The Magical Island Lighthouse: Meditation Bedtime Story

Welcome to this Slumberland sleep story.

I'll be your guide as you journey through a magical woodland,

Finding your way to a beach,

Gazing over a stormy ocean towards a lighthouse on an island.

You walk along the beach towards a cabin,

Finding shelter in that cabin as a storm rolls in.

Inside the cabin you find a trap door in the floor.

You descend under the cabin and follow a long tunnel under the ocean and out to the lighthouse.

You explore the lighthouse before settling down and falling asleep to the sound of the storm outside.

As we begin I would like to wish you the most peaceful nights sleep and pleasant dreams.

Before we start the story you can take a few moments to settle down comfortably.

You can shift about a little if you need to,

To make yourself even more comfortable.

And when you're ready you can let your eyes gently close and as the story unfolds you can take a few deep relaxing breaths,

Allowing the out-breaths to be a little longer than the in-breaths.

This triggers the body's natural relaxation response and as you relax you can find yourself walking through a magical evening woodland.

The moonlight dancing and shimmering before you as it penetrates through the canopy of leaves overhead,

With occasional silvery speckles of light hanging and floating in the moonbeams.

You can hear the sounds of the evening woodland enveloping you,

The distant sound of birds settling down for the night,

The gentle scurrying of small mammals in the undergrowth,

Perhaps noticing the sound of a squirrel not yet settled,

Finding its way home through the branches above and the soft rustling of the leaves as the wind gently tickles at the tops of the trees.

As you continue to walk through the woodland with the soft crunch of each step barely audible,

Navigating your way through the silhouetted trees,

You can smell the slightly damp,

Woody,

Fresh nighttime air,

Finding something about that scent calming and peaceful.

As you head further into the deep,

Dark,

Relaxing woodland you rely on your peripheral vision to better see the environment around you in the dark.

As you continue walking,

Your eyes become better adapted to the inky blackness descending around you.

As you navigate through the woods,

You gently feel the world around you,

Letting your hands and fingertips softly touch branches,

Leaves and the trunks of trees,

Almost like cats' whiskers,

Feeling and sensing the world as you go,

Moving aside branches,

Navigating around trees,

Feeling the sensations of the cool,

Damp bark of those trees under your fingertips.

Occasionally you notice the soft sound of each footstep you take,

Pacing over the woodland floor as the dancing moonlight continues to shift and move with the swaying of the branches.

As you near the exit of this magical woodland,

So the sound of the ocean increases.

You can see the moonlight creeping into the woods in front of you,

Catching a small glimpse of the patchy,

Dark sky.

You walk out of the woodland,

Finding yourself in a meadow,

Leading down to the most beautiful night-time ocean,

The taller grasses and flowers stroking your legs as you walk closer towards the sea.

The night glows shades of blues with the silvery light of the moon dancing on the tops of the waves as they froth and bubble and undulate towards the shore.

As you near the beach,

So the sound of the ocean increases,

You can hear those waves rolling up onto the beach.

You head through the meadow and down onto the beach where you find a bench.

You sit on that bench,

And while sat there you can feel the breeze on your face.

You can smell the fresh,

Salty air of the sea.

You can see the lighthouse standing tall on an island,

Silhouetted against the storm clouds,

Flashing and glowing with lightning on the horizon.

You watch as the light from the lighthouse scans the ocean,

Sweeping across the sea,

Scanning into the distance before swinging around towards you on the shore and then back out to sea again with rhythmic,

Calming,

Comforting regularity.

You notice that the storm is slowly moving towards the shore,

But for now it seems a long way off,

Way beyond that island lighthouse.

You occasionally notice flashes of lightning in the clouds on the horizon,

And hear the soft,

Distant,

Deep rumbles of thunder sometime later.

You decide to relax on that bench,

Take some deep breaths of that fresh,

Cool,

Night-time air,

Being aware of that air as it passes in through your nose,

Across the roof of your mouth,

And down into your chest.

You allow yourself to get comfortable,

And close your eyes.

And as you continue to breathe in that salty,

Fresh air,

You begin to drift into a pleasant reverie in your mind,

And as you drift into that reverie,

You can have a sense of relaxing your mind and body.

