Hi there,
I am so grateful to welcome you into our final day of seven days of wintering.
So as we come together,
As we often do,
I'd like to invite you into a slow inhale through our nose,
And maybe an even slower exhale out our mouth.
Maybe one more today just to really settle in,
Letting our shoulders relax as we exhale together.
So this is day seven and the final day of our wintering series,
And today we're going to be closing it with something simple.
A gentle invitation towards intention.
Maybe you are taking part of Insight Timer's 30 day intention setting challenge,
And if you are,
Let this be a grounding companion,
A slower,
More wintry version that helps your intention land in your body and not just your mind.
And if you're not doing any challenge at all,
What a perfect place to be,
Because you don't need a countdown,
A calendar,
Or a public commitment to begin.
You can invite yourself into what's possible from right here,
Quietly and honestly in your own beautiful timing.
See,
Oftentimes we think that these resolutions or these commitments need some big moment.
The intention I'm inviting you into doesn't need a lot of pizazz,
It just needs truth.
So with that,
Let's take a moment to settle into our space.
Maybe that means you shimmy down a little bit or bring a blanket over you.
If you feel safe,
It's closing our eyes or lowering our gaze together and taking a big deep breath into our nose for 5,
4,
3,
2,
And out our mouth for 4,
3,
2.
And as you continue your deeper breathing,
Let's begin to choose an intention that brings relief.
An intention isn't meant to be a resolution,
A reinvention,
Or even a rule,
Because a resolution can often carry pressure.
I must become something or someone else.
Whereas an intention carries a relationship,
A relationship with our truth.
It says I will return to what matters.
In winter,
We choose intentions that feel like relief,
Because it is a season of nourishment,
Of integration.
So first,
Let's come into our body,
And maybe that's placing our hand on our chest if you'd like,
Feeling the steadiness of your own presence and the warmth of your hand on your chest.
Breathing in our nose,
Feeling the air come in through our nostrils and down our windpipe into our belly.
And maybe we sigh it out,
Letting a noise be released as we let the air out.
And as you do this at your own pace,
I'd like you to reflect on something for a moment.
Over this last week,
What did you notice you needed most?
Was it rest,
Space,
Boundaries?
To feel heard,
Needed?
Let one word come to mind.
Maybe a bunch do,
And that's okay too,
But feeling into something.
Big deep breath in as you let that word come to the front of your mind.
And with that word,
We're going to shape it into a winter-sized intention.
I'll offer a few sentence stems,
And then from there,
Whatever feels most in line,
That's the one you'll choose.
Maybe it's this winter,
I am practicing boundaries,
For instance.
Maybe it's this season,
I am releasing pressure.
Or maybe I return to myself by letting myself rest.
Or it could be I protect my energy by coming back to this practice.
Choose one,
And let that word sit.
And let it be small enough to keep,
Through the motivation,
Through the lows,
Through the I-don't-want-tos.
And let's breathe into that intention.
This winter,
I am practicing.
This season,
I am releasing.
I return to myself by,
Or I protect my energy by.
Repeat your intention softly as we breathe in together for 5,
4,
3,
2,
And exhaling it out into the world,
Letting it be held by the universe.
And keep that breath up as I share a little key to these intentions.
See,
It isn't actually in the perfect practice that you meet these intentions,
But it's through the returning.
So,
When you drift,
Because we all do,
Me included,
We don't have to start over in shame like we did something wrong,
We just return.
That's the practice,
The returning to it.
And every time we do,
We strengthen,
We become steadier,
We trust ourselves more.
And as we end our 7 days together,
I'd like to offer you a blessing.
May you take what resonates with your heart and leave the rest.
So let these words come over you,
Your heart,
And your body.
May you honor the season that you are in.
May you stop rushing your own becoming.
May you trust that rest is not a detour,
But part of your path.
May your pace be kind.
May your life be true.
And may your soul know nothing but peace.
Let's take one final breath in together for 5,
4,
3,
2,
And as you let it out,
Maybe you wiggle your toes,
Your fingers,
Let your shoulders shake it out and blink your eyes open if you've had them closed.
And here we have reached completion with our 7 days of wintering.
But that doesn't mean that the season ends,
Or that our desires for rest and integration go away.
But if all you carry forward from these last 7 days is a little bit more permission,
That is enough.
I am so grateful for your mind,
Your body,
And your soul for showing up for yourself today and the last 6 days.
It has been my honor and my privilege to share these practices.
I've gifted me so much in my own becoming.
Until next time,
Be gentle.
