You find yourself standing in the middle of a forest.
The forest is still,
But alive in its own quiet way.
A breeze whispers through the trees,
Soft and steady like a lullaby.
The light is fading as the sun sets,
Like it too is ready to rest.
You walk along a winding path beneath tall ancient trees.
The air smells clean,
A little bit like moss and rain.
There's no destination,
No pressure,
Just the sound of your steps on the soft earth and the hush of evening settling in.
Up ahead,
Something catches your eye.
A single leaf lying on the path,
Simple,
Ordinary,
But something about it draws you in.
You kneel down and pick it up.
It's lighter than you expected,
You hold it between your fingers.
Its stem is thin and slightly curved,
Veins run across its surface,
Like a quiet map.
The green is beginning to fade at the edges,
Hinting at the start of change.
You turn it gently in your hand,
Studying it.
And just like that,
Your attention narrows,
The forest fades,
The trees,
The sky,
The sound of the stream,
They all slip to the background as your focus clings to this single leaf.
And then,
You understand.
This leaf is a thought,
Not a helpful one,
Not a peaceful one,
It's the kind of thought that shows up uninvited,
A worry,
A what if.
You didn't plan to hold it,
But here it is,
In your hand,
And it's keeping you from seeing everything else.
You stand and walk toward the sound of water,
There just off the path,
A stream glides through the forest,
It winds over smooth stones,
Quietly doing what it's always done,
Flowing forward.
You crouch beside it,
The leaf is still in your hand,
And you realise,
This is the moment,
You can let it go.
You don't have to carry this worry,
You don't have to solve a problem right now,
You don't have to think your way out of it,
You just have to stop holding it.
You place the leaf gently on the surface of the stream,
At first it rests there,
Still and uncertain,
Then,
The water begins to carry it,
Not forcefully,
But steadily,
You watch it drift,
Further and further,
Until it's just a speck,
And now,
Gone,
Just like that,
The thought leaves with it,
The overthinking,
The tension you didn't realise you were holding on to,
Is now gone,
The water carries it all,
Without judgement,
Without effort.
You stand for a while,
Watching the stream continue its quiet journey,
And without the leaf in your hand,
You feel lighter,
Not just in body,
But in mind,
Your breathing relaxes and every breath is full and easy now.
As your focus returns,
You notice the forest again,
The light through the trees,
Turning soft gold,
The butterflies rising in the warm air,
Like floating petals,
The dragonflies hovering,
Their wings catching hints of light.
The green around you is vivid,
Lush and alive,
The more you let go,
The more you see,
The more you release,
The more you feel.
You wander forward,
No thoughts pulling at you now,
No heaviness in your chest,
Only stillness.
Eventually you come to a clearing,
A quiet place where the sky opens above,
And the ground is blanketed in moss.
You lie down,
And the earth receives you,
There is no resistance,
Only support.
Above,
The stars are beginning to appear,
One by one,
Soft and slow,
And without trying,
You begin to rise,
Gently,
As if lifted by the hush of the forest itself.
You float above the treetops,
Above the winding stream,
Above the leaf you once held.
Everything below becomes smaller,
And simpler,
The details begin to blur,
And the weight of the day fades with them.
You drift through a layer of clouds,
Which are cool,
Soft and silent,
The kind of quiet that settles deep into your bones.
Nothing here seeks your attention,
There's nothing to fix,
There's nothing to solve,
And there's nothing to do.
There is just space,
To breathe and rest,
And the knowing,
That anything you are holding,
You can place in the water,
You can let it go.
You're floating now,
Wrapped in calmness,
Cradled by the sky and the clouds,
Drifting towards sleep.
Sleep is easy now,
As you listen to the quiet around you,
And the freedom to choose positive thoughts.
Sleep is here,
You don't need to reach for it,
It's already holding you,
Just like the You are safe,
You are still,
And now,
With peace of mind,
You can go to sleep.
