A Sleepy Train Journey | Calming Sleep Meditation with Ambient Sounds

[00:00:11] Hello and welcome back to Sleep Wave. I'm your host, Carissa. Ready to get cozy and drift off? Me too. Tonight we have a calming meditation aboard a sleepy train to help us do just that. This is our weekly free episode. If you've been enjoying the show, we invite you to become a subscriber. Subscribers get two bonus episodes a month and totally add free listening. Details below your podcast player.

[00:00:38] I've yet to go on an overnight train journey, but I've always thought it sounds so soothing. The rhythm of the track, the gentle sway of the train car, the scenery passing you by steadily, all of that feels like the perfect recipe for rest. Before we get on board, our only ad break which helps make this show possible. To listen ad free, follow the link in the show notes.

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[00:02:22] podcast that turns a restful night into your escape from all of the problems, to-dos, and worries of the waking world. I'm the host, Tyler, and I specifically craft the meditations and hypnosis sessions on Sleep Escape to guide you into the most deep, restful sleep. So check it out tonight and see why it's

[00:02:48] currently the highest ranked sleep podcast on Spotify. Just search Sleep Escape in your favorite podcast player. Settle in for the deepest rest of your life and make sleeping your favorite part of the day. If you're looking for a great way to wind down at night, you have to check out Lights Out Library,

[00:03:13] where I, Olympia, offer calming documentaries on a wide variety of topics, from science to history to mysteries and mythology. Visit lost cities, adventure through outer space, discover the science of our own consciousness, or learn the myths and legends of the world. There's something for all

[00:03:36] interests, and I present the topics in a thorough, easy-to-understand and relaxing way. See why millions have enjoyed learning with Lights Out Library as they settle in for a good night's rest. Just search Lights Out Library in your favorite podcast player. All right, friends, all aboard the sleepy train,

[00:04:03] it's time to leave the station. Let's begin by finding a comfortable sleep position so that your body is fully supported through the night. Put away any distractions if you have to, because this is your

[00:04:28] time now to relax your mind and prepare your body to do its work of rest and restoration. Make any final movements if your body needs to do so, and gently allow your eyelids to close. You can also blink your eyes

[00:04:48] softly until they close on their own. Very good. Before we go on our train journey, we're going to focus on the body and notice the presence of any sensations. If you don't feel anything, then that is completely okay.

[00:05:12] There is no right or wrong here. Whatever you feel or don't feel, simply let it be. Relaxing deeper. Scan your feet. Do you feel any sensations here?

[00:05:29] What is the temperature of your feet? Now scan your calves and shins. Are there any sensations present here, such as gentle vibrations or tingling? Again, if you don't feel anything, simply let it be.

[00:05:56] And now scan your knees. And now scan your knees. See if you can relax the top of your knees and the back of your knees. Observe your thighs.

[00:06:16] Is there any tension in this area? If you feel any sensations, simply allow them to be just the way they are, without the need to change anything. How beautiful it is to be at peace with everything you observe at this moment. Scan your hips.

[00:06:51] And let go of any tightness in this area. And let go of any tightness in this area by releasing them. You can just let relax your pelvis.

[00:07:16] And release any tension you might be unknowingly carrying in this area. Scan your lower abdomen and your lower back. Observing any sensations here. And melting away any tightness. Scan your upper abdomen and the middle of your back.

[00:07:48] Relaxing deeper. Scan your chest and your upper back. Melting away any traces of tightness here. Scan your shoulders. Scan your arms down to your hands. Scan your fingers.

[00:08:20] And see if you can relax them into the stillness of the stillness of the space that lies between your fingers. That's right. It only gets easier for your body to let go into the calm of this present moment.

[00:08:45] Scan your throat and your neck. Scan your throat and your neck of your neck. Relaxing deeper and ever so easily. Now scan your chin and jaw. Melting away anything.

[00:09:14] Scan your cheeks. Scan your cheeks. Your ears. And the small muscles surrounding your relaxed eyes. Scan your forehead. And see if you can relax your eyebrows. By letting go of any tension you might be holding onto here. Scan your temples. Relaxing them fully.

[00:09:51] And now scan the back of your head. Scan the top of your head. Scan the top of your head. And release anything that you know long. Scan from the top of your head. Down to your toes.

[00:10:29] As you breathe. If you feel like the most people is feeling very powerful. And you take that back from your head. And you can also reflect your thumbs. In the top of your head. Just like getting that back to your head. Bite your chin.

[00:10:52] It's a little bit more. In the top of your head. At your head. Press it to the top of your head. Exhale away anything that your body does not need. Very good. Inhale deeply.

