Find your comfortable and straight spine,
Your comfortable seat,
Your straight spine.
Let's take three,
Four,
Seven,
Eight breaths.
Inhaling for one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Seven.
And exhale out through the mouth for two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
And a second time,
Inhaling for one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Seven.
And exhaling out through the mouth for two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Now take the fullest breath.
Fill your lungs completely for one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Six,
Seven.
Exhale fully through the mouth.
Release,
Exhale for two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
And keep your eyes closed and take a moment to just feel into your physical self.
Feel into your physical self sitting here and send warmth,
Send compassion to your physical self.
Release your hands,
Release your torso.
Release your weight fully into the chair wherever you're sitting.
Straighten out your spine.
Place one hand gently inside the other.
Let the forehead release.
Let the space between the eyebrows release.
Let the muscles around the eyes release.
Release the cheeks,
The jaw.
And begin to feel your nostrils.
Place your awareness on the two points where the breath enters your nostrils.
There are so many things you can pay attention to.
There are so many shiny places your awareness can be right now.
Just rest your attention on those two points where the breath enters your nostrils.
Let it be simple.
Your awareness,
Your nostrils.
That's all that matters for the next few moments.
Stay there.
And now feel the breath in the whole nose.
This movement that's coming and going and it's interesting.
Staying with the breath in the nose for just a few more moments.
Enjoying your breath.
And now release the nose.
Relax the nostrils,
The lips,
The chin,
The jawline.
With tenderness,
Relax your mouth.
It's said so many things and eaten so many things already today.
Relax the throat.
Feel the breath in the throat.
Those subtle sensations,
Watch them with interest.
Release the neck.
Release the throat.
Release your shoulders.
And now watch the breath in your shoulder blades move up and down oh so subtly.
Watching the breath in the back of your shoulder blades.
That subtle sensation.
Soften the upper back.
Soften the mid back and the lower back.
Relax the collarbones.
Relax the chest.
And for a few moments,
Watch the breath in the chest.
Just witnessing,
Noticing it.
The breath is our entrance into timelessness and into ourselves in this present moment.
Put a hand on the chest to ride the wave of the breath in the chest.
Let your hand fill with breath.
Your rhythm,
Your rising and falling,
Your genuineness.
And you can release the hand down and relax the hands and the fingertips.
Relax the chest and the belly.
And just notice the breath in the belly with your full awareness.
Warm furry creature.
We're breathing in a hole in the forest somewhere.
Watch your belly move up and down with the breath.
Feeling fully.
Setting aside the complexity of the mind and being with the simplicity of the breath.
Your breath is so close to spaciousness and happiness and presence.
All there in your breath.
And release the hips.
Relax the left leg and the right leg.
Feel the feet.
Let the feet relax.
Feel the knees and the thighs and the soles of the feet.
And feel your toenails and your big toe.
And now feel the softness of your whole body.
And now place both hands on your heart again.
Feel into the heart.
Imagine you could breathe a golden light into your heart.
Your beating heart.
Your heart that exists in eternity.
And because your heart exists in eternity,
Kindness to yourself and kindness to others is all that makes sense.
And now say as an act of self-compassion,
It's natural for me to speak words of kindness from this heart.
From this heart,
It's natural for me to speak well of myself and to speak well of others.
It's normal for my speech to create good in the world and to be clear.
From this heart,
My speech is clear and it creates good in the world.
Feeling this heart.
My speech,
When it flows naturally from this heart,
Those words create more energy in the universe.
They create more strength in the universe,
More beauty in the universe.
The words I say from this heart matter and they create more love in the hearts of all those around.
Everything I say from this heart creates more loving speech in the world.
And now wish warmth for every heart meditating right now with you.
Starting with this group,
Healing with your heart that there's other hearts meditating with you and sending them warmth.
And wish may there be warmth in the heart of every being.
Those I know and those I don't.
I am lucky to have words to use speech so I can create more of that warmth.
May there be warmth in the heart of those near and those far.
Those I will one day meet and those I will not.
May there be warmth in the hearts of those I love and those I find challenging.
Noticing how this heart feels and imagine the warmth of your heart spreading through your words to the entire world across time and space.
Knowing that your impact can be infinite.
You have an infinite capacity to do good and to connect and to love and to care and to express your heart through all that you do.
An endlessly spacious heart.
And in this endless space and time,
Kindness and warmth and happiness right now is the only thing that makes sense.
And becoming more of who you are and feeling more deeply into this heart.
And one more time,
Pressing your palm to your hand,
Thank yourself.
Pressing your palm to your heart,
Thank yourself for having done this practice.
Gratitude to yourself for meditating to setting intentions that will be good for you and good for the world.
And with a deep breath in,
Release your hand,
Release the breath and return back to the present.
In this case,
Opening your eyes to 2023,
Turning into 2024,
The year of the wood dragon.
