Sleep story · rain, green
Sleep story: a garden in the rain, when the day has been loud — for jet lag
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
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. There is nothing to do about any of it, which is the good part.
There is a wooden bench that nobody has sat on for an hour. The earth smells the way it does after a long dry spell. The leaves in the border are dark and glossy and moving slightly.
Feel one shoulder go heavy, then the other. Feel the weight of the blanket on your legs.
Let your calves spread out and flatten. Feel the top of your head relax into the pillow.
Water runs off the gutter in a thin, continuous line. The rain has settled into the kind that will last all afternoon without getting heavier.
Let your shoulder blades spread out and drop. Let your breathing get slower without deciding to slow it.
If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else. Notice how quickly your mind labels things: good, bad, boring, nice.
Your chest can be still now. Feel your heartbeat somewhere far away.
Let them. Let each breath be a little smaller than the last.
Just the dark. You do not have to count them. Let your breathing do the rest.
For days that were loud from the moment they started.
Let the words go now, and take the quiet with you.
12 paragraphs, roughly 2 minutes read slowly aloud. Written for rain, green.
If this story does not settle you, try A lighthouse at the end of a long day, after a difficult conversation — for a night when you do not want to think, Sleep story: a kitchen late at night, when your attention is scattered — for waking too early or Sleep story: a caravan by the sea, when nothing else has worked today — for jet lag.