The Magical Mermaid On The Beach: Long Bedtime Story

Welcome to this Slumberland Sleep Story.

Help your guide as you wander along a beach,

Where you encounter a magical mermaid who shares wisdom and knowledge with you about their undersea world,

Before settling down in a tent near the sea and drifting peacefully asleep.

I'd like to take this moment to wish you the most peaceful night's sleep and pleasant dreams as you fall asleep to this sleep story.

Before we begin 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.

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 begin to comfortably drift asleep,

You find yourself walking along a seafront.

And you're walking along this beach,

You have a bag on your back,

Containing some items because you'll be camping here on this beach.

And you're carrying a tent in a bag in one hand.

And while you walk along the beach,

You can notice what it feels like to be walking there.

What that beach ground feels like beneath your feet.

You can hear the sounds around you of distant birds flying over the sea.

Flying over the land that you've just walked down from.

And in that land is meadows and woodland.

And this is just the most incredible location.

It's your secret spot for peace and calm.

Where you enjoy parking up.

Heading through that woodland.

Heading down through the meadow.

Sometimes really taking time as you walk through the meadow to enjoy that experience.

Other times just heading through the meadow to get to the beach.

And as you walk along the seafront.

So you can hear the water rolling into the shore on one side of you.

And you can feel the temperature of the sun.

Notice the way clouds are moving in the sky.

And you arrive at the perfect spot to place your belongings down.

You place down that bag with the tent in.

You place down the bag you have on your back.

You take a moment to breathe in that fresh sea air.

Aware of the sensation of that air as it passes in through your nostrils and down into your body.

And you begin to explore this beach a little.

With your belongings placed on the ground.

You walk along the beach looking for any scraps of dry driftwood.

That later you'll be able to use to make a fire.

And in an almost meditative way.

As you relax and explore the beach.

You find some of that driftwood.

And some driftwood looks like it's been washed up quite recently.

With very little wearing down from the sea.

Other driftwood looks like it's probably been in the water for a while.

It's incredibly smooth.

You pick up the different bits of driftwood.

Gathering it up in one hand.

And then as more and more driftwood is found.

You cup your arm a little.

And start gathering it up.

Stacking it along your arm.

And slightly under your arm.

Once you've gathered up enough driftwood.

You head back to your belongings.

You place that down on the beach.

Before heading off to explore again.

You walk to the far side of this area of beach.

Where there are some stones.

Jutting out into the sea.

Some large boulder like stones.

And you climb up onto those stones.

Feeling the way that the dry stones.

Have really been absorbing the heat of the sun from the day.

You walk a little bit across those stones.

Heading out above the water.

And gently sit yourself down here.

And the stone just a little bit further down from you.

Is darker.

From the way that the water has been rolling in across the stone.

And splashing onto the stone.

And as those waves roll in and strike these stones.

So you notice the spray.

Occasionally turn almost into a bit of a mist around you.

Smelling that salty sea air.

Hearing the sound of those waves.

The rolling water.

Envelop you.

As those waves pass you by on both sides.

And strike in front of you.

And wrap a little bit around behind you.

You look out across the sea.

And you can see the way the sunlight is dancing on the surface of the sea.

The way the light of the sun.

Seems to almost make the tips of some of the curling over waves.

See through.

Almost like glass.

And as some of those waves roll in.

You can notice looking all the way down left and right.

That shape of those rolling waves.

So steady.

Keeping that shape as they get closer and closer to the shore.

At a very slight angle to the shore.

So that as it approaches.

You can see one end of that wave.

Starting to rise up ever so slightly.

As the front of the wave begins to slow down.

And then the wave begins to curl over.

And you watch that curling over wave.

As the curl travels from the far side of the wave.

All the way along.

Getting nearer and nearer to you.

With the far side then breaking.

And that breaking wave chasing the curling curl.

And then the water crashing onto the shore.

Rolling up the shore.

The sound of that water as it rolls up the shore.

And then pulls some of the shore back out into the sea with it.

In an almost hypnotic process.

And seeing the way that some seagulls are perched in the sea.

And that they are perching themselves in that water.

Floating on the surface.

Just beyond that line where the waves curl over and break.

