Greetings to you all in this brand new start to 2022.
I'd like us to reflect,
Contemplate and mindfully set some intentions for a brand new year.
You know usually around this time of year we set resolutions and we set action plans,
You know we visualize ourselves connecting with action and doing and that might manifest in the form of changing our diet,
Maybe going on a fitness program,
Looking after our children a little bit more in a different way,
Maybe changing our job,
Our daily routines.
But I'd like you to ask yourself what about the action we can take in our own minds?
So whenever you make an internal change in your mind you can take that wherever you go,
You know.
So let's reflect on what are the top priority things you can do for inside yourself this year to become stronger,
Wiser and more loving.
There's a lot of memes and cartoons around resolutions,
You know,
And all the problems that go with resolution goals.
You know you might make it through a few days or even a week or two and then you know we end of January we fall off the wagon,
We're still in the depths of winter so we find it very challenging you know.
We get anxiety because it didn't work and you know kind of usually around March then sort of the resolutions kind of feed and dissolve a little bit.
So I'd like to dissect the word resolution a little bit more.
The word resolution comes from the word solve and solve comes from dissolve derived or solvent to solve.
Okay so to solve is also another way of to say to set free or to untie or to loosen.
So our intention would be today and for 2022 to loosen or untie ourselves from our mental states that drag us down you know and situations that bring us a lot of unhappiness.
And awakening is a bit like this mindfulness you know releases us it sets us free and we always start from this moment so everything starts fresh from moment to moment.
We can reinvent ourselves from moment to moment and what we were yesterday we can start brand new today and we don't know what's next what's the next moment it's a bit of a mystery.
So you know get comfortable and let's invite the qualities of mindfulness intention and releasing also for 2022.
And an intention is so much more than just hoping for results you know an action without a good intention can actually lead to sort of good or bad things but an intention that comes from a genuine place within you the why why am I doing this you know it can really impact your action and your goals and your resolutions.
Okay so take a seat get comfortable and you can do this lying down or in your bed or you can do it while you're walking or you can sit on your meditation cushion just make a few adjustments and obviously if you're sitting upright let your sit bones become balanced let the spine become long and straight and allow yourself to feel supported in your posture.
Now allow a sense of physical balance to come into your posture even if you are lying down just feel the ground supporting you and find a place in your posture that reflects stability.
So just checking in with your body and just doing a really quick scan just noticing where in your body reflects stability and foundation.
Now whatever you're experiencing in this moment or what was happening over Christmas maybe even can you bring just even a warm welcome to those experiences even if those experiences weren't so good or you know you're not feeling well or you're feeling like you're feeling good or made you feel uncomfortable.
Let your neck just relax and if your neck is uncomfortable just take a breath or two and just sense the muscles around the neck and the shoulders softening on the exhale and the same for the jaw and around the eyes if there's some tension or rigidity there and a sense of contraction just see if you can just take a few breaths in and out and see if you can feel muscularly this place just starting to soften and ease and then you might move a little bit lower into your abdomen and feel a sense of softening and just ease and loosening too in this place down into the lower torso your lower back and perhaps just even scanning kind of the positioning of the legs you know both legs heels and feet and toes just checking in how are they today now in this moment feeling a sense of heaviness and then take a few moments to feel your breath allow the inhale and just notice that and just a slight pause maybe even at the top of your inhale of your inhale and then bring your attention to your exhale a slight pause just a moment in time just pausing as you exhale at the very end you might even notice the impulse to take that inhale after you exhale and again just invite any experiences or physical sensations that's going to be or physical sensations that may not feel very comfortable or maybe there are some stiffness maybe you feel uncomfortable some discomfort in the knees and the hips just invite it all into your experience right now and of course if you need to move if you're in pain or something just does not feel good then just move your posture then bring your attention then to your upper arms and your hands and your fingertips and just reflect on how are they today in this moment how are the arms the elbows the wrists the wrists and the fingers and try not to change anything about that experience just let the arms the elbows and the hands just be as they are the same way you've just left the legs and the feet just be as they are in this moment not going into any story or any concept about them and then turn inwards towards your breath again and notice the soothing quality of your inhale and you might even notice the soothing quality of your exhale too so and letting the breath just be as it is not interfering with it not trying to make it bigger or smaller just the breath in its own natural rhythm the body breathing as it by itself now expand your awareness and notice your whole body breathing so in moments of distraction from thoughts or maybe even external noises just guide yourself really gently back to your breath so and each exhale as we exhale out it allows us to muscularly relax a little bit like the emotional body can relax too on the exhale it's like a metaphor for the emotions to soften the thought processes to soften a little bit and a sense of ease on each exhale so so now as we start to reflect in this practice maybe ask yourself what brought you to this meditation today what brought you to this meditation into this room to sit or lie down and what brought you to sit and what keeps you listening what keeps you turning in towards yourself minding yourself and what's the intention to sit and if you're not too sure you're a bit confused just feel yourself sitting here and just remind yourself even the act of sitting with ourselves brings a sense of ease staying with our breath maybe that's your intention or maybe your intention is more personal notice if there is a tightening or softening in the heart when i ask these questions notice if there's some urge trying to make something happen or go away what's my motivation for the next few months to be more at ease maybe to live more easily in the present maybe i'd like to feel more joyful less fearful around the future do i want more space for my heart process what's going on i'm just reflecting on these questions or maybe intentions so and see if you can find a softness and a kindness here as you sit as you sit with your intentions you personally obviously know where your intentions are coming from can you bring a sense of softness and compassion to why you're making these intentions and you know an intention is coming from a very deep place within us so why am i practicing today so and what beliefs and mindsets would i like to let go of from 2021 what mindsets about myself what mindsets about others or even mindsets about society in the world what weight is on my back or shoulders would i like to drop or shoulders would i like to drop intentions can be more mundane like achieving a goal but these intentions are more like a compass for the heart what is it that i deeply value what's in the depths of my heart that i wish for myself this year for my loved ones and even for the world what is my deepest intention so and what's my intention around my breathing how do i want to receive my breath do i want to receive my breath with ease or with resistance and as i sit here with my intentions and being in this moment do i fight the present moment or can i just release into this present moment can i let go on my exhale all the resentments the loads that i carried from last year and just allow them to come in in this experience and be felt releasing on each exhale can i listen to my inner voice that guides me like that compass that guides me like that compass and i trust my inner compass of the heart and now next i'm going to ask you to fill in the blanks of these following just reflections if i set this intention to guide me in my life i will blank if i set this intention to guide me in my life i will if i allow myself and imagine the results of my highest intention i imagine i will so notice your intentions go to a deeper level just below resolution goals as you set your resolutions for this year try to bring in the intention behind it the why and see if you can bring a deeper meaning to your resolutions and your intention setting this year notice that your inner voice is always speaking to you and now just come back to the breath come back to this present moment kind of an open awareness of the present moment not getting yourself involved with any thoughts just noticing them come and go returning back to the compass of your breath and letting the breath anchor you when you've moved away from yourself so
