Calming Anxiety | Guided Meditation, Sleep Hypnosis & Panic Attack Relief

How Plash-Goo Came to the Land of None's Desire by Lord Dunsany — A Funny Giant Fairy Tale for Sleep & Insomnia | Books at Bedtime

 

Drift off with How Plash-Goo Came to the Land of None's Desire by Lord Dunsany, a short, wickedly funny fairy tale about a giant, a dwarf and a mountain-top grudge, read aloud by Martin Hewlett on Books at Bedtime, the sleep story series from Calming Anxiety.

 

In a thatched cottage so enormous you might call it a palace, down on the plains, lives Plash-Goo, one of the children of the giants. His family has been shrinking for five hundred years, so that the giants are now no more than fifteen feet high. But high on the mountain tops above his house lives a dwarf, squat, ugly and hairy, who walks up and down along the edge every evening, in plain sight of Plash-Goo.

 

For weeks the giant puts up with the sight of him, until, as happens to all of us over little things, he can't sleep at night and even loses his taste for pigs. So at last Plash-Goo shoulders his club and climbs up to deal with the dwarf once and for all. He has already pictured exactly how it will go, and the precipice that drops away to the land of None's Desire. But the dwarf is broader than may be dreamed, and fate, as Dunsany puts it, would have it otherwise.

 

This classic short story for adults is a light-hearted wind-down for a busy mind, with Dunsany's dry wit, his mock-heroic fairy-tale style and Martin's calm, unhurried narration. If you've ever lain awake over something small that got under your skin, you'll smile at this one. It's an ideal short sleep audiobook for fantasy lovers and for anyone with insomnia who finds it hard to switch off at night.

 

If you enjoyed it, you'll find more Lord Dunsany on Books at Bedtime, including Lobster Salad, The True History of the Hare and the Tortoise and How the Enemy Came to Thlunrana.

 

How Plash-Goo Came to the Land of None's Desire was first published in Tales of Wonder (London: Elkin Mathews, 1916), known in the US as The Last Book of Wonder (Boston: John W. Luce, 1916). Lord Dunsany (1878–1957).

 

Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett.

 

📱 Listen to Books at Bedtime in the Anchored app, offline and with the screen off, so you can fall asleep without a bright phone in your hand:

 

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669

 

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored

 

🧡 For Martin's calming tips, visit: https://calminganxiety.org/calm

 

🌱 Try Thole, Martin's new health and wellness app, in beta on iPhone: https://testflight.apple.com/join/aUKB8W7N

 

Sleep well, my friend. And in everything, be kind.

 

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins at Indie Music Box

Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

Too Much to Think About and Don't Know Where to Begin? — Guided Meditation for Overthinking & Anxiety | Calm a Busy Mind

 

Too much to think about, and you don't know where to begin? If you're feeling overwhelmed by everything, and one worry leads straight into another, this 10-minute guided meditation for overthinking and anxiety is a little space to breathe, to soften, and to treat yourself with kindness while some things remain unfinished. You don't have to make sense of the whole thing right now.

 

Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett. Martin's Anchored app for panic and anxiety includes instant calm, always there with no sign-up needed, and it works even without a signal.

Download it on iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669 and Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored.

And try Thole, Martin's new whole body and mind app, at https://thole.app

 

If you're wondering how to calm a busy mind, it can be tempting to work harder at getting rid of thoughts. Today we do the opposite. We follow the almost hypnotic rhythm of the natural breath, imagine an aura of relaxation spreading across the chest and drift into a gentle, trance-like state. When a racing thought returns, you simply smile at it and come back to the breath. You'll receive five affirmations for overwhelm and three daily caring tips.

 

⏱️ Time Chapters

* 00:00 – Too much to think about

* 00:31 – Welcome from Martin

* 00:51 – Finding your quiet place

* 01:19 – The rise and fall of every breath

* 02:16 – An aura of relaxation

* 02:38 – Drifting into a gentle trance

* 03:05 – How to calm a busy mind

* 03:54 – Letting go of worry

* 04:09 – When a racing thought returns

* 04:48 – Five affirmations for overwhelm

* 06:04 – Balance within your thoughts

* 06:27 – Affirmations, once more

* 07:33 – Letting the regrets leave

* 07:55 – Your 3 daily caring tips

* 09:03 – Gently returning to the room

* 09:35 – Anchored: instant calm, no sign-up

* 09:57 – Anchored Premium

* 10:27 – Smile often, and be kind

 

🌿 Today's Gentle Affirmations

Repeat them to yourself or simply listen. If one feels too far away today, let it be an invitation:

* I can take this day one moment at a time.

* I do not need an answer to every thought.

* I can treat myself kindly while things remain uncertain.