They never seem to land on the wrong side of that line.

And the wave just rolls in underneath them.

And the seagull bobs up.

And then back down again.

And you notice as watching.

The waves don't really move.

It's kind of an illusion.

That it looks like a wave rolling in.

You can watch it from way out to sea.

You can keep your eyes on one wave.

And you can keep focused on that wave and watch as it nears to the shore.

You can watch it go from almost like just a stretched out ripple in the sea.

To curling over at the shore.

Sliding up the shore.

And then pulling back again.

But these seagulls give away that that isn't what's really happening.

There aren't really waves rolling in to the shore.

The energy is moving.

But the water is remaining roughly in place.

Just nudging that energy on to the water beyond it.

And so the seagulls just move up and down.

As the energy passes beneath them.

And that the wave is just the energy travelling.

Not the water specifically travelling.

And as you watch those seagulls for a while.

You see how they direct themselves.

To be able to have a clear run up.

To be able to take off from the water.

That they can't just open their wings,

Flap and launch upwards.

They have to move forwards a little.

Get themselves going in the water.

And then flap to launch out of the water.

You watch the way seagulls land.

As they fly in and skid to a halt in the water.

And then after a little while of watching those seagulls.

Feeling the warmth of that sun.

Observing the way the clouds are moving across the sky.

You head back across those rocks.

Back down onto the beach and head back towards your camp.

And back towards your belongings.

And you're aware from the position of the sun in the sky.

Even without looking at a watch.

That it is now the afternoon.

And so you decide to set your tent up a little way from the water.

A little way beyond that line of debris that's washed up to the shore.

Knowing that you're just beyond.

What seems to be the furthest inland that that sea rolls.

You dig a little pit.

A short distance from the front of the tent.

And slowly and carefully.

Enjoying the experience of taking time.

You create a campfire.

You place your belongings into the tent.

You hang a torch up in the middle of the tent.

And then you decide to take some time.

To just rest here on the beach.

You take a couple of towels out of the tent.

You lie one down.

You grab some stones and place those stones.

In the corners of that towel to hold it on the ground in case of any breeze.

In the other towel you keep rolled up.

You place that down as a cushion.

You sit down on the towel.

And for a moment you just watch the water rolling in towards the shore.

Sitting comfortably on that towel.

Listening to the sound of the water as it rolls in.

Almost feeling your breathing matching with the rhythm of the waves.

Before lying yourself back in the sun.

Resting your head back on that towel.

Feeling the towel beneath your arms,

Your hands.

Feeling the texture of that towel under your fingertips.

The sensation of the towel against your legs.

Still occasionally getting that taste of the sea air.

The sounds around you.

As you close your eyes.

As you can really feel a sense of peace developing within you.

As you just listen to the world around you.

As you begin to find yourself drifting into a reverie.

And as you drift into that reverie.

You begin to have a sense of relaxing your mind and body.

You find yourself focusing on the top of your head.

Noticing how your head's resting on that towel.

How it's supported by that towel.

The slight bounciness,

The slight give the towel has.

The way your head just gently sinks into that towel.

You have a sense of the muscles around your scalp and the back of your head.

How those muscles can soften and begin to relax.

Discovering yourself drawing in peace and comfort with each breath that you take.

Before you move your awareness around your face.

And you focus on what it's like for that relaxation to spread around your face.

Your ears and your cheeks.

Experiencing the muscles in these areas.

Softening and relaxing.

Relaxing the muscles around your eyes and across your forehead.

And then having the muscles around the side of your head and over the top of your head.

Begin to relax.

Deeper and deeper.

Noticing how you can pay attention to fading tension.

Or perhaps finding that the tension dissolves without paying it any attention at all.

And you effortlessly 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 the back of your neck and around your throat.

And as your jaw relaxes and hangs slightly loose,

Limp and comfortable.

You can find that that relaxation can continue to move down to your shoulders and upper back.

And you don't know whether that relaxation is going to happen fastest around your shoulders or in your upper back.

Or perhaps it'll happen fastest down the tops or the front of your shoulders.

As that relaxation progresses effortlessly 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.

You can find that that relaxation begins to spread down the arms to the hands.

