Calm After the Storm

Before we begin, let's take a moment to set you up so you feel as comfortable as possible. Find a position where your body can be fully supported — lying down is ideal, though sitting in a comfortable chair works just as well. Let your hands rest naturally, either at your sides or gently on your lap, whichever feels more natural to you. You don't need to do anything with them during this session. When you're ready, gently close your eyes now, or in just a moment as we begin. There's nothing you need to figure out, nothing you need to fix right now. This session uses storytelling and gentle metaphor to guide your mind into a deeply relaxed state. You don't need to analyse the story or follow it literally — simply allow the words to wash over you, and your unconscious mind will take from them exactly what you need. If at any point you feel the need to move or adjust your position, please do so. You are always in control. This session is designed to help you feel calm, settled, and safe again. So let's begin.

Let me tell you a story about a journey that begins right where you are now. [5 second pause] There is a traveller — and that traveller is you — who has been walking through a storm. [6 second pause] Not a storm outside, but the kind that lives inside the chest. The kind that quickens the breath and tightens the shoulders and fills the mind with noise. [7 second pause] You know that storm, don't you. [6 second pause] You've been walking through it. And you are tired. [8 second pause] But here is what I want you to notice right now, in this moment. [5 second pause] The storm is beginning to ease. [7 second pause] Not because you forced it to. Not because you fought it or pushed it away. But simply because you stopped walking into the wind and allowed yourself to rest. [8 second pause] And as you rest now, letting your body sink a little heavier into whatever is beneath you, [6 second pause] you begin to notice something shifting. [7 second pause] A quietening. [8 second pause] Not silence yet — but the first hint of stillness at the edges of the storm. [9 second pause] That's right. [7 second pause] Your eyes are already heavy, aren't they. [6 second pause] And that heaviness is welcome. It means you are already beginning to let go. [8 second pause] Let your jaw soften now. [6 second pause] Let your shoulders drop just a little more. [7 second pause] And allow yourself to be carried by this story, the way a leaf is carried gently by a current of water — effortlessly, without resistance. [9 second pause]

In this story, the traveller — you — comes to the edge of a forest just as the storm begins to pass. [7 second pause] The trees here are tall and ancient, their canopy thick and green, filtering the last of the grey light into something soft and golden. [8 second pause] You step beneath the canopy and immediately feel the air change. [6 second pause] It is cooler here. Quieter. [7 second pause] The sound of the wind above the treetops is distant now — still there, but no longer touching you. [9 second pause] Beneath your feet, the ground is soft. Mossy. [6 second pause] Each step feels like the earth is gently receiving you, welcoming your weight. [8 second pause] You walk a little further into the forest and you find a clearing. [7 second pause] In the centre of this clearing is a still, glassy pool of water. [8 second pause] And beside the pool, a smooth flat stone, perfectly shaped, perfectly placed, as if it has been waiting here for you. [9 second pause] You sit down on the stone. [6 second pause] And as you do, you feel the last of the tension begin to drain from your body, down through the stone, into the earth below. [10 second pause] The pool in front of you is perfectly still. [7 second pause] A mirror of the sky above. [8 second pause] You look into it and you see not the storm, but the clearing sky. [9 second pause] Patches of soft blue. [7 second pause] The first light breaking through. [10 second pause]

And as you sit beside that still pool, I want you to notice your breathing. [6 second pause] Not to change it. Just to notice it. [7 second pause] In. [8 second pause] And out. [9 second pause] Each breath like a gentle ripple moving across the surface of the pool. [8 second pause] And with every breath out, you go a little deeper into this beautiful stillness. [10 second pause] Imagine now that the forest around you begins to count down with you. [6 second pause] Not in numbers — but in layers of quiet. [7 second pause] The first layer — the sounds of the outside world — begin to fade. [8 second pause] Like turning down a dial, very slowly. [9 second pause] The second layer — the thoughts that have been circling in your mind — begin to slow. [8 second pause] Like birds settling one by one onto the branches of the trees. [10 second pause] The third layer — the tension in your body — releases completely now. [9 second pause] Starting at the top of your head. [7 second pause] Flowing down through your face and neck. [8 second pause] Down through your shoulders and arms. [9 second pause] Through your chest and your belly. [8 second pause] Down through your hips and legs. [9 second pause] All the way to the soles of your feet. [12 second pause] The fourth layer — a deep, profound calm — settles over you now like a warm blanket of light. [10 second pause] You are safe here. [8 second pause] Completely, utterly safe. [12 second pause] And in this safety, you go deeper still. [15 second pause]

