Hi everyone,
Welcome to today's meditation.
My name is Jamie Markle.
We are going to be spending this time together talking about the year that we just finished,
That just came to completion,
Taking stock of where we are currently in this present moment,
And then how we can prepare ourselves for this new year ahead.
So find a comfortable seat,
Whether that means sitting down,
Lying down,
Resting your back against a wall.
Just find a place where you can spend the next 15 minutes as comfortably as possible,
And we will get started dropping right into the breath without hesitation,
Just arriving there,
Finding those inhales,
Finding those exhales,
Noticing how they resonate with you today,
How they are greeting your body,
How they are living,
Residing within your body.
Let everything start to relax,
Whether that's the eyebrows,
The jaw,
The shoulders,
Any clenching in the belly.
See where you can soften.
Just these little tiny preparations for today's meditation,
They all add up.
Don't let this process be rushed.
Let it unfold naturally,
Like you're opening up a letter.
Let's all together take a deep breath in,
And then open the mouth,
Release.
Slow and steady inhale again,
Audible exhale,
And then one more time.
Then just come back to a natural breath.
Say hello to this breath.
Welcome this breath.
Take a moment to thank this breath.
I have found in my past traditions of ending one year and starting the next,
That it's helpful to take a moment to reflect on what has happened,
How you've felt over the last 12 months,
What you've experienced,
What you've been through,
The highs and the lows,
The light and the dark,
And all the areas in between.
I have found it's difficult to step into a new beginning,
A fresh clean slate,
A new year ahead,
If I haven't done that process of taking inventory,
If we don't look back for just a moment,
It's hard to step into the new.
There is a risk of feeling unprepared,
Feeling a little chaotic,
If we don't take time to prepare a little bit.
So as you settle into your body and as you embrace your breath,
Slowly begin that process.
If you could put one word to it,
Or one emotion,
Or a color,
Or an object,
A name,
It could be anything.
How has this last year landed on you?
How do you feel overall,
Accumulatively as you walk away from it,
As you say goodbye,
As you start to put it in the rear view mirror?
Sometimes it's helpful to start from the very beginning,
From January,
And then move to the next month,
And then the next month.
Sometimes certain milestones will stick out that will color how you feel about this one word that you come to that summarizes the past year.
Notice over time if this reflection,
Thinking about the last year,
Starts to affect your breath.
Notice if your breath changes,
If it's affected by your thoughts.
And as you start to finish this kind of summary of last year,
And you start to come to a word or two words,
Notice how they feel,
How they taste,
How they sound,
What they smell like,
How they make you feel.
And then let yourself start to transition into right now,
Right now in this exact present moment,
How do you feel about last year?
Are you sad because it was such a great year,
And you hate to see it go?
Are you sad because it's over?
Do you feel relief?
You're ready to walk away.
Do you feel indifferent?
You have no feelings one way or the other about it.
Does it feel bittersweet?
And finally,
Start to color your future,
The year ahead,
Completely undisclosed.
We have no idea what's going to happen.
And then there's some things that we can feel almost certain about that we know will happen.
So allow yourself,
With your breath,
Sitting here in your body,
To land on a word,
Maybe two or three supporting key words that you want to identify with this brand new year ahead.
An overall theme,
It could be that you hope to execute and see come to fruition,
To come to life,
Certain things that maybe you've been putting off in past years that you've been postponing,
That you've been avoiding,
Dreams,
Goals,
Plans that you've been sitting on for a while.
Maybe it's a completely brand new idea that just came to you in the last couple of days or the last couple of weeks,
An entirely brand new thought or effort that you hope to launch with a complete annual 12 months of being able to do something with all of that time.
So with this intention in mind,
Let's finalize our time together by taking three more breaths.
And as we do so,
We will inhale as fully,
Slowly,
Unrushed,
As we inhale,
As fully,
Slowly,
Unrushed,
As deeply as possible,
Welcoming and inviting and ushering in all the unforeseen for the new year,
But also the things that we have planned for the new year,
Everything in between.
And as we exhale,
A forceful,
Audible exhale of letting go of this past year.
So take a full breath in,
Open the mouth,
Let it release.
Again,
Slow breath in,
Open the mouth.
And one final time,
Inhale,
Let go of the past year.
Have a blessed new year,
Everyone.
