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Hi, I'm Jessica Porter, and welcome back to Sleep Magic, a podcast where I help you find the magic of your own mind, helping you to sleep better and live better. Thank you everybody for being here. Thanks for listening. Thanks to the subscribers for subscribing and for everybody's incredible feedback online. I heard from a college student who's being helped by Sleep Magic.
A couple people say my voice is very soothing. Thank you for that. Um, I do get, uh, called Jeff by, um, you know, customer service people. I do sound pretty male sometimes, but it can help. Um,
Thank you. I heard from somebody who's gone from four to seven hours of sleep in a night, which is fantastic. And many, many more people have left feedback. So thank you. I really appreciate everyone feeling better, spreading the vibe. And yeah, it's just, it's all good. I know that sounds cliche, but it's, it's all good. Before we get started, let's hear a quick word from our sponsors who make this free content possible. So tonight,
Getting Sleepy by The Sen. I came back yesterday from 10 days in Paris. I'm very lucky to have family members living over there for the next few years, so I had the double whammy joys of connecting with family and experiencing an extraordinary environment. And I hadn't been to Paris for a very long time. Like last time I was in France, they used the franc as currency, so that puts it somewhere before 1999.
Everyone talks about how beautiful Paris is. That's sort of its thing. But I had forgotten how beautiful it really is. Which I guess makes a kind of sense. Its beauty is not something you can just jam in your head and hold there as some idea. Its beauty is very much alive. It needs to be breathed, beheld, and marveled at.
There's a bold beauty in the big things, like gorgeous architecture, huge churches, the Louvre. And then there's a more subtle beauty in the little things, the crisp, clean towel slung over a waiter's forearm, the trees in the Tuileries gardens, or the perfectly chewy crust of a baguette. And having not been there for such a long time, I noticed how much I had changed.
How I see things differently now within a larger context from a more secure place inside of me. So as much as Paris contains things that are hundreds of years old that have not changed because I have, it was a whole new place for me. And I love that. It was an entirely different and fresh experience. Life is funny that way.
So one night my sister's family and I took a picnic down to the banks of the Seine, right below the Eiffel Tower. It was a ridiculously Parisian evening, with bread and olives, wine and chocolate, and I loved every single minute of it. And now you can enjoy it too. So tonight we're going to picnic by the Seine. I'm going to do the hypnosis slightly differently tonight, like I did recently for another episode where I sort of
take you through the experience as the hypnosis is taking place. So get yourself into a safe and comfortable position and let's begin. Allow your eyes to close easily and gently and just bring your awareness for a moment to your breathing. Coming back to your breath, coming home to your body. And even as I say those words because you've heard me say them so many times before,
Your brain is already flooding itself with relaxing hormones. Good. Now I'd like you to bring your awareness up into your eyelids and imagine that the little muscles of your eyelids are feeling loose and limp and relaxed. And just allow your eyelids to get heavy, so heavy. It feels nice to let them get heavy. And now
I'd like you to imagine that your eyelids are so relaxed that they simply will not open. And so now I'd like you to test your eyelids to make sure they won't open by wiggling your eyebrows. And even though your eyes could open if you wanted to open them, we're pretending that you can't. So pretend your eyes won't open as you wiggle your eyebrows. Just give them a tug. Good. Imagine you are in Paris, standing on a huge square high on a hill.
And that relaxing feeling around your eyelids is now going to spread throughout your whole body. Imagine that relaxation around your eyelids moving back into your brain, taking over every single cell of your brain. Your head is getting so heavy now. So, so heavy. It feels really, really good.
This plaza you're standing on is known as Human Rights Square. It's a big public space flanked by huge buildings designed in 1937 that are curved like wings, reaching out to embrace the Trocadero Gardens that stretch out below you. The scale of this space feels grand and ancient.
In the wing of buildings to your left is the Museum of Architecture, and in the wing on your right is the Museum of Man. The square you're standing on is big, expansive, made of polished stone. This square has been the site of many famous protests and celebrations. As the relaxation moves down into your shoulders now, just allow your shoulders to sort of melt into the bed.
And as your shoulders are relaxing, any stress you've been carrying on those shoulders during the day, burdens, responsibilities, they're melting now. Melting all the way down to the floor. And you can reassemble those responsibilities if you want to in the morning. They're not disappearing completely. But you can choose tomorrow morning what you want to take on.
