Get Sleepy In The Santa Monica Mountains
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Hi, I'm Jessica Porter, and welcome back to Sleep Magic, a podcast where I help you to find the magic of your own mind, helping you to sleep better and live better. Hi, everybody. You know, it's so funny, I want to get really excited at the beginning, but this is a sleep podcast, and I don't want to wake anybody up if you're listening to this recording later in the evening. Let me just say that

I found a way to see all of the reviews from all over the place. And I just want to thank everybody from New Zealand and Australia and the UK and Canada and France and Sweden and India and all these places where we've been getting listeners and helping people fall asleep. And it's so incredibly gratifying to be helping people all over the world. So thank you. Thank you for leaving reviews and ratings. Thanks for just being here.

We're all helping each other. This is a collective experience.

And I just want to give a shout out to Emily and Lee in the UK, and specifically their Dobermans, who seem to be falling asleep every night to sleep magic as well. There are people out there struggling with addiction issues or reinforcing their sobriety. And I just want to, you know, support you and cheer, lead you in that. That's huge. I'm really glad that the sleeping is helping.

Someone mentioned that repetition is really key and helpful to this process, and I couldn't agree more. You know, hypnosis isn't some parlor trick. That you just do once and then boom, you've changed forever. Although hypnotherapy can be very effective and specifically targeted...

Most things require reinforcement and repetition, just like you didn't learn to walk in a day or talk in a day. You were reinforced by the people around you and you repeated the actions. So keep using sleep magic, keep using the tools wherever you find them in life that help you to access this deeper part of your mind and just repeat, repeat, repeat, and you'll get better and better and better results. So thank you to the person who reminded me of that.

And it seems like most of you are falling asleep really quickly and to have no idea what I'm saying in these podcasts. Keep on keeping on. I appreciate it. Before we get started, let's hear a quick word from our sponsors who make this free content possible. All right. Tonight, getting sleepy in the Santa Monica Mountains. I live in a part of Los Angeles County that's right on the edge of a canyon called Topanga.

It's a beautiful and mysterious canyon running through the Santa Monica Mountains and ending at the Pacific Ocean. Topanga is weird. Like, weird in a groovy, hippie way. It's as if the 60s never really ended in Topanga. Neil Young recorded after the gold rush here. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys lived here, and even Dennis Hopper of Easy Rider fame made his home in Topanga.

It's a small but vibrant place with about 10,000 residents spread throughout the canyon. And I live right over the edge of it, on the city side, but just on the edge. Like my life is half city, half canyon. I love that. One of my greatest pleasures is driving down Topanga Canyon Boulevard, winding my way through the canyon to the ocean.

It's about 10 miles and takes exactly 18 minutes in my little crappy Honda. I go past the same things over and over again, and it gets better and better every time. So tonight, you will be taking a little trip through Topanga Canyon. 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 to your breathing and notice how easily or not so easily your focus comes back to your breathing. If you've been using sleep magic for a while, your mind is getting stronger, your ability to focus is getting stronger, and your ability to relax is getting better and deeper. So as you bring your awareness from the outside world,

the looking, the swiping, the investigating. Bringing it back to your breath. Notice how easy it's becoming to focus your mind. Good. Allowing your awareness to simply rest on your breath for a moment. Just imagine your awareness is like a little surfer surfing the wave of your breath. Beautiful. Now I'd like you to bring your awareness up into your eyelids

and imagine the little muscles of your eyelids are feeling loose and limp and relaxed. Allow your eyelids to get nice and heavy and you may notice that as your eyelids are getting nice and heavy that your arms are getting heavy and your legs are getting heavy. The suggestion is moving through your whole body. As your eyelids get heavier and heavier you accept the suggestion that your eyelids are so relaxed that they simply will not open.

And in a moment, I'm going to ask you to test your eyes to make sure they won't open. So I want you to pretend that your eyelids won't open and just wiggle your eyebrows to show yourself, "Hey, my eyelids, they're not opening." And of course, you're pretending. And by pretending, we enter the subconscious mind. So I'd like you to imagine that your eyelids are so relaxed that they will not open and now test your eyelids by wiggling your eyebrows. Just give them a tug. Good.

