The Mystical Land - Long Bedtime Story

Just take a moment to allow yourself to get comfortable and lay your eyes to close.

And as you drift deeply and soundly asleep,

I don't know whether you'll drift deeper asleep to the sound of my voice or to the spaces between my words.

And with your eyes closed,

You can begin to have a sense of relaxing your mind and body as I count down from 20 to 1.

Becoming deeper absorbed in the experience with each number.

From 20,

Beginning to focus on the top of your head.

Noticing how your head is resting there,

How it's supported gently in place.

The comfort in and around your head resting there.

19.

Having a sense of the muscles around your scalp and the back of your head softening and relaxing deeper and deeper.

Drawing in peace and comfort with each breath that you take.

Before moving your awareness around your face.

18.

Focusing on what it's like for that relaxation to spread around your face,

Your ears and your cheeks.

Having the muscles in these areas soften and relax.

17.

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 deeper and deeper.

16.

Noticing how you can pay attention to fading tension or perhaps find that tension dissolves without paying it any attention at all.

15.

And you can 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 back of your neck and around your throat.

14.

And as your jaw relaxes and hangs slightly loose,

Limp and comfortable.

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

13.

I don't know whether that relaxation happens fastest around 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.

12.

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 to the fingertips.

11.

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

Whether it will be the left arm or the right arm.

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

10.

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.

9.

And as your body becomes deeper and deeper relaxed while you drift into the most pleasant sleep,

So your mind begins to relax.

As a wave of healing light gently passes down through your body.

8.

And you begin to have a sense of that healing light,

Touching your forehead,

Enveloping your face and head with healing deep relaxation.

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

7.

Filling you with peace and calm.

Spreading that healing,

Restorative,

Recuperative light down through your body,

Calming your mind.

6.

Breathing in healing,

Calm relaxation and breathing out any stress or tension.

5.

Aware of that healing light passing down 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.

4.

Gradually continuing that flow of healing light all the way to the tips of the fingers.

3.

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.

2.

And 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.

Perhaps noticing your whole mind and body,

Filling with a deep sense of peace and calm.

1.

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

You can find your mind drifting deeper and deeper asleep,

As you drift comfortably into the story.

And in this story,

You find yourself as the wizard's apprentice.

And you're walking along with that wizard,

Through the most beautiful forest,

In search of a secret tunnel.

And you don't know where this tunnel will be within this forest.

And the wizard is following an orb which is floating above the palm of his hand,

That's crackling softly with a sense of electricity.

And you're following along and engaging in conversation.

Exploring through this forest,

Hearing the sounds of the forest,

The sounds of birds and other animals.

The gentle rustle of leaves as the wind blows a breeze across the top of the canopy.

The dull,

Thud and slight crunch of each footstep through the undergrowth.

And the distant,

Gentle trickle of a stream.

And you continue through this forest.

And after a while,

You eventually find that stream.

You both stop and you take a drink from the stream.

And you splash some of that water on your face,

Surprised perhaps at how cool the water feels.

And you notice,

Just on the bank on the other side of the stream,

Is a small nest.

And in that nest,

Made of twigs,

Are three eggs.

And while you rest and have a drink of water on the edge of this stream,

The sound of that stream trickling by.

You see one of the eggs moving.

And you notice that it's about to hatch.

And you watch as that egg hatches.

And out of the egg is a strange creature,

Something you've never seen before.

As it starts to move,

It tumbles head over heels.

It looks like a small dinosaur.

It has two back legs,

Two small front arms,

And a head which seems slightly too big for its body.

And although you're with a wizard,

And you're learning magic and aware that magic exists,

You find this is still an unusual sight.

And even stranger,

Is that it seems that that dinosaur-like creature is already growing up.

That it's noticeably beginning to grow,

Right before your eyes.

And as it's growing up,

So sparkling,

Like fairy dust,

Seems to be emanating from its body.