Because right now as your shoulders relax, going deeper and deeper, you're free. And your only responsibility is to yourself and this lovely, delicious experience of relaxation. And now you imagine looking up from the square and there it is. The Eiffel Tower. You've seen it so many times in your life. In movies, on tea towel, on stamps, and yet,
Here it is. And because you are high on a hill, you are almost level with it. Instead of looking at it from below, having to crane your neck, it is right here in front of you. And it is huge. As the relaxation moves down your arms, allow your arms to feel nice and heavy. Heavy. Heavy like sculptures.
as the relaxation moves all the way down into your hands, the palms of your hands opening, and any tension you may have built up in your body during the day flowing down through your arms out your hands. As your fingers relax, every one of them becoming nice and heavy. The Eiffel Tower literally towers over the city. It is roughly 1,000 feet high
or 81 stories, when the average building around it is no more than 4 or 5 stories, making it 20 times higher than the buildings around it. 20 times. It exists on a different scale, like it's been plopped down from another planet. And as you continue to listen to me, any sounds that may be happening in your environment, sounds from the street,
or within your home. Those sounds will actually take you deeper and deeper into relaxation. Bring your awareness to those sounds now and let them take you deeper. Good. The only thing you're paying any real attention to is the sound of my voice. But the sound of my voice is also taking you deeper and deeper. And there will come a point, and maybe it's already happened, where the sound of my voice is just vibration.
in the background. Good. It is late afternoon now and the square is alive with activity around you. Merchants from Senegal spread out their sheets and sell knickknacks to the tourists. Berets, sunglasses, keychains, and mini Eiffel Towers. Hundreds and hundreds of mini Eiffel Towers. Everywhere. All over the square.
waiting to be taken to living rooms all over the world. The sun is shining in the west as it begins to make its journey to the horizon. It's a golden afternoon and early fall and it's been a warm day. The leaves are changing. The sky is beautiful as the relaxation moves down inside your body. Imagine that relaxation moving down into your chest cavity.
swirling around inside of you, relaxing your heart, your lungs, any emotional tension that may have built up during the day is disappearing. As the relaxation moves down deep into your belly, your pelvis is feeling nice and heavy on your bed. As your lower back lets go, and even muscles you may hold unconsciously during the day in your belly are releasing.
The Eiffel Tower was designed as the centerpiece for the 1889 World's Fair. The World's Fair was an opportunity to showcase what countries around the world were up to, especially their technological advances. It was a way to share information, bolster national pride, and secure relationships between nations. We are a social bunch.
us humans, with pride and curiosity and tenacity. We like to think up new things and show them off to our neighbors. We like to come together. We like to connect. We always have. As the relaxation moves down your legs now, allow your legs to feel nice and heavy. So heavy, they're done for the day. As the relaxation moves down now into your feet,
The soles of your feet feel warm and open, and any tension that had built up over today in your lower body is moving down through your legs, out the soles of your feet as your feet become nice and heavy, and every toe becomes relaxed. The Eiffel Tower promised to be a great feat of engineering, made from wrought iron latticework
It would be the tallest structure in the world. It was designed by Gustav Eiffel and his associates. They drew over 3,600 sketches by hand of its different parts. Then it was constructed piece by piece in a factory in a suburb just outside of Paris.
and each piece was pulled by horse-drawn carriage to the building site. There was no margin for error and no fixing on site. If a piece didn't fit perfectly, it was sent back to be corrected. Even under these circumstances, it took just over two years to build. The Eiffel Tower was only meant to stand for 20 years,
at which point it would be dismantled. But in the build-up to World War I, it proved to be an excellent radio transmitter, and it became a permanent fixture on the Parisian skyline. As you look at it now, it feels as though you're seeing it for the very first time. The tower stands on four feet, curved, so they look like the elegant paws of a cat, stretching leisurely.
These feet distribute the weight of the tower evenly, making it stable and balanced on its huge square base. And you notice something about the shape of the tower. It's so graceful and pleasant. You feel good just looking at it. The delicate curve from the base of its feet to the tip of the tower is a geometric curve.
unfolding along a mathematical pattern. It is the same pattern used in architecture since the building of the pyramids, to the Parthenon, to the Taj Mahal. This pattern is known as the Golden Ratio, and it appears routinely in nature. It is found in the unfolding of a flower, the unleashing of a hurricane,
The hair spiral on the top of your head. It is a natural pattern. Organic. Pleasing. And as you look at the tower again, you see it. The angle of the curve between its base and its first level feels strong. But then the angle of the curve softens slightly between the second and third levels of the tower.
only to straighten out even more between the second level and the summit, which is the longest distance and the most graceful line. The silhouette of the Eiffel Tower is vibrant, like a rocket going off, a seashell revealing its chambers, the momentum of life. We resonate with it in our human bodies,
And there's another amazing thing about it. The Eiffel Tower is built with a heavy industrial metal, but it has been constructed in a delicate criss-crossed lattice. It is both heavy and light. There is more air in the Eiffel Tower than metal. It is open like the flaky lamination of a croissant.
It is here, and yet not here. You could look at it for hours. You begin to walk down the stone steps from the square. With every step you go deeper and deeper into relaxation. You go down step number five, four, three. You breathe in the evening air. Two. You hear the sounds of music and laughter. One.