[00:11:33] You deserve this relaxation. Every bit of it. Enjoy this sense of calm and let it sink deeper into your body, reaching every muscle, every fiber. Allow your breaths to fall into their natural.

[00:12:07] Imagine you are standing on a railway platform next to the train track. The sun is about to go down. When you glance at the colors of the sun, they are now deep orange, as if signaling towards the end of the day.

[00:12:31] When you look around, you find a board that mentions the arrival time of your train. You look around and observe the architecture of this platform. There are beautiful arched doorways with wrought iron benches, neatly placed at equal intervals, bringing harmony to your mind.

[00:13:05] Suddenly, you hear a distant whistle of the night train. The sound is getting louder, yet so comforting to your ears. You can now clearly see the train pacing towards you.

[00:13:25] When it gets closer to you, it begins to drift slowly and steadily, as if telling you to prepare yourself to board it. When the train arrives in front of you, it stops. And it feels like the time has merged into the stillness of this evening.

[00:13:51] The door splits open gently and makes way for you to board the train. With steady steps stirred with excitement and a feeling of trust, you enter the train. The door closes behind you, and you look around, exploring the train.

[00:14:15] There is no one on this train, which means tonight, this train will go through a magical journey exclusively for you. You are standing in the corridor of this sleepy train that leads to different compartments through doors that are not the ordinary.

[00:14:40] All the sliding doors have padded, creamy white leather surfaces. You touch one of the doors right in front of you to feel the smooth texture of the leather. There are small screens with each door. And when you swipe your hand on the screen, the door slides open.

[00:15:08] Before entering this compartment, you look outside from the row of windows in this corridor. The sun has gone down now. And the whole area where the train is passing through is immersed in moonlight, joined by the sparkling stars.

[00:15:32] With full trust, you step into the cabin. And in front of you there is a beautiful round walnut wooden table and a beautiful carved wooden recliner chair with comfy cushioning. You sit on the cozy chair and begin to notice what's for dinner on the table.

[00:16:05] Everything you like is on this table. You put some food on your plate and then begin to eat it. Each bite of this food is flavorful and warm. After you are done with your meal, you pour some tea from a beautiful teapot into the teacup.

[00:16:31] This is your favorite flavor of tea. So delicious and refreshing. As if someone prepared it right in front of you. The reclining chair is so comfortable that you keep on sitting there and enjoy each and every sip of the tea while looking out of the window.

[00:16:58] You can see mountain peaks in the distance. And snow on these mountains is glittering after receiving the charming moonlight. You begin to see some cottages built over these mountains. And the trails that line them have lamps dotting the way, lighting up these paths.

[00:17:23] The view is simply like a fairy tale. And you wonder what the dwellers of these cottages might be doing right now. They are all preparing their beds, brushing their teeth, and reading sleep stories to each other, unwinding from the day.

[00:17:49] The train has also got to know about your curiosity. And it has reduced its speed so that you can get a better look at the mountain village. You suddenly see a group of people curled around a bonfire on a flat rock protruding out of the mountain.

[00:18:16] Perhaps they are all sharing stories from the day and laughing and enjoying tea near the warmth of the firewood. Some of their animals are also resting near them. As if trying to catch some warmth of the bonfire that is filtering out of the gaps between the people sitting around it.

[00:18:44] You see all the people stretching their arms and yawning. As if they want to head towards their homes and sleep. Your guess is right. As they all get up and begin to walk towards their homes. The bonfire has already slipped.

[00:19:09] And now some lamps on the trails have started to sleep too. As all the people have gone back to their homes. The train is now catching speed, leaving the mountains behind. After some time, you get up from the reclining chair.

[00:19:34] And while still having a smile from the beautiful views of the mountain village. You come out of the dining cabin into the walkway of the sleepy train. You walk a bit to reach the next cabin. And you swipe your hand on the screen. And it opens the door.

[00:19:58] This is a shower enclosure with wooden walls and a marble floor. Just like a luxury hotel. You run the shower and stand underneath the running water. The temperature of the water is just right for your body. As the water pours over your body and runs down towards the floor.

[00:20:27] It feels like all the stress and worries from the day are being washed off. And going down the drain. Once you are done with the shower. On a hook lies a comfortable bathrobe in your favorite color. You wear it and come out of the shower.

[00:20:56] You walk towards the next enclosure. You can already hear some really comforting music coming from it. You enter this compartment. And there is a cozy sleep suit hanging in there. You change into the sleepwear. You take a shower.

