A sleep story. Voice for about 16 minutes, then it fades away. No bell, no count back. Music underneath, and it keeps going after the voice stops
A log cabin on the side of a mountain, a fire already going, and a book you have read a hundred times before.
About 16 minutes, tense and release first. Only listen where it is safe to sleep.
We start with tense and release, working up the whole body. That is not a warm up. It is one of the most reliable ways there is of getting to sleep quickly, and it does most of the work before the story starts. Then you fetch logs from the shed, stop for the sunset, and settle into the chair with your drink. The fire burns down. You get into bed.
Treat me to a coffee, keep the podcast free, and get my Weekly Calm every Sunday. It is all on stevenwebb.uk
Thank you for sitting with me.
Steven
Who this is for
This is the first meditation I ever recorded and it is still the one most people find me through.
It is a sleep story. Only listen somewhere it is safe to fall asleep. Not in a car, not while anything needs your attention.
What happens in this meditation
A short explanation first about why we cannot sleep, which is that the mind will not let go while it thinks something is unsafe. If something is nagging, write it down. The mind treats a written thing as handled.
Then tense and release, working up the body. Feet, then legs, then the whole middle, then hands and arms and shoulders, then your face, screwed up as far as it will go, because nobody is watching. Then everything at once.
Then the cabin. Early evening on the side of a mountain, meadows below and snow on the tops. You put your coat on, walk to the shed for logs, and stop on the way to watch the sunset.
Back inside, a couple of logs on the fire, the kettle on, your drink in your own mug, and the book you have read a hundred times, worn at your favourite chapter.
Then the chair. The fire flickering on the wooden walls. Your eyes getting heavier between pages. And when the last log burns down, you go to bed.
How to get the most from it
The file runs about twenty three minutes and I stop talking around sixteen. After that it fades away to nothing, so nothing wakes you at the end.
Do not skip the tensing to get to the story. That part is doing most of the work, and the story is what carries you the rest of the way.
If you know it already, there is a note at the start telling you to jump to about three minutes and go straight into the muscles.
Questions people ask
Why does the page say twenty three minutes when the notes say sixteen?
Both are right. Sixteen minutes of me talking, then a long slow fade rather than a hard stop.
Is there a bell or a countdown at the end?
No. Nothing brings you back and nothing will jolt you awake.
What if I lose the thread of the story?
Then join back in wherever I am. It is said in the recording and it is meant. Falling asleep partway through is the entire object of the exercise.
Why is this one so popular?
I have wondered that myself. I suspect it is the cabin. Warm, safe, nobody else there, nothing to do and nowhere to be, which is most of what people are actually short of at midnight.
Read along
The transcript
It follows the audio. Press any line to jump there.
sleep · sleep-story · visualisation
Read the transcript
Just while you're making yourself comfortable and getting settled in, I just want to tell you about another podcast I
have. It's called Stillness in the Storms Podcast.
And it's a podcast that helps you to get a little inner peace when you need it most and you
probably have it least.
And it's just... Seeing life from a different perspective. And I'm also choosing not to have any
sponsors for either of these podcasts. So if you would like to treat me to a coffee, you can head
over to StevenWebb.uk or if you'd like to download the five simple practices for inner peace, also head
over to StevenWebb.uk. You are awesome. Settle in and enjoy the meditation. I won't disturb you
after the meditation.
Welcome to the Log Cabin Sleep Story Meditation.
If this is not the first time here, you can jump straight to the three minutes when we get into
the relaxing the muscles and then into the sleep story.
Just before we begin the story, there's two main areas that really help us to fall asleep and get a
really good night's sleep. The first is the mind and then the body. And for either of them to fall
asleep, the most important thing is to feel comfortable and feel really safe while we are asleep.
The one thing that stops most people from falling asleep is the racing mind and some anxiety that's in the
body. And the subconscious mind looks at both of these things as an alert and... It does everything
it can to try not to fall asleep because it thinks that it's not safe to do so. So in
order to feel safe, we need to let the mind and the body know that it's safe in this moment
to fall asleep, that everything is safe and comfortable.
So let's do that to begin with before we begin the story.
So there's one little tip. If you keep a notepad and pencil next to the bed,
And if there's anything that's really persistent in your mind, you can just quickly jot it down because the mind
thinks it's been dealt with. And then it's easier just to accept it and let it go. Otherwise it becomes
quite persistent. And even if you don't think it's important, the mind thinks it's important.
So the best way that we can let the body know that everything is safe is to have a little
wiggle. Wiggle your body and become comfortable in this moment and find your perfect sleeping position. And
now we are going to allow all the muscles to relax as we go through. And to relax the muscles,
it's it's something we allow to happen. It's not something that we can force to happen. We often lie there
and we try to relax. And that doesn't work. Have you ever tried to relax and it just stays
tense? So instead, it's just like when we breathe in, that's an action. But when we breathe out, that's just
allowing the breath out. And you may notice that now that I've said it.
Just breathing in. And then you just allow the breath to breathe out. And that's what we're going to do.
We're going to allow the muscles to breathe out.
So we'll start from your feet.
So tense up your feet really nice and tight and bend your toes in. Just
hold them there and now let them relax. And
now do the same with both of your legs and both your feet and your toes. And just really, really
tense them right where they are. And now let them relax.