Now this relaxation that you have around your eyes is the same quality of relaxation that you will soon have throughout your whole body if you don't have it already. So let's imagine that relaxation around your eyes moving back into your head, allowing a warm mist of relaxation to take over every single cell of your brain, causing your scalp to relax, causing your head to sink,

further into the pillow, becoming heavy, so heavy. It's so nice to let your head let go. The muscles of your face are softening as you imagine warm waves of relaxation lapping up against the beach of your mind. Feel those warm waves of relaxation lapping up against the beach of your mind as all mental tension disappears.

just disappears as you take yourself deeper and deeper and every word that I say is helping you to take yourself deeper and deeper into relaxation and relaxation is something you can practice as you practice it now feeling heavier and heavier and it feels so good to practice relaxation you're getting better and better at this every night

And you find that the relaxation is seeping into your waking life as well. Helping you to feel better. Helping you to listen. Helping you to give. Helping you to enjoy your life as you take yourself deeper and deeper. And that relaxation moves down now into your shoulders. Allow the muscles of your shoulders to feel loose and limp and relaxed.

And as your shoulders are relaxing, all of the responsibilities you carry in the world are falling from your shoulders. You can pick any or all of them up tomorrow morning, but for right now, your only responsibility is to yourself as you let go fully into this experience of relaxation. As that mist of relaxation moves down your arms, allow your arms to feel nice and heavy now.

Maybe they were feeling heavy before, but now they're getting even heavier. As the relaxation moves down into your hands, the palms of your hands feel warm and open. Maybe the palms of your hands even tingle a little. As you imagine the relaxation moving down every single one of your fingers, one, two, on each hand, as they become heavy and relaxed. Good. Now, while you're listening to this recording,

You may be aware of some of the sounds going on around you. And that's okay, because from this moment on, no sound that you hear will bother or disturb you in any way. In fact, from this moment on, any sound that you hear, like noises from within your room, your home, next door, out on the street, those sounds will actually cause you to go deeper and deeper into relaxation. This is you using the magic of your own mind.

Deciding that those sounds, instead of being irritants, that they're helping you to go deeper and deeper. As you open to those sounds now, listen for them and let them take you deeper. Good. The only sound you're paying any real attention to is the sound of my voice. And the sound of my voice is also taking you deeper and deeper.

And soon the sound of my voice will sort of slip away and sound very far away as you go on your own journey into your own relaxation, as you drift and float and dream. Imagine that relaxation now moving down into your chest cavity, like a spiral of this relaxing mist moving within your chest cavity, surrounding and supporting your heart.

in your lungs as you imagine that mist moving down into your belly now, deep, deep down into your belly, your pelvis feeling heavy on the bed. And as that mist moves within your belly, your lower back is letting go, your buttocks relaxing. Any muscles you may hold unconsciously during the day in your belly releasing.

As the relaxation moves down into your legs now, allow your legs to feel nice and heavy. Heavy. It feels so good to let your legs let go. As the relaxation moves down now into your feet, the soles of your feet feeling warm and open. Perhaps the soles of your feet even tingle a little. As that mist of relaxation makes its way all the way down to your toes, every single toe. Five, four,

3, 2, 1. Feeling so full, so heavy, so totally relaxed. Good. Your journey begins at a scenic overlook gazing out over the San Fernando Valley. It's late afternoon, almost dusk, and some of the lights are beginning to twinkle down below. Spread out before you is a classic view of Los Angeles.

A grid of lights spread out like a carpet over 260 square miles. But as you look closer, you see the green of the trees, the Italian cypress trees sticking up straight like soldiers. You see some of the beautiful houses nestled into the hills creeping up the sides of the valley.

