Sara Dylan

In this audio listening experience, Sara Dylan will be leading you gently into a quiet meditation during a summer thunder storm. You are sheltering safely from the storm and looking about as the rain falls.

You can choose what else you see in your mind’s eye; you can look out at the rain as it falls and listen to the thunder, or past the rain into the landscape to visualise the lightning; you can turn your head and look around and along the street or road.

Why this works: The brain naturally craves sensory input. Rain produces a sound akin to white noise. The brain gets a tonic signal from white noise that decreases this need for sensory input, thus calming us down.

A 2016 study carried out by the Brighton and Sussex Medical School found that sounds from nature – including rainfall, babbling streams, and thunder – have a relaxing effect on our psyche, and also physically adjust the way our brains work, reducing our body's fight-or-flight instinct.

The thunder in this recording will be quite loud at the beginning and will grow more distant, quieter, and less frequent as the storm moves away. The rain will continue throughout the recording.

Storms with lightning and the resultant thunder rarely last more than 30 minutes, unless following storms move in, but we have applied artistic license in extending this effect for 60 and 120 minute versions of this audiobook to assist your achievement of deep sleep.

Gentle meditative music has been added to enhance your experience.

This deep sleep meditation has been designed as a sitting meditation to be used at any time of the day, but it works just as well when you are lying down.

Relax and enjoy.

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