All the way down to your fingertips.

And I don't know which arm will relax fully fastest.

Whether it'll be the left arm or the right arm.

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

And as that relaxation continues through those arms.

It can flow down through your stomach.

Your sides and your lower back.

All the way down to your bottom.

Before extending deeply down through your legs.

All the way to the tips of your toes.

And as your body becomes deeper.

And deeper relaxed while you drift into the most pleasant sleep.

So your mind begins to relax.

You can notice the way the clouds pass across in front of the sun.

As the glow through your closed eyelids darkens and brightens.

And you can feel your cheeks cool while the clouds pass across the sun.

And feel the way that they warm as the sun reemerges from behind those clouds.

And as the sun warms your face.

Warms those cheeks.

So you can begin to have a sense of a healing light.

Touching your cheeks.

Your forehead.

Enveloping your face and head with healing deep relaxation.

Absorbing comfortably and gently into you with each in-breath that you take.

Filling you with healing peace and calm.

Spreading that healing restorative recuperative light down through your body.

Breathing in healing calm relaxation.

And breathing out any stress or tension.

And you can be aware of that healing light as it passes gently down through your neck.

Softening and relaxing those muscles.

Spreading that healing light throughout the neck.

As it spreads down with the next breath to your shoulders.

Around the back of your neck and down into your arms.

Gradually continuing that flow of healing light all the way down to your fingertips.

Perhaps having a certain tingling sensation passing with that healing light through your body.

And with another in-breath.

The healing light can spread down through the body.

Softening and relaxing muscles.

Healing deep within the body.

Filling the body with pleasure and deep relaxation.

As the light journeys down around your stomach.

Your lower back and sides.

Into your buttocks and all the way down your legs to the soles of your feet.

Filling your whole body with that healing restorative light.

And as you allow that light to flow with each breath.

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

And as you find your mind drifting deeper and deeper into a reverie.

You discover yourself as an albatross.

You launch off a cliff.

Swooping down as you stretch out your wings.

Before steadying out.

Gliding across an ocean.

Catching an updraft.

Circling round in that updraft.

So easily and so effortlessly with no movement of those wings.

Just subtle changes to how you're using those wings to keep you stable in the updraft.

And as you rise higher and higher.

So you notice you can see further and further.

You notice the way the horizon stretches further and further away.

You can notice islands come into view which couldn't be seen from the ground.

You notice the sun gently rising higher into the sky as you head higher into the sky.

Despite the fact that the sun is actually setting.

And almost have this thought.

That it feels almost as if you're turning back some of the time of that sun setting.

You can see that from up here as you swoop around and fly high in the sky.

The patterns of the waves rolling into the shore.

How regular those waves look.

Different shapes and patterns of the waves as they near the shore and break onto the shore.

Revealing something about the landscape beneath the waves.

Having some areas almost like a lattice of waves.

Where you know that there's clearly water pulling very sharply and strong back out towards the sea.

Other areas where the peaks of waves seem to be higher and seem to crash down sharper.

You know that the landscape beneath those waves is steeper.

And other areas where the water seems to just roll in so gently.

And almost just slide across the shore.

Sliding in some distance.

You know that the landscape there is low and shallow.

With just the slightest gradient.

As you circle around you can see the dots of the seagulls in the water.

You can see different boats in the water.

Some distant ships near the horizon.

Other birds flying high.

Catching their own updrafts.

And you have this sense of life as a wandering albatross.

How you spend most of your life gliding out to sea.

Barely touching land.

And being so efficient with your flight.

And after some time absorbed in this reverie.

Feeling the warmth of the sun on your cheeks.

And then the slightly cooler sensations on your cheeks as the occasional cloud passes in front of the sun.

And beginning to have that sense.

Like perhaps the sun is beginning to set.

You start to drift back from this reverie.

Awakening on that beach.

And once awakening on that beach.

You gather up your towels.

You shake off the towel keeping out the direction of the wind to allow any sand to blow past you.

Place those towels down into your tent.

You make sure that the campfire is lit.

And as the sun continues to set.

Under the evening glow.

You turn on the torch in the tent.

