This is for those people who need lots of time and space for themselves – whatever the reason. It is especially for those of you who keep pushing to DO stuff and ignore the need to just BE.

Perhaps this story about Carl Jung, the famous psychologist, will inspire you to take time out.

Doctor Jung would see people by appointment at his home in Switzerland. One day a wealthy woman called to make an appointment for the following day. Dr Jung declined. He was busy and already had an appointment at the requested time.

The next day, at the time the woman would have had her appointment, she saw him sitting on a low wall with his shoes and socks off, dangling his feet in the water of Lake Zurich. Convinced he had lied to her, she confronted him angrily.

“You said you couldn’t see me because you had a very important engagement. But here you are, doing nothing but sitting on the shore of the lake by yourself.” Jung replied: “I told you no lie. I had an appointment, the most important appointment of the week, an appointment with myself.”

So, without ado, take some time just for yourself. Here are two recordings that can help you with that.

The first I recorded whilst on holiday in Wales. It’s the sound of the ocean as the waves roll back and forth on the beach. You’ll hear the whistle of the wind as well from time to time. When you listen to this, visualise a beach – and go for a mini holiday. The Ocean Sounds recording is about 2 minutes long.

The second is an excercise I learnt when I was doing Practical Philosophy many years ago. It is a lovely exercise to access the stillness and space in the moment. This recording is about 7 minutes long. Once you know how to tap into the stillness, you can do the exercise at any time for as long or short as you want.

1. Ocean Sounds

2. Peace in the Present

Enjoy!