The sky is turning a lovely indigo, and the clouds are taking on a slightly ochre tinge, and parts of the city look like they're from a painting from Italy. The cypress tree, the hills, and the fading golden light. The valley stretches out as far as the San Gabriel Mountains, bordering it in the distance.

As the sun falls, they look purple and majestic. The air is dry and warm. You get into your car and begin your leisurely drive away from the city into Topanga Canyon. The road is winding and simple and slow. Just one lane heading toward the edge of the continent.

Along the side of the road, a relatively compact tree, born in the dry, hot climate of Southern California. Coast live oaks and scrub oaks, all gnarled and clinging to the hills. As you begin your descent, with every turn, the angles change and new vistas open up to you.

the lovely hills and peaks of the Santa Monica Mountains, a relatively young mountain range created by the tectonic collision of the Pacific plate with the North American. Topanga Canyon is the valley between mountains snaking its way to the Pacific. The mountains look green today, having absorbed the February rains

and reveal themselves at different distances and angles as you drive. You notice houses perched on the cliffs or tucked away in the pockets of the mountains. And as you go deeper, you appreciate new viewpoints, new perspectives, noticing new things with every turn. You begin to feel hugged by the hills,

The oaks are growing on slight angles on the hillside, reaching out over the road. Bushes and dry scrub dot the hills, looking green thanks to the rain. The grass on the hillside is long like uncut hair and is so green it feels like you're in Ireland. Although the rains don't last very long,

When they combine with the sun and the warmth, the grass takes on a dazzling emerald hue. It's a magical time in Southern California. As you go deeper and deeper, you drive past the Topanga Living Cafe, its name written on a big pink sign with its beautiful outdoor patio.

where locals eat their buckwheat pancakes and organic taco. To your right, you see a carved wooden sign that says Will Gears Theatricum Botanicum. Curious, you park along the side of the road and get out of the car. The late afternoon air is warm against your cheek. You walk down a long set of stairs,

and come to a theater. The Theatricum Botanicum is an open-air theater nestled in the woods on the floor of the canyon. You find a seat in the curved amphitheater-style seating and take in the view. There is a stage made entirely of wood with trees behind it, around it, and even a couple sticking up through it.

The set contains two well-built tree houses with balcony that the actors can enter through or use for scenes, but otherwise, this theater belongs to the forest. The lights go down and it is black as you go deeper and deeper into relaxation. Will Gere founded the Theatricum Botanicum

in 1973. He began his career in the theater, but became a star after playing the role of Grandpa on the hit TV series called The Waltons. Will Gere was an activist, a courageous resistor, and a trailblazer. As the lights come up, the trees sparkle, and the stage glows.

Actors enter from the forest in period costumes and they perform Romeo and Juliet. With every word they say, you go deeper and deeper into relaxation. There is romance in the mountain. The show is over now and you leave the theater to continue your trip through the canyons.

As you wind down the road, you notice smaller roads snaking up into the hills on either side. These hidden roads lead to wooden cabins, spiritual retreats, and exquisite homes perched on the mountainside. You are in the flats of a canyon now, tracing your route along the creek,

that runs through it. There are tall, white-barked sycamore trees and elegant eucalyptus trees. You pass the entrance to the Topanga Elementary School and a shop that refurbishes bicycles. As you take yourself deeper and deeper, you make a wide right turn and come to the great wall. You slow down

to take in the detail. It's a grandiose name for a collection of artworks made by local craftsmen. The Great Wall is a support wall that holds up a high porch and its owner has donated the blank space to the village of Topanga. There's a wooden staircase that goes from the road up to the high porch

And at the foot of the staircase stand two life-size terracotta statues, replicas of the 8,000 clay guards that protected the tomb of a Chinese emperor. On the wall there are huge masks, five feet high. There are a variety of paintings, a huge heart made from bottle caps, cogs,

wheels, and the head of a Buddha. As you drive beyond the Great Wall of Topanga, you see a little clapboard shack painted white and yellow, where a hairdresser plies her trade. Just down the road, there's a small clothing store and a custom hat. Along this one road, winding deep through the canyon,

and hugged by the trees. You see a fish store, a post office, a natural grocer, and a lumber yard. As you wind around another curve, you come to a sign for the Inn of the Seventh Ray, the most famous restaurant in this tiny village of Topanga. You drive over a small wooden bridge

over the creek and park outside the restaurant entrance where you're greeted by the maitre d'. Behind his podium, you see twinkling lights, strings of lights that extend down, down behind him. And as he guides you down a set of stone stairs, you see the restaurant unfurl in front of you.

