Welcome.
Take a moment to settle into this sacred space,
To feel the warmth of your body against the earth.
Allow your body to nestle into a comfortable position.
Perhaps you have a pillow or soft blanket,
Or feel the crunch of leaves beneath your sitting bones.
Take a few deep breaths and softly begin to awaken your senses here.
Notice where there might be tension in your body,
In the space behind your eyes,
The joints of your jaw,
The muscles holding your shoulders to your spine.
Release these pockets of energy back down deep into the earth.
Feel how solid the earth is beneath you,
How much you can release into her as she holds you.
Allow yourself to fully arrive here.
Welcome all the parts of you into this moment,
Here,
Now,
Leaving behind the shedding skin of the year before.
Take a moment to picture the younger version of yourself,
This time last year.
Looking with kind eyes at this past version of you,
Notice what has shifted since you last visited yourself.
How has the way you look changed?
Are there faint lines of wisdom dancing across the edges of your eyes that weren't here before?
Is there a heaviness here with you now that the past you did not carry?
Perhaps there is a lightness now,
Something that feels more free.
Just notice what happens as you welcome in this version of your dear self.
As you stand shoulder to shoulder with your past you,
Turn to face the threshold behind you.
Here lies a doorway filled with misty gray fog.
Hold hands with past you as you both step back through this threshold into the thick smoke of a year past.
As you wander into this dense velvety smoke,
Allow the waves of memory from this past year to wash over you.
What comes to you?
Perhaps there are sunrises and sunsets with vibrant pinks and oranges slowly fading behind the horizon.
Strangers crossing on the street,
Eyes locking with yours as your bodies pass.
Warm cups of tea with honey,
Filling your belly with comforting weight.
Or perhaps there are storms,
Violent and warring,
Crashing inside of you.
A sense of being lost,
Confusion,
Deep pain arising.
Examples and cycles of these waves enveloping you over and over again.
What comes up for you here?
What mattered to you?
Where did you feel the pain of disconnection?
Allow yourself to witness these past moments with soft eyes.
A gentle squeeze of your own hand as you both take in the past.
You are safe here now.
As you take stock of all these moments that have molded this past year,
Notice the separation between you now and them swirling in the smoky fog around you.
Feel your body connected with the earth here.
You are safe.
Start to notice a softening in your body,
Moving from the top of your head down to each toe.
This soft relaxing washes over you like a stream moving back to source.
Take a deep breath and exhale air from the deepest pockets of your lungs.
As you breathe out this air,
Feel the dense fog of this room start to lift.
Swirling above you in a dancing gray mist,
The room starts to dissipate and your eyes take in the freshness of a new moment.
Clear,
Spacious.
Send a wave of gratitude towards the fog,
Towards the moments of the past that have made you you.
The good and the bad.
Welcome them into your body here.
Perhaps you give this past version of you a tight squeeze,
Hugging them and letting them know that they are safe.
When you are ready,
Start to return to the sensation of your body.
Wiggle your toes,
Start to swirl your wrists.
In your own time,
Slowly blink your eyes open to the freshness of this new day.
May you feel safe and centered as you take in this moment and the newness of what lies ahead.
Be well.