You set the tent up ready for sleeping for the night.

Placing out a sleeping bag.

Making it all cosy in the tent.

With that most comfortable glow of the torchlight in the tent.

And the current flickering orangey glow of the campfire a little distance from the tent.

And that orange glow of the setting sun.

And as the sun sets.

So you begin to read a book.

And you sit in the entrance to the tent.

Feeling so relaxed.

So comfortable.

Just reading that book in the entrance to the tent.

Noticing the slight coolness to the breeze.

As the sun continues to set.

Noticing the way the sound changes.

As the air cools.

And night time begins to spread across this land.

You can notice the appearance of twinkling stars in the sky.

Still noticing the occasional cloud passing by.

And as you rest there reading in the entrance to the tent.

You start to hear some splashing in the water.

And so you look up.

Along the shoreline.

And you see some distance away.

An area of water.

Looking like it's glowing electric blue.

With some of that electric blue water.

Folding over as it approaches the shore.

And rolling up onto the shore.

It's the first time that you've seen bioluminescence like this.

For real.

And then you notice something strange.

You notice within that area of bioluminescence.

You can make out the shadowy figure of someone walking out of the water.

And as they walk out of the water.

You can just about make out some bioluminescent water.

Glistening as it rolls down their legs.

As they walk along the seashore towards you.

And you watch with intrigue as this friendly looking person is heading in your direction.

And as they get nearer and nearer to you.

You realise that they look like they had been completely submerged under the water.

By the way that under the faint torchlight from in your tent.

And the glow of the flickering campfire.

You can see water dripping from their hair.

See that their hair is wet.

You can see water glistening on their face.

And their body.

And streaks of dripping water.

Following the contours of their body.

Running down their body.

To the beach below.

And you notice how friendly they seem.

And how curious of you they seem.

And they begin to talk with you.

In the softest,

Sweetest,

Kindest voice.

They explain that they're a mermaid.

They've come up here onto shore.

And they've seen you.

And with intrigue.

They've wanted to engage with you.

And they can sense that you're curious about them.

Where they came from.

And where they live.

And that you have curiosity about whether they truly are a mermaid.

And not just a person who's swimming in the sea.

Who's just left the sea.

And they tell you that they can show you where they come from.

They can give you some insight.

And they hold out a hand.

And as they do,

They gaze at the palm of their hand.

And you instinctively understand this.

And you place a hand onto their hand.

And their other hand they place on your shoulder.

As they stand opposite you.

And they ask you to look them in the eyes.

And they tell you that your eyelids will begin to get heavier and heavier.

As you become deeper and deeper absorbed in this experience.

They ask you to follow their breathing.

As they begin to count down from 20.

And while you're gazing into their eyes.

And you begin to match their breathing.

They start to softly and gently count down.

From 20.

19.

18.

17.

And you find yourself becoming deeper and deeper absorbed in the experience with each count.

You find that your eyelids are becoming heavier and heavier.

16.

15.

14.

And they continue to count slowly,

Carefully and softly as you drift deeper into the experience.

The sounds around you seeming to fade away and become less important as you develop this profound connection with the mermaid.

13.

12.

11.

Finding yourself going all the way deeper and deeper.

Noticing the way you feel deeper absorbed and more relaxed with each number that they count you down.

10.

9.

8.

Deeper and deeper absorbed in the experience.

7.

6.

5.

Relaxing so peacefully and comfortably with each number.

And so effortlessly.

4.

3.

2.

And 1.

Deep sense of comfort,

Relaxation and stillness develop through your mind and body as if you're one with the mermaid in a deep and profound connection.

And everything around the two of you seems to almost have faded away.

And you know on some level,

Everything is still there,

But you're so focused on this relationship with this mermaid,

On this connection the two of you have,

That nothing beyond that connection matters in this moment.

And around you,

You start to have this sense of swimming under the water with the mermaid.

As the mermaid swims so easily and so effortlessly holding onto you,

Taking you with them,

Deep underwater.

And you see,

As you dive deeper and deeper,

The glow of the domes of a vast underwater city spring into view.

And you both swim incredibly quickly towards those domes.

