It is 4:00 a.m. and dark outside my window. I reach for the device beside my bed and scroll through my playlists.

Groping in the dark, my hand seeks the pile of polished stones on the bedside table. I choose a smooth, dark red stone.

Settling back against the pillows and closing my eyes, I breathe deeply and wait for the music to begin.

The familiar melody floats over me and I allow myself to let go. I see myself dropping into a pool of deep, peaceful water. Sinking beneath the surface, I become a light. A round, glowing sphere of light. And the light has weight and it begins to drop through the depths of the peaceful water.

I am no longer my body, or my thoughts, or my feelings. I am just the light, dropping deeper and deeper through the depths of the peaceful pool of water.

I drift down to the bottom of the pool as the music shifts into the next selection. I rest on the bottom of the pool, anchoring myself to the light. Letting go of everything, I look up to the surface of the water where I have left all of my worries behind.

Bringing my awareness back to the bottom of the pool, my trance deepens.

I begin the mantra. “Peace is available to me. I choose peace. I am peace.” I visualize a lake of glass, dark and still, and the quiet deepens within me. I repeat the mantra to myself, gently repeating the words and willing myself to let go.

I have done this so many times, for so many years, that my body and mind know exactly where we are going. Peace is available to me. I choose peace. I am peace.

I am utterly calm. The tranquility envelops me and I am no longer my body, or my thoughts, or my feelings. I have become the light. I have become the peace.

My Soul has emerged from the depths. And we have become one.

This is a description of The Pool Meditation from The Survivor’s Compass method.