Please close your eyes and let the world fall away.
Let the people you're trying to please fall away now.
Let the endless responsibilities,
The lists,
The roles,
Dissolve like dust in the wind.
Let your name,
Your title,
Your to-do lists,
All of it,
Let it slide off you like a coat you no longer need to wear.
Let absolutely everything go for a little while.
There's nowhere you need to be right now.
There's nothing you need to make happen,
Nothing you need to hold together.
There's just you,
Your breath and this powerful pause,
So you can step off the world and take a much needed break.
Breathe in slowly through your nose.
Let it come naturally,
Soft,
Deep,
Unforced.
And as you breathe out through your mouth,
Let it come with a delicious sigh.
Let the sigh carry away whatever you don't need to be carrying anymore.
Allow each breath to take you a little further from the outside world and a little deeper into yourself.
The world can wait.
It will be there when you return,
Exactly as you left it.
But you won't be.
You will be changed,
Lighter and freer.
To begin using your beautiful and powerful imagination,
Please see yourself in your own bed,
Your real bed,
In your real life.
It's night time.
And you're just about to fall asleep.
But tonight,
Something feels different.
You feel different.
Like there's a weird pull in your chest.
Like something in you is whispering,
There's somewhere else you need to be.
You sit up.
There's no fear,
There's no rush.
Just a calm,
Soul,
Deep knowing.
You get out of bed and walk to the window and there,
Hovering right outside your window,
Is a single glowing cloud,
Waiting for you.
You don't need to understand it.
This is not a dream.
This is not a fantasy.
This is a sacred journey into your inner world.
And in your inner world,
Anything is possible.
So if you feel comfortable,
Step straight out the window onto the cloud.
And if not,
Walk slowly downstairs,
Open the door and watch the cloud lower itself to meet you.
There's no wrong or right way of doing this.
There's only yes.
There's only trust.
Step onto the cloud now.
Feel it rise to meet your body.
Moulding to your shape like the softest cradle of breath and light.
Nothing to hold up.
Nothing to prove.
Nothing to fix.
Nothing to control.
The cloud begins to rise.
Slowly.
Silently through the hush of night.
You're lifted above rooftops and treetops into a sky made of ink and stars.
You drift through constellations bathed in ancient light.
Cradled in stillness.
Held by something vast,
Kind and invisible.
You don't need to steer.
You don't need to know the way.
This is your vacation from control.
And then far below,
You see a golden fire flickering in the heart of a wide,
Empty desert.
And the cloud slowly begins to descend.
Down and down until your feet softly meet the warm sand.
The cloud dissolves into the air and you are here alone.
Barefoot,
Under starlight,
Before a fire that's been waiting for you.
You walk towards it slowly.
Each step feels like a homecoming.
Like your body's remembering something you didn't know you forgot.
The flames crackle gently.
They don't demand anything of you.
They only offer warmth,
Presence,
Witness.
You sit down in the sand and you begin your ceremony of release.
There's nothing you need to do except breathe.
Let your breath move you into surrender.
And one by one now,
Offer the fire everything you've been trying to control.
Offer the fire everything you're tired of holding so tightly onto.
Anything you're gripping onto for dear life.
Let go of the pressure to hold it all together.
Let go of the image you're trying to portray.
Let go of the person you're trying to be.
Let go of how you've been trying to control how others see you.
Throw all of it into the fire.
The loop of trying to say the right thing,
Be the right thing,
Fix the right thing,
And control everything.
Throw it all into the fire now.
Let go of the expectations that were never yours to carry.
Let go of chasing timelines and trying to control outcomes.
Let go of shaping the future through sheer force.
Let go of needing to know what comes next.
Throw it all into the fire.
And watch the flames take all of it.
And as you do,
Breathe into the space that's opening now inside of you.
Breathe into the emptiness that all that control used to fill.
You're not empty.
You're free.
This is what free feels like.
So once you've released everything you've been trying to control into the fire,
Please rise slowly.
And see in the not too far distance a tent glowing,
Waiting.
You walk barefoot towards it,
And you step inside.
And as soon as you do,
The whole world vanishes.
This is the ultimate sanctuary.
The walls ripple with warm fabrics,
Crimson,
Honey gold,
Deep midnight blue.
The floor is covered in cushions,
Rugs and softness.
A nest made not for who you pretend to be,
But who you really are.
This is a resting place for those who want to be free from control.
Lower yourself into the center of this nest.
Let your spine melt.
Let your belly soften.
Let your breath come so gently,
It almost disappears.
You're allowed to fall apart here.
You're allowed to not hold it all together.
You don't have to control anything here.
And this is not weakness.
This is the medicine your body has been begging you for.
So now,
Amongst all this softness,
Allow yourself to fully surrender.
To rest from all the controlling.
Time slows to a standstill.
Your mind dissolves.
There is only peace.
There is only breath.
There is only you.
You're feeling recharged.
Replenished.
Satiated.
You're beginning to feel free and whole again.
And you're ready for even more.
So you stand up.
And you head back outside.
And as you do,
You see the desert has completely transformed.
Now you stand in the middle of an oasis.
Green.
Lush.
Alive.
Beneath a golden red dawn.
A golden sky.
You walk barefoot through wildflowers,
Drawn by the sound of water.
Until you reach a pool beneath a waterfall,
Shimmering turquoise,
Rimmed with moss and blossoms.
You step into the water,
And the water welcomes you.
You sink beneath its surface.
Allowing yourself to be fully cleansed,
Absolved of all and any constriction.
To fully release and wash away anything that no longer serves your greatest good.
Let the water wash away whatever the fire couldn't reach.
Let the water wash away all the roots of control buried in your cells.
Stay here until you feel completely clean,
Cleansed,
And even more free.
And now as you rise,
You feel new.
Not perfect.
Not fixed.
Just you.
Clean.
Free.
Reborn.
You step out the water and find a soft white robe waiting for you.
And you wrap yourself in it.
And you follow a path through a forest,
Through the trees,
Until the forest opens onto a lagoon.
And you can see a raft drifting across the still water.
Untethered.
Unforced.
Floating like a prayer.
It floats immediately over to meet you.
You step on and you lie down on the bed that waits there.
Pillowed and soft and shaped like home.
You're held.
Rocking gently,
Cradled by life itself.
No effort.
No direction.
Only surrender.
You let yourself drift.
Let the water carry you.
Let the sun warm your skin.
Let the wind kiss your body like you are the most precious thing in the universe.
You are safe here.
You are safe to trust life now.
And without even realizing it,
You start to return.
Back to your body.
Back to the space you're in.
Back to your life.
But you are not the same.
Something has shifted.
Your breath is softer.
Your chest is open.
And your soul is still.
The world looks the same,
But you're walking through it differently now.
Lighter.
Softer.
Freer and more trusting.
This is not the end of the journey.
This is your beginning.
You can open your eyes whenever you're ready.
And step into your new life.
