Last week, I shared my 11th post of my series to help Americans understand what's going on with Brexit. Sim shared initial thoughts about A Discovery of Witches (and a photo of herself with the lead actor). Becky was saddened by The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon. Fortunately, Jane Austen is always good for some cheer - Sense and Sensibility.
Several weeks ago, I wrote about how a bedtime story read by Stephen Fry helped me sleep in a noisy hotel room. Since then, I've been experimenting with various guided meditations and sleep music on YouTube.
My favorite discovery is The Honest Guys - here's their website and here's their YouTube channel. Originally, they were a couple of British guys who gave "honest opinions and reviews on various self-improvement methods and systems" on YouTube. Eventually, they developed their own guided meditations and stories, but they were kind of stuck with the name by then. The team also includes a woman who writes the scripts and has a fascination for J.R.R. Tolkien.
I've now had the experience of literally falling asleep while listening, but it doesn't usually happen with the sleep meditations. I'm more likely to fall asleep with their stories that lead the listener into the hobbits' Shire and the elves' Rivendell.
I fell asleep to this one a couple of nights ago and listened to it again last night, just so I could find out how it ends.
Check out these two playlists for many more ways to visit Middle Earth: Middle Earth Meditations and Lord of the Rings Meditations.
Have you tried sleep meditations or bedtime stories? What works for you?
About Joy Weese Moll
a librarian writing about books