* I am allowed a moment of calm.

* My next small step can be enough.

 

💡 3 Daily Caring Tips

1. Give one decision a little space: Give one non-urgent decision a little space. You might say, "I can come back to this later." Choose something that can reasonably wait, and allow yourself to stop turning it over and over.

2. Do one ordinary thing with your attention: Do one ordinary thing with your attention gently alongside it. Feel the warmth of a mug, notice the water as you wash your hands or listen to a sound outside. Let an everyday moment offer a small break from thinking ahead.

3. Notice the tone you use with yourself: When you feel overwhelmed, try the words you might offer someone you care about: "This is a lot. Let's take one thing at a time." You deserve gentleness too.

 

📱 Take Calming Anxiety With You Anywhere

You may still have questions, and there may still be things to decide, but you can face them with a calmer mind. Anchored, Martin's app for panic and anxiety, gives you instant calm whenever you need it, shaped by his 20 years as a paramedic helping people in times of crisis:

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored

 

To listen without ads and support the show, Anchored Premium is just 5.99 a month, less than a large mocha, or 49.99 for the whole year, with Books at Bedtime and everything else included. It also makes a lovely Christmas gift for a friend. Find out more at https://calminganxiety.org, and Martin's calming tips at https://calminganxiety.org/calm

 

🌱 Coming in December: Thole, Martin's whole body and mind app. Try it free now at https://thole.app

 

If this helped, please share it with someone who's feeling overwhelmed, and leave a 30-second review on Apple Podcasts.

 

Have a lovely day, my friend. This is about you, finding you and loving who you are. So smile often, and in everything, be kind.

 

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins at Indie Music Box

Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

The Doom of La Traviata by Lord Dunsany — A Haunting Gothic Fable of Paris for Sleep & Insomnia | Books at Bedtime

 

Settle in with The Doom of La Traviata by Lord Dunsany, a short, haunting and strangely tender dark fable of Paris, heaven and mercy, read aloud by Martin Hewlett on Books at Bedtime, the sleep story series from Calming Anxiety.

 

Evening steals out of the mysterious lands and comes down on the streets of Paris. The dark cats creep from the houses, the dim streets fill with shapes, and in a mean house near the Moulin Rouge, the young woman known as La Traviata dies. Her soul drifts blindly about the streets she knew, until it strikes against the wall of Notre Dame and streams upward to paradise to be judged.

 

Clouds gather, the halos of the saints grow pale and the singing of the seraphim falters. Seven great angels rise with pity on their faces, and they set out along the long and dusty Way of the Damned, carrying her young soul between them. But as the angels walk, they look not at her sins, but at the part of her soul that once loved a sister long dead. "It is but a young soul," they say. What seven angels may dare to do on that road, Dunsany saves for the closing lines.

 

This classic short story for adults is a thoughtful listen rather than a cosy one. It's a dark fable about death, judgment and hell, so if you'd like something gentler tonight, please choose another story. For lovers of gothic tales who are awake with insomnia, it's a rich sleep audiobook, with Dunsany's rhythmic, almost biblical prose and Martin's calm, unhurried narration.

 

If you enjoyed it, you'll find more Lord Dunsany on Books at Bedtime, including On the Dry Land and The Whirlpool, both from the same collection, along with The Hen and How the Enemy Came to Thlunrana.

 

The Doom of La Traviata was first published in The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories (London: George Allen & Sons, 1908). Lord Dunsany (1878–1957).

 

Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett.

 

📱 Listen to Books at Bedtime in the Anchored app, offline and with the screen off, so you can fall asleep without a bright phone in your hand:

 

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669

 

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored

 

🧡 For Martin's calming tips, visit: https://calminganxiety.org/calm

 

🌱 Try Thole, Martin's new health and wellness app, in beta on iPhone: https://testflight.apple.com/join/aUKB8W7N

 

Sleep well, my friend. And in everything, be kind.

 

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins at Indie Music Box

Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

If your mind won’t stop, your chest feels tight, or the world is simply moving too fast, this episode is your safe harbor. Join Martin, a clinical hypnotherapist and former frontline paramedic, for a 10-minute nervous system reset. Using the science of slow breathing and the ancient healing power of nature, you will learn how to physically signal to your body that you are completely safe.In this session, we journey deep into an ancient Devon woodland, walk through sweeping green meadows, and stand at the edge of a deep, unhurried river.