It's a collection of tables and cozy seating areas in the open air, all surrounded by trees so deep within the canyon, nestled against the creek bed. It feels like you're in another world. You're seated at a table. It's getting cool tonight, so there's a gas heater warming you from above.

You watch as meals are delivered to other tables under the sparkling lights. It's an intimate atmosphere. You sit and sip a cup of chamomile tea and your body is warmed on the inside as you look out at the other patrons enjoying themselves, clinking their glasses, savoring their dinners. You feel good.

And as you finish your tea, you feel more relaxed than ever. You get back into your car and continue to drive. The village of Topanga is small, and it takes only a minute or so to pass through it. On the way out, you see a large sign that says "Topanga Rock" with a picture of a huge crystal on it.

You make one last stop here and go through a wooden gate to a huge open-air display of hand-carved Indonesian furniture and stone statuary. There are ornate tables carved from teak and statues made from petrified wood. There are various Buddhas, some meditating.

some laughing. And among these beautiful objects are crystals. Crystals so big they make you catch your breath. You notice a huge geode so tall it comes up to your chin. You feel the amethyst crystals lining its interior. Bumpy, sharp, and perfectly formed.

There's a large formation of white quartz as big as a coffee table with huge crystals jutting out in all directions. It is stunning. As you make your way through the display, your finger caresses a huge sphere of rose quartz, perfectly polished and the size of a beach ball.

You wander into the store, a small room with high ceilings and the natural evening light coming through the glass walls. This store contains every type of stone and some you recognize like garnet, tiger's eye, onyx, opal, and turquoise. But some of them seem new to you. Tanzanite, howlite,

and the heaviest of all, meteorite, delivered to the earth from space. You pick up a piece of meteorite. It's black and mottled and much heavier than it looks. You feel the weight of it in your hand. What a journey from outer space to the palm of your hand. You purchase the meteorite and put it in your pocket.

Feeling the weight of this space stone takes you deeper and deeper into relaxation. It is your sleep stone, and every time you touch it, you relax. You get back into the car and begin your second descent. Topanga Village is behind you, and the road is winding down again, switching back and forth.

as it traces the edge of a mountain. Your angle is steep as the car tilts forward. You're careful and focused. You're hugging the mountain, but also you feel the closeness of the other mountain on your left, the other shoulder of the canyon. This part of the Santa Monica Mountains feels drier and has fewer trees

and more scrub. As you drive down, down, the vegetation is a greenish brown. But in the summer, these mountains will appear tan and even reddish. They are warmed by the sun every day of the year. They've been warmed by the sun every day for 16 million years. The light

is beginning to dwindle as you go down through the mountains, going deeper and deeper. As you approach the bottom, the road is becoming flat again, but still winding back and forth and forth. The terrain is opening up and you feel more space around you. You roll down the windows and let the humid

Ocean breeze flow around in the car. The sound of the wind takes you deeper and deeper. You smell the salt water nearby. Finally, the road makes its last turn and you see the Pacific Ocean spread out before you. It looks like it goes on forever. Moon is reflected on the water.

creating a thousand twinkling moons on the waves. You turn right and there's a beach motel made up of little cabins open for business. You get a room for the night and enter your cabin. You reach into your pocket and pull out your piece of meteorite, setting it on the bedside table. It is your sleep stone.

connecting you with the earth, with yourself, and with space. The cabin is warm and cozy, and you can hear the crash of the wave on the beach. You crawl into bed and relax, close your eyes, going deeper and deeper as you drift and float and dream.