You focus on the top of your head.

You can feel the breeze around your head,

How comfortable your head feels,

Resting there,

Perhaps noticing the finest tickle of salty sea spray.

You imagine the muscles around your scalp and the back of your head softening and relaxing,

Before moving your awareness around your face.

You focus on what it's like for that relaxation to begin to spread around your face,

Your ears and your cheeks,

Having the muscles in the areas soften and relax,

Relaxing the muscles around your eyes and across your forehead,

While the muscles around the side of your head and over the top of your head begin to relax.

You continue to allow that relaxation to spread down around your mouth,

Relaxing your lips and your jaw,

Relaxing the muscles around the side of your neck,

Around to the upper back of your neck and around your throat.

As your jaw relaxes and hangs slightly loose,

Limp and comfortable,

That relaxation can continue to move down to your shoulders and upper back.

You can be curious whether that relaxation will happen fastest around the back of your shoulders or in the upper back,

Or perhaps down the tops or the front of your shoulders.

As that relaxation progresses around your back and your chest,

Softening and relaxing those muscles fully,

Deeply and comfortably.

And as those muscles soften and relax while you rest there,

That relaxation can begin to spread down the arms to the hands,

All the way down to your fingertips.

And I don't know whether the relaxation will spread fully fastest down the left arm or the right arm,

Or whether the arms will relax at the same rate and speed.

And as that relaxation continues through those arms,

It can flow down through your stomach,

Sides and lower back,

All the way down to your bottom,

Before extending deeply down through your legs to the tips of your toes.

And as your body becomes deeper and deeper relaxed,

So your mind begins to relax.

And as the beam of light from the lighthouse passes across you,

You can feel that light on your face,

Notice the gentle light in your inner experience,

And you can have a sense that this light passes a healing light into and through your body.

Almost like imagining the magical healing power of nature and your connection with nature around you,

Passing that healing,

Restorative,

Recuperative light down through your body,

Like discovering that every breath you take,

You breathe in a little more healing,

Calm relaxation,

Which flows deeply throughout your body,

From the top of your head to the tips of your toes,

As you breathe out any stress or tension,

As you listen to those waves rolling in and out,

Like the breathing is synchronizing with those waves,

Breathing in that healing and well-being,

And breathing out any stress,

Tension,

Discomfort or dis-ease from within the body.

And as you do this with each breath,

You can find your mind drifting deeper and deeper into a reverie,

Imagining yourself seeing a glowing orb rising up out of the sea,

So calmly,

So silently,

Then slowly moving towards the shore some distance away.

And as you drift down deeper and deeper into this experience,

You stand up from the bench,

And slowly and gently,

You begin to walk towards that glowing orb,

The sea appears to be rolling into the shore,

Almost as if it is in slow motion,

Time seems to be moving slowly,

Softly and peacefully,

Sounds become calming,

Deep and meaningful.

As you focus more fully on that orb,

You continue to walk along the beach,

Feeling the sensations of each footstep you take,

How the shoreline feels underfoot,

Noticing the glow of the orb illuminating the ground beneath it and the water's edge,

While it hovers in silence,

Yet somehow giving you the sense that there's barely audible hum emanating from that orb.

As you near the orb,

You begin to get a better sense of its size,

Noticing that it's about the size of a basketball,

And that although it appeared to be hovering stationary in place,

As you near that glowing orb,

You can see that it's moving ever so slightly,

Like it's gently bobbing up and down on a calm lake.

When you arrive at the orb,

It begins to dissipate,

Almost like it's dissolving before your eyes into bluish-white smoke,

And out of the smoke,

You see a male fairy,

Its wings beating so fast that they're flanked by a blur of rippling,

Pulsating color.

The fairy begins to talk in the most calm yet engaging,

Almost hypnotic voice.

Forget everything you've been told.

There is no need to remember anything up to this point or what is to come.

Things aren't always as they seem.

Sometimes,

Secrets can be found where there are none,

And other times you can stumble upon something seemingly mundane and discover that it has great value.

And I want you to always keep my words in mind.