And you watch with fascination,

As it grows larger and larger,

Until it seems to settle at the size of a small horse.

And curious,

You turn to the wizard,

And the wizard is just smiling.

They explain that they just cast a spell to accelerate the growth of the creature in that egg.

They did so because it would enhance your journey.

It would mean that you'd be able to travel faster.

And the friendly dinosaur-like creature walks through the stream,

To your side of the stream.

The wizard climbs on its back,

And ushers for you to jump on its back too.

And together,

The two of you ride on this dinosaur-like creature's back,

Following the stream.

Heading deeper and deeper into this forest,

In search of that secret tunnel.

And after hours and hours of travelling,

You can barely see through the forest as night-time has set in.

By this point,

You've been travelling so long on the back of this dinosaur-like creature,

That you've decided to give it a name,

Titan.

And the wizard says it's time to set up camp.

And so you set up camp with the wizard,

As Titan goes off to graze.

And the wizard said Titan will just remain in the area,

And will return once cooled.

And you express your gratitude to Titan.

Pat Titan on the side of the neck,

Before Titan wanders off.

And you set up a camp with the wizard,

Two tents and a campfire.

You enjoy some food by that campfire.

And you're in a very slight clearing in this forest.

You're able to see the stars overhead,

The occasional shooting star.

The wizard regales you with tales of old.

You ask them about this place you're searching for,

This secret tunnel.

And the wizard explains that in this secret tunnel,

You'll find a room,

And in that room is a magical mirror.

And that's really what you're seeking,

Because that magical mirror will give you great insight.

And as you rest there,

By that campfire,

Enjoying the flickering flames,

And the way they make shadows dance around you.

And the gentle glow of the fire,

Bringing a sense of peace and harmony.

You listen further to stories from the wizard,

Before the fire is burned down to embers.

And you settle down in the tent and drift so peacefully,

So comfortably asleep.

And the next morning,

You awaken to the rays of sun,

Dancing in this clearing in the forest.

A very slight mist through the trees of the forest.

You fill a bottle with some water.

You have some breakfast and then prepare to set off to continue the journey.

And you call Titan back.

You both mount Titan and continue on through this forest.

And most of the day passes again.

And it's only towards the end of the day,

That the wizard says you're approaching your destination.

And you notice through the trees,

A green tube sticking out of the ground.

Just barely above the ground.

And on top of that green tube,

Is what looks like a wooden yellow trapdoor.

And that wooden yellow trapdoor seems to be sealed.

And you head over and the wizard explains that for safety,

The door is sealed shut on top of the tube.

You found the secret tunnel.

And you say that you can see the tunnel,

So it doesn't seem so secret.

And the wizard explains that out here,

In the middle of nowhere,

With this tunnel entrance being close to the ground,

How many people come all the way out here into the middle of nowhere?

And how many of those who go to the middle of nowhere,

Would pay attention and notice the top of a tunnel sticking out of the ground?

This is a secret tunnel.

It's not on any track.

It's not easy to find.

You would have to be looking for it,

To have a chance of discovering it.

And the wizard and yourself pry open the trapdoor over the tunnel.

And once open,

All you can see inside this tunnel is darkness.

And the wizard says,

Just jump in.

And you question whether that's safe.

And they explain it'll be fine.

And then they jump in.

And as they jump in,

You notice some strange distortions happening to their body.

And you jump in after them.

And you don't feel the distortions that are visible to an observer.

And you land in this tunnel.

You find yourself in what seems like a cave system,

The distant sound of the occasional drip of water.

You find that in this tunnel,

There seems to be a lot of what looks like leftover treasure,

Just abandoned here.

And as the two of you explore these chambers in this tunnel,

So you ask what it'll look like when you discover the mirror.

How will you know that you've found the mirror?

Because it looks like there could be other things including other mirrors down here.

And the wizard says that when you find the mirror,

You'll know.