And notice the way that relaxing your legs relaxes your feet even more.
And it's not something you're actually doing. You're just allowing the muscles to relax. And this is what we're going
to do. We're going to allow the body to relax and to allow the body to go sleep.
So now include your torso. Include your legs and your toes and your feet. So tense it all up, your
belly and your bum and your legs. Hold it. Ah, now let it go.
And this time we'll just do the hands and the fingers and the arms and the shoulders. Tense them up.
Really, really hold them tight and Now give them permission to relax.
And now for the funny part and I want you to do a really good job on this. No one
is watching. I want you to tense up your face and your neck and your eyes and your cheeks. Really
tense up your face. Screw it right up. Make as fun of your face as possible. And let it go
and let it relax. Allow your muscles behind your eyes, your cheeks, your forehead, your neck. Allow it all just
to relax.
And now we're going to do it one more time. We're going to do the whole body. From the toes
to our fingers, to our face, our eyes, forehead. Let's do it one more time. Everything really, really tight. As
tight as you possibly can. Hold it. Hold it ah Now let everything go.
And now we just let the body settle in. With each out breath, the body will relax a little more.
Every single muscle has become heavier. And it's sinking into the bed.
Sinking into the most comfortable position.
And now your body has the perfect safe environment just to fall asleep. And as we allow the body to
fall asleep before our mind, that's fine.
Now we'll clear the mind of all thoughts and just allow the thoughts to come and go as we
drift into a little story.
If any thoughts do arise and you do go off the story, just smile and thank your mind for the
thoughts and Just come back to the story. It doesn't matter if you missed a bit, just catch up where
you are.
It's fine also to fall asleep. Your subconscious mind will hear the whole story and you'll wake up perfectly refreshed
in the morning.
You can fall asleep at any time. Your body is already pretty much falling asleep now and it's
just your mind to follow.
It's early evening, just before the sun starts to go down. You're in your log cabin on the side of
a beautiful mountain.
You put on your favourite warm coat and you head outside.
As you walk over to the shed to pick up some logs for the fire, you notice the beautiful sunset
in the distance and you stop just to admire it for a moment.
You can feel the evening sun on your face but
there's also a little chill in the wind.
Whenever there's a beautiful sunset, you can rest assured tomorrow is going to be a beautiful day.
The log cabin is on a gentle slope near the base of the mountain. You can see the green meadows
all around, the beautiful flowers of all different colours. You
can smell the evening blossoms and the fresh clean air.
There are trees in the distance and you can see the snow on the tops of the mountains.
It's one of your most favourite, beautiful, calm, serene places. It's the perfect place and setting to
enjoy a log fire, your favourite book, and your evening drink just before going in bed
It's the place where you get your best night's sleep, your best rest, and you always feel more alive in
the morning.
And as you get to the small shed, you pick up a few logs, just enough to keep the fire
going.
You turn around and walk back to the cabin.
You step up onto the porch and open the door.
You walk over to the fireplace, which
is still burning generally And you place a couple more logs just to help it along for the next hour
or so.
You walk back over to the door, take off your coat and place it on the hanger. And then you
proceed to the kitchen.
You re-boil the kettle.
You pour up your favourite nightly drink and your favourite mug.
It's your perfect Coleman drink. And it always gives you a good night's sleep.
With your drink in hand, you pick up your favourite book that you have read many, many times before on
the corner of the table. The book is very worn. It's
the one you choose every night before going to bed. You pick a favourite chapter and it always gives you
comfort Ever since you first read it.
You walk over to your favourite comfortable chair, Place your drink on the table next And you sit down with
your book in hand.
The fireplace burning perfectly, Creating a beautiful ambient flickering light On the wooden walls of the cabin.
You can feel the heat from the flickering flames and you can hear the embers crackling.
You can smell the open fire mixed with your favourite nighttime drink
You turn on the little radio next to the chair and it has the perfect background music while you read
your book
and as you settle in with a couple of deep relaxing breaths.
You open your book to your favourite chapter. You open your book to your favourite chapter and you start reading.
Your drink is now the perfect temperature. And between reading pages, you slowly enjoy your drink.
Your drink is now the perfect temperature. And between reading pages, you keep taking a small sip as it gently
soothes.
Turning the pages, your eyes become heavier. And your mind becomes quieter and quieter.
You feel comfortable.
Feel perfectly safe.
You start to feel more sleepy. Just as the fire starts to burn its last log and starts to go
out, you make your way to the bedroom.
You slowly get changed into your favourite bed clothes and you slide into bed.
It gives you that lovely cool feeling that when you first get into bed and then warms up
And as each of your muscles just relaxes and lets go and your mind becomes quieter and
you close your eyes and you gently you start drifting off to sleep,
your body is perfectly relaxed,
the mind is perfectly still and quiet.
As you are drifting deeper and deeper into sleep, your muscles in your mind become quieter and more relaxed.
As you drift deeper and deeper into sleep,
your eyes and your muscles become more relaxed and heavier.
You feel more comfortable and safer.
You have everything you need for a wonderful deep healing sleep.
There is nothing you need to do. Just sleep.
There is nothing you need to do. Just sleep.
As your breathing slows to the perfect depth, you continue to drift deeper and deeper into sleep.
As your breathing slows to the perfect depth, you continue to drift deeper and deeper into sleep.
