Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories - Evening on the Bayou (Premium)

Episode Date: March 22, 2021

This is a preview episode. Get the full episode, and many more, ad free, on our supporter's feed: https://getsleepy.com/support. Evening on the Bayou Tonight, we wander languidly along a secluded path to the famous swamplands in southern Louisiana. It's a place full of diverse wildlife, where water and land intermingle as one. 😴  Sound design: swamp ambiance.  About Get Sleepy Premium: Help support the podcast, and get: Monday and Wednesday night episodes (with zero ads) The exclusive Thursday night bonus episode Access to the entire back catalog (also ad-free) Premium sleep meditations, extra-long episodes and more! We'll love you forever. ❤️ Get a 7 day free trial, and join the Get Sleepy community here https://getsleepy.com/support. And thank you so, so much.  Tom, and the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, Thomas here. You're listening to a preview episode. You can enjoy the entire story tonight by subscribing to our supporters' feed. There you'll get access to the entire back catalogue, bonus episodes, and more, and it's all completely ad-free. Click the link below to learn more. And thank you so so much. Me and the team really appreciate your support. It's a rare day in southern Louisiana, where it's not too hot and also not too cold. But this has been one of those days of perfect weather. Outside the sun is still shining, but it's clear that dusk will be here soon. You have just finished a delicious dinner and feel satisfied but not overly full. You begin to put away the leftovers and quickly clean up the kitchen.

As you wash the dishes, you let your gaze wander out the window and notice the breeze rustling, believe. It looks like a nice, cool evening for a walk. So you dry the last few plates and get ready to head out on an evening stroll. You grab a comfy sweater and put on your tennis shoes. You close the front door behind you and begin the short walk to the park. It's still light outside, but with sunset approaching the shadows are starting to get longer. You watch as your shadow bob's down the road before you leading the way.

The street is quiet now, as most people have already come home from work and are well into their evening routines. Your feet seem to move on autopilot as you follow this same route many times before. This allows your mind to wander and you start reflecting on your day. You woke up early to the sunlight that streamed through your bedroom window. The birds chirped outside and a neighbor's stall barked in the distance. It was a peaceful way to wake up and gave you plenty of time to eat a healthy breakfast. You considered your options maybe a bagel and a glass of orange juice or a refreshing fruit salad with perfectly ripe strawberries, bananas and blueberries. Then you got ready to check the tasks off your to-do list. It was an average day. Nothing particularly exciting happened. Still, you found yourself looking

forward to the quiet evening hours. The time that you've set aside to relax, read a book, or take a walk as you're doing now. As you near the park, you pass by the around you enjoy it as a child. You remember the feeling of the wind in your face as you went back and forth on the swings. The air rushing beneath your legs as you propelled yourself higher and higher. Just behind the swings is where you used to play make believe. The tower with the slide was the castle. The bridge was home to a troll, and the mulch on the ground was a moat. Sometimes you were the night in shining armor and spent hours trying to find the perfect stick to use as a sword. Everything seemed so much bigger than. In your mind, the slide towered above you and your friends like a skyscraper.

You smile as you think of those good old days. As you've gotten older, you've come to enjoy other parts of the park more. Now you prefer to walk and spend time in nature than to run around on the playground. But you look at it fondly as you pass by, heading for the dirt path to the swamp. The trailhead is marked by a map, detailing the many paths the park has to offer. You identify a relatively short trail that leads to the bayou and decide that it's the one you'll take today. You want to make sure you'll be home by nightfall. Although you've been here many times before and are almost positive that you know the way

And are almost positive that you know the way you still stop and double check the directions just to be sure. The Cypress trees tower above you as you start down the trail. Their dark green needles are clustered around open limbs. Strans of brown grey Spanish moss drape over the branches, hanging down toward the ground. The bottoms of the light brown trunks flare out in a triangular shape. The cypress knees which look like thick branches protruding from the trunk bend and curl into the tall marsh grass that lies both sides of the path.

The sounds of the insects drift through the thick, green growth and permeate the humid air around you. you