Discover how to look beneath the chaotic "ripples" of daily anxiety to find the permanent stillness that lives inside you.🌟 Love the Show? Subscribe & Review!If this guided meditation helped you find your center today, please take a quick moment to subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your reviews help others searching for anxiety relief find our peaceful community.⏱️ Time Chapters
00:00 – Intro: The Science of Slow Breathing & Nervous System Resets
00:41 – Meet Martin: From Frontline Paramedic to Hypnotherapist
01:06 – Visualizing the Devon Woodland & The Unhurried Buzzard
01:51 – Breathwork: Activating the Vagus Nerve to Reverse Distress
04:03 – Inhaling Love, Exhaling Tension
05:22 – Guided Imagery: The Sweeping Meadow & The Steady River
10:06 – Core Affirmations for Grounding & Presence
10:42 – 3 Daily Caring Tips for a Happier Life
12:29 – Outro & Breaking the Anxiety Cycle
🌿 Grounding Affirmations to RememberRepeat these internally whenever the world begins to feel overwhelming:
"I am worthy of love and peace."
"I am allowed to rest."
"I am grounded, I am present, I am safe."
💡 3 Daily Caring Tips for a Happier Life
The 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique: A clinically proven tool to pull your brain out of future-worry and back into the present. Name 5 things you can see, 4 you can touch, 3 you can hear, 2 you can smell, and 1 you can taste.
Take Your Nervous System Outside: You don't need a massive hike to lower cortisol levels. Spending just 5 minutes standing barefoot in the grass, watching clouds, or sitting by running water works wonders.
Breathe in Love, Breathe out a Name: Tonight before bed, try one minute of intentional breathing. On the inhale, silently say the word love; on the exhale, breathe out the name of someone you care about to redirect your mind from threat detection to connection.
🔗 Say Thanks by Sharing
Did this session leave you feeling a little lighter? The best way to say thanks is to share this episode on your social media! Every single share helps someone out there find their way to a calmer life without spending a single penny on advertising.
 Tag us so we can thank you!🚀 Go Deeper: Break the CycleReady to move from simply managing your anxiety to genuinely breaking the cycle? My Anxiety Circuit Breaker Course is waiting for you. Get access to 5 powerful sessions filled with real, clinical tools that work.

👉 Visit: calminganxiety.fmUntil tomorrow my friend: Be positive in all your thoughts, and to yourself, be kind.

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Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

Backing Music: Chris Collins

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Affiliate links to the gear I use the items that give me a more tranquil life.

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Items I use for a more relaxed way of life :)
Organic Pure Hemp CBD Capsules - https://amzn.to/3

Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

The Whirlpool by Lord Dunsany — A Dreamlike Sea Fable of the Happy Isles for Sleep & Insomnia | Books at Bedtime

 

Drift off with The Whirlpool by Lord Dunsany, a short, dreamlike fantasy of the sea, ancient gods and the Happy Isles, read aloud by Martin Hewlett on Books at Bedtime, the sleep story series from Calming Anxiety.

 

Going down one day to the shore of the great sea, our storyteller comes upon the Whirlpool himself, lying on the sand and stretching his huge limbs in the sun. "Who art thou?" he asks. And the giant tells his tale.

 

For a hundred years at a time, he stands on the ocean floor, midway between two cliffs, guarding the straits against every ship that seeks the further seas. He takes the waters in both hands and whirls them around his head, as the tall ships come gliding on with their sailors singing. In their last cry he hears all their songs and hopes and loves, and even the wind in the forests where their timbers grew.

 

But once in every hundred years, for one day only, he rests on the shore and leaves the straits unguarded. Then the ships may sail through and find the Happy Isles, where no time comes with its devouring hours, and where the sailors long for nothing. It's a place of sunlit seas and orchards high on the hills, where the souls of the sailors return every night to rest while they sleep. And why must the Whirlpool go back at sunset? Dunsany keeps his answer for the very last line.

 

This classic short story for adults is a rich, atmospheric wind-down for a busy mind, with the rhythm of the sea, Dunsany's mythic, almost biblical prose and Martin's calm, unhurried narration. It has a sad, serious edge beneath its beauty, and it's a fine sleep audiobook for fantasy lovers and for anyone with insomnia who finds it hard to switch off at night.

 

If you enjoyed it, you'll find more Lord Dunsany on Books at Bedtime, including On the Dry Land from the same collection, along with How the Enemy Came to Thlunrana and Alone the Immortals.

 

The Whirlpool was first published in The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories (London: George Allen & Sons, 1908). Lord Dunsany (1878–1957).

 

Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett.

 

📱 Listen to Books at Bedtime in the Anchored app, offline and with the screen off, so you can fall asleep without a bright phone in your hand:

 

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669

 

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored

 

🧡 For Martin's calming tips, visit: https://calminganxiety.org/calm

 

🌱 Try Thole, Martin's new health and wellness app, in beta on iPhone: https://testflight.apple.com/join/aUKB8W7N

 

Sleep well, my friend. And in everything, be kind.

 

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins at Indie Music Box

Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.