Okay,
Welcome to this Christmas slash holiday meditation and reflection.
I was thinking about what might be useful for you guys and I know for me I do a lot of traveling around the holidays and there's a lot going on and different family stuff and sometimes it can be overwhelming while also a lot of joy at the same time so I figured I'd make something specifically for these next couple weeks as we go through the holidays.
Why don't you go ahead and take a seat.
Get as comfortable as you can.
Maybe begin by sitting just a little bit straighter so we're comfortable but alert and aware at the same time.
Now we'll begin with bringing our attention to the rising and the falling of the breath.
You might notice this in your chest.
Noticing the sensations in your chest that accompany each inhalation and exhalation.
As you bring your awareness to your breathing,
Rising and the falling of the chest,
Just giving yourself permission to let everything else go for the next couple minutes here.
This might be the only time you have to cultivate some inner calm for the next couple of days.
So let's just decide to let everything else go for a second and arrive here,
Right here.
I invite you to bring your attention back to the breath,
Back to the rising and the falling of the chest,
And intentionally make this next inhalation 10 or 20 percent deeper and fuller.
Just a little bit fuller now on these inhalations.
When it's nice and full,
Letting the breath fall out of you.
Breathing into this pattern,
Relaxing into this pattern.
Now for many of us,
The holiday season,
There's a certain sense of nostalgia that comes along with this.
The flavor of joy,
Inspiration that can be found particularly during this season.
And a lot of that stems from our childhood.
I want you to bring your memory back in time,
Landing on a particular memory that you have of the holiday season that's salient for you.
This could be a Christmas morning,
Maybe the night before,
Maybe it's putting up the lights,
Maybe it's a sense of awe as you see the lights on the houses in the neighborhood where you grew up.
Whatever it is,
Taking yourself back to that time and allowing that sweetness of the nostalgia of those memories to rise to the surface.
Breathing into that sweetness,
Embodying that sense of wonder and gratitude before life got a bit harder.
Just being with that for a second.
It can feel nice to just breathe into those sweet memories for a minute.
I invite you now to bring your consciousness forward to right now.
The person that you've become in the intervening years,
All of the high spots and the low spots.
And I invite you to reflect on your relationships.
Oftentimes around this part of the year,
We see people and engage in relationships that maybe we don't see those people that much.
I'd like us to ask ourselves,
How can I lean in to these relationships?
How can I lean in to the sweetness of the holiday season?
You might be tired and weary from travel or whatever,
But this really is a season where,
If we're not careful,
We might let it pass us by.
How can I really show up for the people in my life?
How can I be 10 or 20 percent more present for the people in my life that I love?
It can be your children,
Parents,
Grandparents,
Aunts and uncles,
Close friends,
Whoever it is you're going to be interacting with.
Continuing to breathe while setting an intention for ourselves to not miss it.
Don't miss it.
We don't know how many Christmases and New Years we're gonna really have with the people that we love.
Bringing that sense of sweetness and gratitude into our hearts.
Reflecting on how we can be fully conscious and present with the people that we love over these couple of days or weeks.
What does that look like for you?
What would a success look like for you?
To more fully lean in and love and have an open heart with the people that you love over the holiday season.
The mere fact that you sought out and clicked on a meditation like this,
To me that means your heart's in the right place.
Okay,
Well,
Arriving back in the room,
Arriving back in our body,
Perhaps noticing any changes in our body and in our heart and in our mind since the beginning of the practice.
And a quick pat on the back.
It's really important that we set aside some space,
Clear the debris from our mind and reflect on what really matters.
So,
Alright,
Thanks for stopping by.
I hope you have a great holiday season.
We'll see you next time.