And as you reach the domes,

So you effortlessly pass straight into the domes,

And you realise that these domes just seem to be a different kind of water.

That it just seems to be similar to a greenhouse,

In that outside the greenhouse is air,

Moisture,

Vegetation,

And inside a greenhouse is air,

Moisture and vegetation.

But the inside of a greenhouse has a controlled environment,

And there's a glow within these domes,

Illuminating the inside of these domes,

Despite the domes being a long way under the water.

And the mermaid shows you around one of these domes,

Shows you where the mermaids all live,

And you explore the monuments,

The buildings,

You see what look like farms and vegetation being grown.

Whole communities down here within these domes.

And the mermaid swims you to a specific building,

In through the water in the side of that building,

And then you come out into this building in a dry area.

And as you do,

The mermaid launches through that water and lands on their feet,

And you ask about how they can seem to have a fin at one point,

Having a tail,

And at another point,

Having two legs.

And they explain about it being an adaptation,

That seems to respond incredibly quickly,

They don't put conscious thought into it at all,

It just happens.

And it isn't just about when the legs are underwater,

They become a fin,

And when they're out of the water,

They become legs.

They seem to somehow control the process unconsciously,

So that as they're approaching a location of leaving water,

And they know that's what they're doing,

Their body seems to automatically know what it needs to do.

It's an automatic reflex action.

They explain that it tingles slightly as those legs transform into a tail,

Or the tail transforms into legs,

And that they can't manage to make it happen by conscious thought.

So they can't sit down here,

Now,

And will themselves to have a tail,

Just like while swimming,

They can't will themselves to have legs.

It just happens automatically.

And that they have heard of some mermaids being able to meditate,

Gain control over unconscious processes,

To the point where they can will themselves to have legs or a tail,

But that it isn't a skill that they've learned.

And they jump back through the water holding you,

And they explain to you,

While swimming,

Almost psychically into your mind,

That this is all just a projection of you,

You're stood on that beach,

With your hand on theirs,

And their hand on your shoulder,

Facing each other,

And the two of you are projecting your consciousness.

Through this experience,

They guide you around and explore this underwater land,

And you notice,

While swimming away from those domes,

That you pass a layer of water where it just seems incredibly difficult to see those domes.

And you wonder,

How do the domes not get detected?

And you have communicated with you that the answer is that within the domes are water,

Outside the domes are water,

There's no solid boundary to the domes.

So any sonar won't pick up the domes,

It'll just pick up what it perceives as rock formations,

And after the experience begins to come to an end,

You don't have conscious awareness that the mermaid is beginning to bring you back to being on that beach,

But you do start to notice the sounds around you on this beach.

And then you notice yourself focusing back on that mermaid,

Standing in front of you,

And they've gained something from their interaction with you,

And you've gained something from your interaction with them,

And they place a gift in your hand that looks like a smooth stone.

They tell you it'll have some importance for the future,

It'll mean something to you,

A bit like planting a seed,

Watering that seed,

Giving it enough light and nutrients.

And what appeared to be a simple little seed of insignificance can become any number of different flowers,

Or plants,

Or trees depending on that starting seed,

But they don't explain to you the connection with this.

They head back down to the shore,

And as they arrive at the shore,

So that bioluminescence appears again.

They walk into the bioluminescence,

Before diving into the water so gracefully and disappearing beneath the waves.

And after they're gone,

And silence sets in around the scene,

Just the sound of the beach,

Part of your mind is focused on the experience,

With curiosity wanting to learn more and keep thinking about it.

And as you sit back into your tent,

You continue to try to read some of your book,

But a part of your mind keeps on going back to that experience,

Gaining something new from it each time you review it in your mind,

Touching and running your fingers over that object that you were given,

The smoothness of that object.

Understanding that while trying to read and having your mind distracted,

You're starting to feel so sleepy,

So you place a bookmark into your book,

Tuck yourself back into your tent,

Close up the entrance to the tent.

You turn off the torch,

And hearing the sounds of the beach outside the tent,

You begin to find yourself so easily and effortlessly,

Honestly and fully drifting and floating asleep.

Drifting deeper and deeper asleep,

So deeply,

So relaxed,

Asleep into slumberland.