So,
Let's first take a moment maybe to get into the body.
We'll begin with a breathing exercise that you're welcome to kind of take with you and put into your mental toolbox to come back to.
It's really powerful at regulating the nervous system.
So anytime you feel stressed or anxious or finding it hard to focus,
This is a body-based practice that you can come back to and really kind of biohack your body to get to that state of relaxation.
So it's called the 4-7-8 breath.
And for this we'll be breathing in for a count of four,
Breathing in through the nose,
Holding for seven seconds,
And then breathing out through the mouth for eight seconds.
So I'll guide you here.
You can just relax.
So breathing in through the nose for two,
Three,
Four,
Holding for two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Breathing out the mouth,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Breathing in through the nose,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Holding,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Breathing out the mouth,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Breathing in through the nose.
You can repeat this counting yourself within your mind.
And perhaps you'll notice that all of your focus comes onto each number and all of the sensations of breath.
It's like a way to clear out the mind,
Wipe the surface clean,
Come back to the breath.
So just keep breathing and counting.
We'll be here for another few moments.
And if any tension arises or any distracting thoughts come in,
Allow yourself to kind of give them over to the breath as if you can breathe them out.
So wherever you're at,
Just complete one more round of breath and just take notice what this short pause,
How it affected you.
Perhaps you notice a slower pace.
Perhaps you don't feel much right now and that's also okay.
So with your eyes remaining closed,
Let's take a moment to symbolically clear out the past year and create mental space for this new one.
So if you can bring to mind this past year,
What you feel ready to let go of,
Where in your life it feels like time to move forward.
If you can connect to that place of you that's ready to enter into the newness,
Connect to this space and bring your hands to the top of your head,
Anywhere that feels good.
We'll be symbolically brushing off the past year off the body.
So beginning at the top of the head and brushing down the neck and the shoulders and the arms as if you can brush off this past year,
Anything you've been holding onto,
Perhaps covering your face.
If you have hair,
Long hair,
You can wring it out,
Letting go of any lingering stress,
Any old stories that you're ready to step forwards from and even anything neutral.
Imagine this brushing bringing you to a blank canvas-like state.
You may wish to brush down to your hips and your legs and so this communicates to the body what is going on in our mind.
All of the senses in our body gets to feel symbolically this mental and emotional letting go.
And when you feel complete,
You can come to rest in stillness,
Perhaps bringing your hands to rest face up on your thighs and just notice any sensations in your body here.
Taking a moment to rest and breathe in this state of possibilities.
So remembering that it is you who holds the capacity to create change.
And as you rest in this state of beingness,
Where you let go of how you assume things will go,
Where you let go of everything you have been doing before now and just rest in this state of infinite possibility.
This is when you can come back to rest and reconnect with that place of inner power within you.
From this state,
Begin to picture in your mind the version of yourself who is the brightest,
The most confident,
Fulfilled,
Successful version of yourself.
And so actually begin to picture an image of them in your mind.
This version of yourself that is able to embody the qualities that you really value.
And as you picture this version of yourself,
Observe them.
Observe how they show up daily in relationships,
Their body posture,
How they hold themselves.
Notice perhaps how their voice is,
The way that they navigate challenges with ease and look into their eyes,
The way that they rest.
And notice how they relate to themselves,
How they talk to themselves,
How they comfort themselves at the end of the day.
And use this opportunity of observing them to notice the finer details.
This is a version of yourself that comes from mindset and stems from this blank canvas-like space and what you bring into this inner space.
So as you rest in your inner world,
You're touching upon your capacity for change.
Your capacity to show up as your fullest self.
And so as if you can breathe in this version of yourself,
Take a deep breath in,
Breathing in these qualities,
Breathing in this confidence in yourself,
Breathing in an inner peace,
And breathing out,
Letting yourself settle and relax.
Relax into this knowing,
Knowing this inner space within you and how you can come back here anytime to reconnect and recalibrate to your values,
To this way of relating to yourself,
This way of showing up in work and relationships.
Just take a moment to rest in this state,
Feeling proud of yourself for who you are,
For your hard work,
For what it's taken you to get here,
Grateful for your sensitivity and your strength.
And from this place,
Where you feel content with who you are and how you're showing up in life and how you relate to others,
Notice a sense of excitement for this year ahead of you,
For this opportunity to be alive,
To explore and connect.
And perhaps there's a few words that are rising up within you that you'd like to tell yourself.
Perhaps they're words of encouragement or forgiveness.
And knowing that you can gift yourself whatever your heart is feeling it needs right now.
This year forward gets to be exactly how you would like to make it.
So begin to picture as you're breathing in this bright light,
Whatever color you would like to make it,
Filling your body.
And as simple as it may sound,
This is also our way of communicating with the subconscious mind what is going on in the conscious mind.
So breathing in this light,
This trust and confidence in yourself,
This strength and resilience,
Letting it flood into every cell of your body.
Each breath in,
Each deep breath in,
Feel a peace coming with this light,
An ease,
Knowing that you've got this.
And as your body is full of this light,
Keep breathing in.
Notice how if you focus on the edges of your skin,
This light begins to radiate out of it.
You have tapped into this place of power within you,
This place of joy beyond circumstances or situations,
And it begins to glow out of you.
It touches those you meet,
Those you work with,
Your friends and family.
This is the light that comes from within you,
It is not dependent on any other sources.
As we begin to reach the end of this meditation,
Take a moment for yourself to sink into gratitude for this place within you,
Your power,
Your strength,
And your joy.
Endless forgiveness,
Where you can always come back and be refreshed,
Where you can always come back and remember what matters,
What your possibilities are.
Taking a deep breath in,
And letting out an exhale through the mouth.
Deep breath in,
And out through the mouth.
In your own timing,
Slowly bring your attention back to the surroundings,
Back to your body in this moment.
Slowly open your eyes.
Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to join you today and to envision this future and the direction that we get to go in and to reclaim our possibilities in the moment,
Which sometimes can feel so easy,
At least for me,
To forget just how capable we are.