[00:21:22] And then lie down on the reclining couch in this area. As soon as you sit and look out of the window. You feel like the train is getting slower now. Perhaps it is preparing to take some rest at a station. The train stops and you see that the door is facing the platform.

[00:21:50] And it slides open smoothly and ever so silently. You are a little tired by now. But feel called to come out of the train. And step onto the platform. You have never seen such a beautiful place before.

[00:22:19] This platform has a board hanging from a post that says, Sleep Land. You wonder why there is absolutely no one in this place. And then you realize perhaps it is some secret platform. Secluded and wrapped away from the world.

[00:22:48] So that you can exclusively experience it. Through this journey tonight. You begin to scan this platform. While there are many things grabbing your attention. You begin to walk towards a glass-walled shop. That has a board saying, Sleep Land Souvenirs.

[00:23:18] You enter the shop. And to your surprise, It has many beautiful objects. Made with all sorts of materials. You walk towards a shelf. That has crystal sculptures and trinkets. Your eyes fall on a small trinket. That is a crystal baby. Sleeping in a crystal cradle.

[00:23:48] With steady hands, You touch the tiny cradle. And it begins to rock. Gently. This makes you smile. As you look around. You see another trinket. That has a panda nosing off on a tree. It looks so cute and adorable.

[00:24:17] You find out there is a note placed on the shelf with the trinkets. You open the note. And it says, You are welcome to take whatever you like from this shop. You begin to explore the shelf that has everything made of felt and jute.

[00:24:42] You spot a little felt mouse who is combing balls of cotton and filling them into a jute bag. Another felt mouse next to it is sewing pillowcases. And a third felt mouse is filling the combed cotton into the pillow covers.

[00:25:06] As you walk towards another shelf that has animate trinkets. You see there is a beautiful brass fountain. And instead of water, it has tiny pillows flowing out and then filling up a basket underneath.

[00:25:29] After every few seconds, the tiny pillows from the basket load up on a conveyor belt. And the pillows are going inside a tunnel that is behind the fountain on the inner side of the shelf. This makes you wonder, where are those pillows going?

[00:25:58] Perhaps they are going towards a secret sleep city behind this shelf where there are many other felt critters? Who knows? Still wandering about the tunnel, you observe the other trinkets. You spot a book here. But the pages are turning on their own.

[00:26:23] And every page has some words written on it. There is a small silver plaque next to the book that says, Stop it with your hands if you need to. So you signal the book to stop flipping its pages. And it follows your instruction. When you try to read the words written on it, it says,

[00:26:54] Sleep comes to me naturally. It is so easy for me to fall asleep within moments. Leaving behind all.

[00:27:18] My mind can easily relax whenever it wants to sleep. My body can follow my sleepy mind. After reading these words, you feel like you need to rest your mind and body.

[00:27:50] You come out of the souvenir shop and head towards your sleepy train that is waiting for you already. You board the train. And this time, leaving the compartments you have been to.

[00:28:12] You walk past all of them and reach the final compartment that is towards the end of this train. And you enter it. You find out this is a cozy and comfy suite. With a large bed.

[00:28:39] The bed that has a creamy white leather frame. It is silky smooth. You observe the interior of this room. And the bed has beautiful sleek side tables. With glossy white surfaces.

[00:29:09] And crescent shaped crystal knobs on the drawers. Beautiful lamps are neatly perched on top of these side tables. And the glow of these lamps is golden white. In an intensity that is pleasing and comforting for your eyes.

[00:29:37] There is a rug next to the bed. That is fluffy and soft. You take off your shoes and take a step on the rug. And it feels like its softness is taking away even the slightest hints of lingering tension from your feet.

[00:30:09] This wave of relaxation is traveling into your body. From the feet towards your head. Wrapping every part of your body in comfort and peace.

[00:30:32] When you crawl and rest your head on the pillow. The softness of the pillow sinks your head into it. As if a warm hug has just embraced you. You pull the blanket up.

[00:31:02] Covering your hole in its comfort. The temperature of this bed is soothing. Just right for your body. Your eyes are half open and half closed.

[00:31:35] And from these sleepy eyes. You find out there is a skylight in the ceiling of this suite. The train is drifting very slow.

[00:32:01] Slow enough for you to observe the stars. One are very bright. And some are flickering. As the train drifts even slower now.

[00:32:32] While viewing these stars. The lamps in your room fallen asleep. The stars are flickering with a very slow speed. As if they are yawning into sleep.

[00:33:07] You cannot keep your eyes open. So you close them and fall asleep.