You are now walking through the Trocadero Gardens. There are trees on your left and to your right a long reflecting pool with several fountains spouting along its sides. As you pass each fountain, the sound of water takes you deeper and deeper. You feel the mist from the fountains on your cheek. As you gaze out toward the tower,
The sun is getting lower in the west. There's a slight breeze picking up. And as you get closer to the tower, you relax. But you notice that your spine is straightening. The Eiffel Tower is a lightning rod, and it has its own charge, its own force. It aligns your spine as you go deeper and deeper.
As you continue down the gentle hill toward the tower, you cross a street. There are so many people out this evening. The Eiffel Tower attracts people. It always has. By the end of the World's Fair in 1889, almost two million people had made their way up the Eiffel Tower, many of them walking up its stairs.
That was practically the entire population of Paris at the time. Even today, this day that's ending now, roughly 25,000 people visited the Eiffel Tower. You walk along a bridge over the Seine, you're right at the base of the tower now. You can feel the heaviness of it in your body, but also the upward energy
with which it reaches into the air. There are so many people around you, many of them teenagers, taking selfies from this angle, with a tower reaching up above them into the sky. It feels nice to be in the center of things, nice to feel the good energy of this place. From the bridge, you look down over the sand.
watching the water flow beneath you. It's a beautiful, clear evening, and the sunset is playing off the water. You see your friends on a blanket next to the river waiting for you. You wave to them, and they wave back. It's time to go down, down to the river. As you go deeper and deeper into relaxation, you notice a set of stairs
going down to the left bank of the Seine. You take the stairs, ten, nine, with every step going deeper and deeper, eight, seven, six, four, three, two, one. Your friends have rolled out a soft blue blanket on the concrete bank of the river. It is thick and comfortable, so you sit down
in this group of lovely people. The energy is light and fun. And someone hands you a beverage. It's your favorite drink. You take a smell in the glass and then take a sip. Taste the liquid on your tongue and sigh as you breathe in Paris and receive the lovely energy that comes from being with friends.
You look out over the river and watch the boats go by. Fly boats called bateaux mouches full of tourists taking pictures, eating dinner, celebrating. The bateaux mouches have been showing off Paris since 1867, even before the world's fair and the Eiffel Tower. Watching the boats go by takes you deeper
and deeper into relaxation. The Seine flows from a spring in Burgundy, the famous wine region of France. It is 483 miles long and flows into the English Channel. The Seine was named after the Gaulish goddess of the river, Sequana, for whom offerings were found at its source.
You look out over the river to your left. The sun is hiding behind Paris now, and the sky is a Monet painting of pinks and blues. You look around at your friends. Everyone feels relaxed and happy. Someone passes you a baguette, and you pull off a piece. You look down to see a gooey French cheese on a wooden cutting board.
You spread some cheese on the bread and taste it. Your mouthful is chewy and requires attention, moving to the sensations on your palate. The cheese offers a soft, tangy creaminess which balances the dry, chewy bread. You take your time enjoying this French experience as you go deeper and deeper.
Someone tells a joke and you all laugh. To your right, just behind you, the Eiffel Tower stands guard. Now that it's getting dark, its lights have turned on and it's glowing, giving off a soft amber light against the darkening sky. Everyone is getting relaxed now. Someone passes around a box of chocolate truffles.
and you take one. You place it in your mouth and its delicate chocolate shell breaks. The chocolate ganache inside, soft and sweet, melts over your tongue and into every pocket of your mouth. You take a nice deep breath and listen to the sounds of the evening, friends chatting,
Boats moving along the water. Music from the Trocadero Gardens. As the river flows by, you feel the flow of your life. The flow within your body. The flow within everyone's lives. People have been coming to the Seine since the Stone Age to eat, to get water, to fish,
to connect, coming together, living their lives. Just as the river flows, your life is flowing. Just as the river flows, your life is flowing. You lie down on the blanket and look up into the sky. The first stars are twinkling in the blue darkness. You take a nice deep breath and receive Paris.
And then, as you gaze up, you see it. The Eiffel Tower is sparkling. Since the year 2000, every evening, on the hour, the tower sparkles for five minutes. Fitted with 20,000 tiny lights, they go on and off successively so that it sparkles.
like cameras flashing, like champagne bubbles rising and popping. It is the energy of life celebrating itself. You watch the sparkles hypnotize as you fill with energy. The Eiffel Tower feels connected, aligned, alive, just as you are connected, aligned. You are sparkling.
As you go deeper and deeper, it is late now and the tower has gone dark. The moon is rising. As you and your friends gather up, say goodnight and you walk to a small hotel near the river. Your room is clean and safe. You get into bed, snuggle under the covers and close your eyes and in your mind, the Eiffel Tower
is sparkling as you drift and float and dream.