It is easy to forget how easy it is to remember to forget what you were told,

Finding that you forgot what you tried to remember,

Only remembering that you forgot but unsure what it was,

And learning that you remembered my words but unsure what they were,

But what is important is that what happens here stays here.

And you can understand when you visit the lighthouse,

And you can close a door on all of this,

Forget about it and drift peacefully and comfortably asleep,

Sleeping so soundly all night long.

And with this,

Without giving you a chance to respond or to ask questions,

Leaving you a little confused and curious,

The orb reforms around the fairy,

And then the fairy heads back out to sea,

Before lowering back down into the ocean.

After being absorbed in your reverie for a while,

You notice a flash of light through your closed eyelids and hear a gentle rumble of thunder alerting you to the oncoming storm.

So you head back to that bench,

Sit back down on that bench and awaken from this reverie.

On awakening from this reverie,

You can see that the storm clouds have gotten closer,

The moon is now almost fully hidden behind the billowing clouds.

You see a cabin a little way along the coast,

So you begin to walk towards that cabin to find sanctuary from the approaching storm.

As you approach the cabin,

You can't help but keep gazing over at the lighthouse on that island,

The way it stands so tall and sturdy,

Like a beacon in the dark,

Resolute,

Faithful,

Unwavering,

Something ships' crews could depend on to be there for them in their time of need.

The rain suddenly increases,

Dozens of large drops exploding on contact with you every second,

Rain precariously clinging onto your eyebrows and those large drops massaging your cheeks.

As you arrive at the log cabin,

You run up to the door,

Wipe your face of excess water before knocking on the door and then waiting.

All the lights are off,

But you try knocking again,

There's still no answer,

So you carefully open the door,

Saying hello.

It doesn't seem like there's anyone here.

You walk into the darkness to close the door behind you.

Inside the cabin,

The sounds from outside are more muted,

With the cabin faintly illuminated through the windows,

With the projection of the windows onto the floor where you can see the effect of the rain racing down those windows.

As your eyes continue to adjust to the dark,

You notice what looks like a candle on a chest of drawers by a window.

You slowly reach for the candle,

Grasp that candle and can feel that it is in a candlestick holder.

You guide your hand down the candle and hold her to the chest.

You fill the surface of that chest with your fingertips.

Near the candle,

You feel a small box.

As you run your fingers over that cardboard box,

You can feel the striking sides and,

As the box moves while touched,

Hear the sound of rattling matches and recognise it as a matchbox.

You pick up the box,

Push the drawer of the box open,

Take a match,

Fill for the tip of the match and then strike it along the box as the flame crackles to life with the sweet sulphur dioxide smell.

A faint orange glow illuminates around you,

Bringing the cabin to life with a show of dancing shadows.

You light the candle,

Gently illuminating the cabin with a soft,

Faint,

Flickering glow of light.

You can smell the aroma of the flame and melting candle wax as the smell of the match fades.

You pick up the candle in its holder,

Carrying it around as you explore the cabin.

While slowly and quietly exploring,

You can hear the low rumbling of thunder outside,

The sound of the rain on the windows and the dull,

Almost imperceptible sound of each footstep on the rugs on the floor of the cabin,

Masked by the sounds of the encroaching storm.

Occasionally,

The cabin would brighten with flashes of lightning before the low rumbling arrives.

As you walk around,

You notice that a part of the floor sounds different and the floorboards seem loose.

Out of curiosity and remembering what the fairy said during your reverie,

You crouch down to investigate.

You pull back the rug and find a trapdoor with a ladder descending deep under the cabin.

You lay down on your belly and hold the candle down the hole to get a better look.

You notice that the ladder seems to lead down to a tunnel heading in the direction of the sea.

You count the rungs of the ladder,

Counting 20.

With curiosity,

You decide to head down into that tunnel and see where it goes.

You grab the matches,

Prepare to head into the tunnel.

You know you need both hands to descend the ladder,

So you blow out the candle.

And holding onto the ladder with both hands,

You begin to descend.

You descend those rungs from 20 to 19,

18,

17,

16,

Slowly,

Carefully,

Softly descending.

Feeling the wooden ladder in your hands and the sensation of each rung underfoot.

