Begin seated or lying down,
Whatever feels supportive today.
Before we talk about the year ahead,
Let's just arrive here for a moment.
If it feels comfortable,
Allow your eyes to close or soften your gaze.
Take a slow breath in through your nose and an easy breath out.
No special breathing,
Just noticing that you're here.
Bring your attention to the top of your head.
Notice your scalp,
Your forehead,
And see if there's any tension you can soften.
Let your jaw unclench.
Let your tongue rest.
Bring awareness to your shoulders.
If they've been carrying something,
Expectations,
Plans,
Pressure,
See if they can drop just a little.
Notice your chest rising and falling,
Your breath doing what it knows how to do.
Bring your attention down into your belly,
Into your hips,
Your legs,
Your feet.
Feel the support beneath you.
You don't have to hold yourself up right now.
Take one more slow breath in and take a long breath out.
Every year around this time,
We hear the same message.
This is going to be your year.
This is the year that everything changes.
This is the year you finally become the version of yourself you've been waiting for.
And maybe you've said that to yourself before.
I know I've said some version of that to myself.
We make the plans,
We set the goals,
We imagine the future.
And somewhere around February or March,
Life happens.
Energy shifts,
Motivation fades,
And that quiet voice shows up that says,
What's wrong with me?
Why can't I keep up?
So I want to offer you something different.
This will not be your year.
It's just a year.
A collection of ordinary days,
Some meaningful,
Some messy,
Some beautiful,
Some heavy.
And instead of asking this year to prove something about you,
What if you let it be something you move through with presence,
Honesty,
And choice?
You don't have to squeeze everything into this year.
You don't have to catch up.
You don't have to compete.
You are not behind.
This year doesn't need to redeem the past or guarantee the future.
It's simply an invitation to show up,
To try some things,
To let some things go,
To change your mind when you need to.
You can strive without punishing yourself.
You can set intentions without turning them into proof of your worth.
You can want more from a place of abundance,
Not lack.
Notice how that feels in your body when you hear that.
As you breathe,
Imagine each inhale grounding you in this moment,
Not next month,
Not the version of you that you think you should be,
Just you here.
And with each exhale,
Release the pressure to make this year perform for you.
Let go of the comparison,
The timelines,
The borrowed expectations.
If it helps,
Silently repeat to yourself,
This is a year and I get to meet it one day at a time.
As we come to the end of this practice,
Know that nothing needs to be decided right now.
You don't need a word for the year.
You don't need a perfect plan.
Presence is enough.
Choice is enough.
And you can come back to this breath and this steadiness any time the year starts asking too much of you.
Take one final breath in and a slow breath out.
When you're ready,
Gently open your eyes and carry this softness with you into whatever comes next.
