12 minutes, wow, that's long. It's actually taking me a bit to load.
Your background string synths sound like they've been Paul-Stretched.
Piano stabs in the intro could probably stand to come down in velocity or volume, either one. They're a lot louder than other elements of the track, including the lead voice.
As the track is 12 minutes long, understandably, it develops very slowly. At some points, I find myself not relaxing but getting very impatient, haha. Perhaps though, this would be a good menu or credit theme.
Arrangement wise, it's not as repetitive as it would seem, and the modulations between different sections make sense harmonically. Once I get used to it, stop focusing on individual elements, it /does/ become a bit more relaxing. I'm not sure whether I'm actually starting to get sleepy from last night, or calm.
3:30 section has a nice progression.
I really wish there were a ride cymbal in here somewhere, birds twittering, w/e.
4:26 feels really empty.
5:00 elements probably could have gone well there.
6:03, I feel like we're hearing a repeat of earlier elements, complete with 6:21. By 7:21, I am starting to get a little tired, wishing maybe we'd move to a different key or something.
8:48, my internet is so slow that it actually failed to load this far. Sigh. Refresh... aaaand it won't load any further. I really don't want to spent another 30 minutes trying to leave you a review, but suffice to say I think I really could have gone for a track half this length or less. My technical issues/NG's HTML5 player are not your problem but-
Wait, it started actually loading again. Going to listen through.
Yeah, I definitely could have gone for a track half this length. It almost seems like portions of have been copied and pasted or the piece has been artificially slowed down. I know you mentioned not having a lot of time for the contest and having some personal issues. I think those may have contributed to the composition. By all means, if it helps you relax, it helps you relax. Just not my cup of tea.
Thanks for coming out to NGUAC! Hope to see you next time under better circumstances.