Smelling the slight damp smell coming from the tunnel below.

15,

14,

13,

12.

Continuing to descend all the way down,

Leaving the sound of the storm and the slight glow of the cabin above you as you step onto rung 11.

10,

9,

8.

Beginning to hear a slight windy deep rumble along the tunnel below.

7,

6,

5,

4.

Approaching the bottom of the ladder,

Feeling a stillness as you near the final rung.

3,

2,

1.

Stepping off the bottom rung onto the solid floor of the tunnel.

You stand there a moment,

Just listening to the peace and calm,

Before relighting the candle.

You notice the candle flame is flickering ever so slightly,

As an almost imperceptible breeze travels along the tunnel.

You follow this tunnel,

The candlelight dancing on the solid mud walls and floor,

With occasional glistening areas of damp on the walls,

The only evidence that this tunnel is heading under the ocean.

After what seems like a very long time of walking,

You finally reach the end of the tunnel at another ladder.

Again,

You put the candle out so that you can use both hands to ascend.

At the top of the ladder,

You push open the trap door,

Exit the tunnel and find that you're in a room.

The sound of the storm outside,

The rain on the windows and the occasional flash of lightning.

You relight the candle and discover that this room is round.

Realising that you're in the lighthouse on the island,

You explore this lighthouse,

Following narrow steps up to the next floor.

Each level is made of a single room.

The ground floor seemed to be a general living area,

With a round table and chairs,

A sofa and two armchairs.

The next level looked like a kitchen and dining area.

The third floor looked like a study or small library.

There were books around all of the walls.

There was an old books smell filling this space.

The windows were small and the walls were thick.

You take a look at the books,

Noticing a few which catch your eye,

Before continuing to ascend the lighthouse.

At the next level,

Something crosses your mind.

It doesn't look like anyone has been here for a very long time.

You notice on this level a bedroom,

But the layout of the bed,

The linen used,

Seems outdated and not just by decades but by centuries.

This gets you curious how the light can still be shining and working after all of this time if no one has been here to care for it.

Unlike all of the other floors where you essentially followed a spiral staircase from one level to the next,

Walked around the room and ascended the next staircase,

This room has a ladder against the wall leading up to a trap door.

You climb that ladder and push open the trap door to find that you're now in the top dome of the lighthouse and you see a strange sight.

Rather than a flame or bulb,

You see what looks like an intensely glowing stone cup and a silver tray circling around it,

Focusing the light from the cup like a beam out to sea.

You head to a window in the dome.

The rain on the dome makes it seem almost frosted,

So you open that window to get a look outside.

You watch as the light sweeps across the scene and feel the rain on your face and shoulders and the slight saltiness to the air.

You close the window again and head to the glowing cup.

As you near the cup,

You feel the warmth given off by it and notice a deep sense of presence,

Of peace and love and compassion.

You have the deep sense that the cup should remain here,

Despite wanting to pick it up and take a closer look.

You feel almost mesmerized by that cup and the positive feelings you're experiencing from being in its presence.

Knowing it is bringing safety to so many day after day,

Week after week,

Year after year.

With that deep sense of peace,

Love and compassion,

You head back out of this dome,

Close that door on all of this and head back down to that library,

Where you find an old book claiming to be the legend of King Arthur,

As told by Merlin.

You take that book to the bedroom.

You can hear that storm outside and the rain on the windows.

You sit back so comfortably on the bed and begin reading by that gently flickering candlelight.

While reading,

Your eyes keep wanting to close.

The sound of the rain and the distant storm is making you begin to feel sleepier and sleepier.

You carry on reading about King Arthur,

About the Lady of the Lake,

About Excalibur and the search for the Holy Grail.

Your eyelids begin to feel heavier and heavier.

You try in vain for a while to fight the unconscious urge to close your eyes and fall asleep,

Determined that you'll make it to the end of the chapter that you're currently reading.

But eventually you give in.

You bookmark your page before putting down the book,

Blowing out the candle,

And while listening to the comforting sound of the storm and the rain on the windows,

You snuggle down into the bed,

Ready for the best night's sleep.

Closing your eyes before drifting and floating deeply and relaxed asleep into slumberland.