The traveller resting by the pool begins to remember something important. [8 second pause] Something that the storm had made it hard to see. [9 second pause] That calm is not something you have to find outside of yourself. [8 second pause] It is something that lives within you. [9 second pause] It has always been there. [10 second pause] Like the still water at the bottom of a deep well — undisturbed no matter what happens at the surface. [12 second pause] And right now, in this moment, you are touching that stillness. [9 second pause] You are it. [10 second pause] Your nervous system is settling. [8 second pause] Your body knows how to do this. [9 second pause] It has always known how to return to calm. [10 second pause] And with every breath you take, that calm grows stronger. [12 second pause] Deeper. [10 second pause] More certain. [12 second pause] The anxiety that brought you here today was simply energy moving through you. [8 second pause] It was your system responding, trying to protect you. [9 second pause] And now you gently, kindly, tell that part of you — thank you. [8 second pause] I hear you. [7 second pause] And I am safe. [10 second pause] You are safe. [12 second pause] As that message moves through every cell of your body, you feel something soften. [9 second pause] A release. [8 second pause] Like a hand that has been gripping tightly, finally, gently, opening. [12 second pause] And in that open hand, there is peace. [10 second pause] There is space. [9 second pause] There is you — settled, grounded, whole. [15 second pause] You are allowed to feel this good. [10 second pause] You are allowed to feel this calm. [12 second pause] And the more you allow it, the more natural it becomes. [15 second pause]

The traveller by the pool knows something now that will stay with them long after they leave this forest. [9 second pause] They know that whenever the storm rises again — because sometimes it will — they have a way back to this place. [8 second pause] Not a physical place. But this feeling. [9 second pause] This settled, safe, quiet feeling that lives inside them. [10 second pause] Imagine now, a moment in the coming days, when you notice the first flicker of anxiety beginning to rise. [8 second pause] And instead of bracing against it, you simply take one slow breath. [7 second pause] And you remember the pool. [8 second pause] The stillness. [9 second pause] The clearing sky. [10 second pause] And just like that, something in you settles. [12 second pause] Imagine another moment — perhaps at the end of a long or difficult day — when you close your eyes for just a few seconds. [8 second pause] And you feel the calm return to you like an old friend. [9 second pause] Familiar. [8 second pause] Reliable. [10 second pause] Yours. [12 second pause] And imagine a version of yourself moving through your days with a quieter mind. [8 second pause] Not a mind without thoughts — but a mind that is no longer swept away by them. [9 second pause] A mind that can observe the storm from beneath the canopy of the forest. [10 second pause] Calm. [8 second pause] Grounded. [9 second pause] At ease. [15 second pause]

In a few moments, I'm going to gently guide you back to full waking awareness. [7 second pause] But before I do, take one more moment to feel this calm as fully as you can. [9 second pause] Let it anchor itself in your body. [8 second pause] In your breath. [9 second pause] In the quiet spaces between your thoughts. [12 second pause] This calm belongs to you. [9 second pause] You can return to it any time you choose. [10 second pause] Now, very gently, I'm going to count from one to five. [6 second pause] And with each number, you'll become a little more awake, a little more alert, bringing all of this calm with you into your day. [7 second pause] One. [6 second pause] Beginning to return. [7 second pause] Awareness gently coming back to the room around you. [8 second pause] Two. [6 second pause] A little more awake now. [7 second pause] Feeling refreshed. [8 second pause] Three. [6 second pause] Your body waking up, fingers and toes beginning to move if they want to. [8 second pause] Four. [6 second pause] Almost fully back. [7 second pause] Feeling calm, settled, and clear. [8 second pause] And five. [5 second pause] Eyes open whenever you're ready. [6 second pause] Fully awake. Fully present. Feeling well. [5 second pause]

Take a gentle breath in, and as you breathe out, feel how different you are from when you began. [8 second pause] The storm has passed. [7 second pause] Or if it hasn't passed completely, you are no longer in the middle of it. [8 second pause] You are standing at the edge of the forest, in the clearing, beside the still pool. [9 second pause] And you carry that stillness with you now. [10 second pause] Whenever you need to return to this feeling, simply close your eyes, take one slow breath, and allow your body to remember. [9 second pause] It knows the way. [8 second pause] You have done something kind for yourself today. [7 second pause] Something important. [8 second pause] And that kindness matters. [9 second pause] Take good care of yourself. [7 second pause] And know that calm is always closer than it seems. [8 second pause]