Let yourself settle into a comfortable position.
Let your hands rest gently on your belly,
Your heart,
Or by your side.
Allow your eyes to close or your gaze to soften and begin to notice the sound of your own breath.
Soft,
Steady,
Simple,
In,
Out.
The gentle inhale,
And the long,
Slow,
Easy exhale.
As you breathe,
Imagine the sound of your breath becoming a steady rhythm,
An anchor that carries you inward.
And with each breath,
The world around you gets a little quieter,
And a peaceful image begins to rise into view.
You find yourself standing in a wide open field.
The ground beneath you is strong and steady.
The air is calm.
The sky above you stretches far and wide.
And you notice in your hand is a large bundle of colorful balloons floating above you.
Each balloon is tied to a string,
And every string is connected to a habit or pattern that you've been practicing.
These balloons represent something that you've been carrying,
Not just a habit,
But the emotion underneath it.
We often think that the action is the problem,
But most habits are ways that we've learned to manage uncomfortable feelings.
There are balloons that may look like anger on the surface,
But when you look closer,
It may be the pattern of snapping at others when you feel overwhelmed.
One may carry sadness or self-doubt,
The kind that leads you to freeze,
To avoid,
Or give up before you begin.
Another balloon might be tied to guilt or fear or shame.
Now,
Without judgment,
Take a moment to notice what's in your bundle.
Some of the balloons are heavy.
Some of them you've outgrown.
Some helped you once,
But no longer.
Some no longer fit who you are becoming.
You might see a red balloon for frustration,
A blue one for sadness or disappointment,
A gray balloon for all or nothing thinking or catastrophizing,
A dark one for avoidance or perfectionism or rushing.
You don't need to name them all.
Just notice what surface is and what color it is.
And now imagine a small pair of scissors in your other hand.
One by one,
You lift a balloon.
You take a slow,
Steady breath in and gently snip the string.
Snip.
Snip.
Snip.
As you exhale,
Watch the balloons rise.
Rise higher and higher until they disappear into the sky.
Let it go.
Let it float.
Let it be gone.
Each time you release a balloon,
Notice what shifts in your body.
Feel your heart grow lighter.
Feel your shoulders and neck release.
Feel your mind grow clearer.
You are not these habits.
You are the one who decides what to carry.
And now notice the bundle of balloons that is left in your hand.
These are your new habits,
The ones you are working toward,
The ones that are important.
Take a moment to notice the intention behind these habits.
Who are you becoming?
This is not the surface goal,
But the deeper one.
Most people say they want more money,
More time,
More motivation.
But when we look and pause to look closer,
The real goal is often something else.
You may be seeking freedom,
Freedom from pressure,
Freedom from survival mode,
Freedom to choose how your day feels,
Freedom to rest without guilt,
Freedom to create,
To move,
To fully be yourself.
The kind of freedom that makes room for joy and fun and pleasure.
The kind of freedom that lets you live with more presence.
You may be seeking a sense of purpose.
Possibly it's about a feeling of being proud of who you are becoming,
Not just productivity.
Building something with mastery over time.
Or choosing a life with more autonomy where your choices reflect your values.
Your habits can free you from serving an external measure of success.
They can serve you,
Your growth,
Your wellbeing,
Your unique path.
Let that feeling guide what you choose to hold on to.
Look at the balloons gently hovering in front of you.
Soft colors,
Pinks,
Yellows,
Lavenders,
Mint greens.
Any colors that feel like clarity,
Consistency,
And growth.
These balloons represent the patterns that you want to keep.
The ones that match your season of life.
The ones that support your nervous system,
Your goals.
One for choosing rest without guilt.
One for returning after a setback.
One for showing up with self-compassion.
One for keeping it easy,
Small,
And fun.
These habits float beside you.
You are grounded and they rise with you.
Breathe into this moment.
Feel yourself holding the strings with calm and tension.
Although you have many choices,
Choose what matters to you.
What is it that matters most?
Let this feeling settle in.
These habits you're holding,
They're a doorway.
Pause here and feel into why you chose them.
Not the surface-level reasons,
But the deeper ones.
Freedom to move through your day without rushing.
Freedom to rest without guilt.
Freedom from constant pressure.
Freedom to create something meaningful to you.
To show up as your full,
Authentic self.
To live with more presence and being in the moment.
It's not about doing more.
It's about building the kind of life that feels exactly like you.
Purpose,
Mastery,
Autonomy.
Let that be the energy that you breathe into these habits now.
Let that feeling become a part of the pattern that you're building.
This is what you're anchoring into.
Small steps,
Meaningful steps.
You are building,
Not all at once,
Not perfectly,
But steadily with each small choice that you make.
Every time you show up,
You are voting for the person you are becoming.
Let that identity anchor in you now.
I am someone who follows through with purpose.
Now imagine a time when things feel wobbly,
When motivation is low,
Or life gets noisy,
Or old habits start whispering again.
Pause in that moment,
Take a deep breath in,
And notice,
Feel this image return,
The scissors,
The sky,
The balloons you've released,
And the balloons that you're still holding.
Let the habit that no longer serves you float away again,
And turn back towards what you choose.
One balloon,
One breath,
One step at a time.
Now imagine your future self,
Not just a year from now,
But 10,
Or 20,
Or even 40 years from today.
Who are you becoming through the habits that you're choosing now?
Picture that version of you,
The person that moves through life with ease,
Not because it's perfect,
But because their habits support the life that they've built.
When you're clear about who you wanna be,
The daily actions that support that version of you become easier and easier to choose.
They're commitments to your future self.
Let that image settle in,
Let it guide what you hold onto today.
Let this feeling settle in so that your body remembers.
You're training your nervous system,
Your beliefs,
And your habits all at once.
Every time you return to this recording,
You strengthen this connection,
And your mind and your body begin to respond automatically to the person that you are becoming.
You can come back here any time as a reminder of what you've chosen to hold onto,
And what you've chosen to release.
Stay here for a few more moments.
Let one word or affirmation float to the surface,
Something that you want to remember,
Something that your future self would whisper back to you.
Take a deep,
Steady breath in,
And gently exhale.
And when you're ready,
Begin to bring your awareness back into the room.
Wiggle your fingers and toes.
Stretch gently if that feels good.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes and take this with you.
You create your habits.
You practice them.
Choosing to practice the ones that support who you want to become is a gift only you can give yourself.
