Breathing Deep and Letting Go: A Path to Nocturnal Tranquility

Have you ever experienced the tranquil peace of a forest at night? Captivated by the melody of rustling leaves, the hooting of owls, and distant wildlife activities, we journey through a serene forest landscape, opening up an auditory treasure trove of nocturnal peace. As city dwellers, we may not all have access to a forest, but we show you how to create your own oasis of tranquility, whether that's in your backyard, on your patio, or just next to an open window. 

Welcome to Resilient Faith, a podcast dedicated to finding calm in chaos and connecting with God through the quiet moments life offers. This episode, we invite you to listen to the hum of the city as it slows down for the night, to the distant barking of a dog, or the muted sounds of evening traffic. We guide you to breathe deeply, release the demands of the day, and find calm in the quiet. As we journey together in search of resilience and peace in a busy world, we hope you'll join us in exploring the calming effect that nature and the night can bring.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to Resilient Faith, the podcast.
Opportunities to find deeperresilience within ourselves can
come when life seems mostchallenging.
This podcast is to help youdevelop that resilience and
connection with God.
Being resilient and havingpower starts with faith.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Have you ever listened to the forest falling
asleep at night?
A friend recently told me thatshe loves sitting near a window
or out on her screened-in porchin the fall, where she lives
back east, enjoying the crispchange of seasons under a
handmade quilt and watching andwaiting for night to arrive.

(01:02):
Not all of us have had thatexperience of being out in the
woods or even near them, eitherin a rusted cabin or up in the
mountains for a weekend to getaway, or even living on the edge
of a national park somewhere.
There's actually very few of usthat can say they are able to
have that opportunity.

(01:22):
But if you had the chance andstepped outside one dark night,
would it be long enough tolisten?
Dark enough to maybe even seeone of more than 6,000
satellites rolling by?
Even if you can't really hearthem, you might hear the oh my,

(01:46):
there it is in your own breath,as many of them are visible to
the naked eye.
Could the sound of the forestcalm you?
Could you hear yourself breathe?
Can you sit for a while on abench or an old wicker chair and

(02:06):
really listen?
Try it sometime.
Stay up late or even appreciatethe fact that it gets darker so
much earlier in the fall andthe winter months.
In some places, dark comes uponus in the autumn, as early as 5
or 6 in the evening.
Perhaps a screech owl or awestern white, depending on

(02:29):
where you are, will call youLeaves rustling either hanging
on tenuously to the branchesabove during a shift in the wind
or being shoved aside by fouror five white-tailed deer and
their young looking for acornsor dried berries on the ground,

(02:50):
depending on the season.
Maybe you might hear commonloons chatting while settling
somewhere for a night or twoduring their migration south,
and that rascally raccoon andtheir two or three little ones
out for the night for scraps ofdelights.
Listening to the forest fallasleep doesn't have to be

(03:12):
fearful.
It can be rejuvenating,refreshing, restful, calming.
Perhaps, like so many of us,you're in the city, the suburbs,
a busy neighborhood, a noisycul-de-sac or just a block or so
away from a busy intersectionor even a highway.

(03:33):
I still encourage you to try it.
Get bowed in the backyard ormaybe your patio or balcony, or
just Sit next to an open window.
Give it a try, take in thenight and acknowledge the
evening traffic of those stillworking, trying to get home late

(03:56):
after a long, hard day pickingup groceries or kids from their
evening soccer practice,listening for that dog two
blocks away saying he's ready tocome back inside for the night,
like he does every night,barking endlessly, but actually

(04:16):
it was only a minute or so.
And then there's a late nightambulance siren oh, please, let
them be alright.
Wherever it's headed, you praysilently.
Can the night release the dayaway and all its busyness, all

(04:37):
its noise, all its errands andchores?
Would it make you pause, stopand absorb what is there and
allow you time to take a long,deep breath, really, really
deeply, over and over again.
One can certainly try it.

(05:04):
Sometimes is so lovelylistening for all the sounds of
your world beginning to fallasleep, the restless quiet, the
refrigerator humming, the lightsbeing switched off on the wall
one last time, or the pull chainon the old living room lamp, or

(05:26):
the forest and the woods andits noises, the city trying to
compose itself, catch its breathand quiet down and rejuvenate,
refresh and find calm.
All these sounds denied to somany.

(05:50):
So maybe even tonight or somenight soon, grab an old sweater
or even a blanket pause, stopand listen and try to calm
yourself in the quiet around youFor the world around us is

(06:17):
trying so desperately to calmdown as well.
May it be so Blessed be.

Speaker 1 (06:34):
You've been listening to Resilient Faith.
The podcast Resilient Faith issponsored by Brentwood
Presbyterian Church in West LosAngeles.
You can follow our church andthis podcast on Facebook at
BPCTeam and Instagram at BPCunderscore USA.

(06:54):
Make sure to subscribe on yourfavorite podcast platform and
thanks for listening.