Sleep story · rain, green
A garden in the rain — a slow story for the end of the day, if you are new to this — for a night when you do not want to think
Steady rain on leaves, and a chair under an awning that stays dry.
Lights off. Press begin and let the story read itself to you, at the pace of sleep.
Screen on or off — we suggest dimming it, or simply closing your eyes after the first paragraph.
The story, in full
A snail is making its way along the bottom of the wall, going nowhere in particular. Water runs off the gutter in a thin, continuous line. The rain on the roof of the awning is a lower sound than the rain on the leaves.
The earth smells the way it does after a long dry spell. The leaves in the border are dark and glossy and moving slightly. The rain has settled into the kind that will last all afternoon without getting heavier.
Your chest can be still now. Feel your wrists loosen.
Your elbows can stop being hinges for now. Let your feet get heavy first. Heavier than they need to be.
Under the awning it is dry, and the sound is a steady, unhurried patter. The watering can by the tap is full and nobody needs it.
Your fingers can stop doing anything at all. Feel your heels sink a little into the mattress.
If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice. If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
Your ankles can go loose now. Feel the top of your head relax into the pillow.
Just the dark. Let the breath be the only thing you are doing.
Let each breath be a little smaller than the last. They will find their own way out. Nothing here needs following closely.
Nothing here assumes you have done this before.
Let this be the last thing you listen to.
12 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for rain, green.
If this story does not settle you, try Sleep story: a boat at anchor, if you have five quiet minutes — for winding down, An attic room, when you are doing this for the first time — for a restless night or A field under snow (a sleep story), if you are sceptical about all of this — for waking too early.