel the sensation of breathing in your abdomen and place your hand upon it.
You simply experience the inhale,
The exhale and the time between as the moment you are in.
If you find your mind wandering off to the outside world,
Gently return it to the moment,
To the sounds of the wind and the music of the crackling fire.
Here in this place,
You can practice self compassion and self love.
Everyone else here and the haven itself treats you with kindness and more,
As if you are important and even special to the whole place.
It is therefore important for you to feel the same way about yourself,
Whether you are here or in your other life.
You can almost hear the old lady say briskly that it's all a lesson you have to learn.
You relax deeper into the breathing,
Being present,
Being here in your house,
Which is a safe place within a safe place.
Everything else outside the haven becomes more and more distant to your thoughts,
Instead you simply feel the knowledge of protection and healing.
You feel the tensions float away and vanish,
A gentle warmth spreads through you,
Softening the muscles so that your body becomes pliant and settles more comfortably into the chair.
You say to yourself,
I am present,
I am peaceful,
I am being kind to myself today,
I am allowing healing and calm,
The fire talks gently to itself,
The soft lamps glow in the dimness and the rain patters on the windows.
It is the rain that softens the ground after the winter frosts that heralds the spring.
You listen,
Relaxing more and more.
The winds may be wild,
But in your safe place,
In the haven,
You know all is well,
And you allow the sounds to carry you softly into sleep.