And so you continue to explore,

Jumping over some areas,

Crouching down and crawling past others,

Until eventually you find a large chamber.

And heading into that large chamber,

Your torchlight is instantly reflected off of a large mirror.

And the wizard says,

This is it.

And they wave their hand in front of the mirror.

The mirror begins to shimmer,

And looks like it's vibrating faster and faster,

As if the glass becomes the surface of the ocean,

With waves travelling up and down that mirror.

And those waves get faster and faster,

Until they become a blur,

And then just after they become a blur.

It's as if they're travelling so fast that the mirror looks smooth once more.

And the wizard says,

Come on,

And walks towards that mirror,

And you follow.

And then they step into the mirror,

And you follow.

And inside this mirror seems to be the strangest of lands,

With towering mushrooms,

Towering plants and grasses,

Almost as if you're tiny in an ordinary sized land.

And you walk over to one of the mushrooms,

Where the wizard takes a piece of that mushroom,

Breaks it in half,

Tells you to eat the half of the mushroom as they eat the other half.

And so you both eat the mushroom.

Your vision goes a little hazy,

And then out of the haze before you,

Seems to form an ethereal mushroom around you.

And there's a certain level of solidity to this ethereal mushroom.

And the wizard looks like they're using some controls on this mushroom,

As you have a feeling of yourself being lifted off the ground,

Flying on this ethereal mushroom,

As it rises up.

And it rises through the tall grass,

The towering mushrooms,

Higher and higher,

To the point where,

You can see stretched out below,

A giant meadow.

You can see different animals in this meadow,

And it genuinely feels like,

You've been shrunk down in size,

Because the alternative idea is that,

You're in a land of giants,

Of giant plants and animals.

And you just feel instinctively that it's more plausible,

That the two of you somehow shrunk down through the portal,

When you stepped through the mirror,

Rather than a land of giants existing.

And the wizard seems to know where they're going.

They fly you across this landscape.

You ask if they know where they're going,

And they tell you that.

They have instructions,

For how to get to where they're going.

They've memorized some maps.

They've never actually been here before.

And so they're curious,

What they'll discover,

And how much it will match,

With what they've learned before setting off.

And you see through this meadow,

A winding river,

Glistening with sunlight,

Leading down to a lake.

And the wizard steers the ethereal mushroom,

In the direction of that lake.

And on arriving at the lake,

They land the ethereal mushroom on the bank of the lake.

And everything here still seems,

Significantly larger than yourself.

And they walk with you,

Over to what looks a bit like a rabbit hole.

Again they usher you to follow,

And trusting,

And knowing,

That they know that everything's okay.

You follow them into that rabbit hole.

And through the rabbit hole,

You find yourself in a secret cave.

And in this cave,

You see on the ground,

Some squares,

Fitted into a grid.

And you can recognize that it looks like those squares,

Probably make an image.

And so within that grid,

You start to move the squares,

One by one,

Moving squares along and down and up,

Left and right,

Moving one along then one up in its place,

Perhaps one down and one along into its place,

Until eventually,

A symbol looking like a coat of arms,

Is made on that grid.

And with that,

With the symbol being made,

You hear a couple of clicks,

Then a secret doorway slides open,

Revealing another deeper tunnel.

You head into that deeper tunnel with the wizard.

And the deeper you go into this tunnel,

Despite the wizard having a floating orb above the hand and you having a torch,

The light just seems to be absorbed around you,

Almost as if there are no walls.

And if you point it down towards the ground,

It's just black,

As if there is no floor,

And yet you're walking on something.

And so you have a sense of curiosity,

And while walking,

You realise that,

After a little while,

You stop being aware of the sensation of the ground beneath you,

And at this point the wizard stops.

And they explain to you that this is a chamber of nothingness.

Right here in the middle of the chamber,

There is no up,

Nor down.

No left,

Nor right.

No back,

Nor forth.

Just here and now.

There is no past,

No future.

Just the present.

And on some level,

You doubt the wizard's assertion,

Feeling that you could turn around and walk back,

And you would find your way back,

Meaning there is a back.

Or if you keep walking forward,

You'll eventually bump into a wall,

And the wizard explains that,

Here there is no up,

Nor down,

No left,

Nor right,

No back,

Nor forth,

Even if you think that there is and there should be.

And so you feel that it's best to just go with the experience,

And see where it's going to take you.

Being entirely in the moment,

Ends up bringing a deep sense of peace and silence to this area.

And the wizard tells you to stop,

And relax and focus.

And as you stop and relax,

So even the light reflecting off the wizard seems to come to a halt.

And as it does,

So you begin to develop and learn in your mind,

On an instinctive level,

About the here and now.

And being in the present moment,

Brings a profound,

Comfortable silence.

As being in the moment means sound stops travelling,

The only thing that seems to exist is awareness,

And you enjoy that sense of awareness,

Learning,

Developing yourself.

And out of this moment,

You start to notice in the darkness,

Blotches of colour and patterns,

And over time,

It's as if in your mind's eye they're forming a reality around you.

A reality so real,

That once it's fully formed,

You find that you can walk around in it and explore it.

And so you take some time to explore this newly formed reality around you.

You can see a farm in the distance,

And a farmer working on that farm,

Enjoying countryside,

Woodland,

Taking in the environment around you.

And then in almost a blink,

Everything goes black again.

And the wizard says to take three steps back.

And so you take those three steps back,

And as you do,

You start to feel the ground beneath you again.

And with the wizard,

You start to find your way back out of this place.

And while heading out of this place,

The wizard says,

You saw something,

Didn't you?

And you explain what you saw.

And they say that being in the moment,

Being in the now,

Leads to a deep sense of sensory deprivation,

Which gives your mind time to create and process the reality you need to see.

But you don't necessarily know what that reality is or why you need to see it straight away.

That's something for you to learn.

And you find your way back with the wizard.

Eventually finding your way all the way back to standing underneath that green tunnel.

And the wizard tells you to leap up.

And they leap upwards,

Appear to distort.

And then you leap upwards,

Not feeling any distortion.

And the two of you land just outside that tunnel.

You cover it over again and seal it back up.

And Titan is waiting patiently here for you.

And you ride back on Titan,

Heading back the way you came.

And once back to that stream,

You can see the nest and the two eggs remaining in that nest.

You dismount Titan.

And the wizard sends Titan back over to the other side of the stream.

And seems to perform a magic spell.

And Titan begins to sparkle.

And that sparkling gets brighter and brighter.

And Titan seems to shrink smaller and smaller.

Until eventually as the sparkling dissipates,

You notice that Titan is a baby duckling.

And you see the mother duckling come over.

And start to care for Titan.

And then the other two eggs hatch.

And you discover they're also just ducklings.

And the wizard looks at you and smiles.

And after camping once more and settling down for the night,

You awaken the next day to continue your journey.

Back to where you started.

Back to the cabin of the wizard.

And you head all the way back to that cabin.

And once there,

The wizard makes you a cup of tea and you sit in front of the fire.

They ask you what you have learned from the experience.

And you explain what you've gained and what you've learned.

They ask you about that chamber of nothingness.

About your inner experience in that moment.

They ask you what you've learned about the mirror.

About the way you went through the mirror and shrunk down in size.

You answer the questions to the best of your ability.

And the wizard tells you you've learned all you need to learn from being in their company.

And with this,

You head to bed knowing that the next day,

You'll be making your journey saying goodbye to the wizard.

Heading back home to your own bed.

But for now,

You settle down in bed in the cabin.

Listening to the crackling fire from the other room.

Hearing the sound of the wind outside.

An occasional rain.

Settling down.

Drifting so peacefully,

So comfortably asleep into slumberland.

Finding yourself sleeping deeply and profoundly all night long.