We ever begin and ever end with breath.
Breathe in and out.
In and out.
Breathing in and out.
Filling your belly and then emptying all out.
Following that ease of ebb and flow.
The filling and the emptying.
As you breathe,
Cast your awareness around your body.
See if there's any space that feels tight,
That feels tense,
Constricted.
Just breathe into that space.
Just allowing that spot to soften,
To relax and ease.
Just letting the tension flow away as you breathe out.
Now,
Start with your toes and your ankles and breathe into this place and let it soften.
Breathing into our calves and knees and thighs.
Softening,
Relaxing,
Releasing.
Breathing into our hips and our glutes and our lower back.
Feeling the tension just ease a bit and soften.
Relaxing our upper back and our shoulders.
Breathing into our arms and our elbows and our fingertips.
Breathing into our necks and our jaws,
The space between our eyebrows.
Just breathing and floating and held safe.
It's the floating of the support that's below you.
Solid,
Safe,
Yet floating on the earth and the universe.
Just breathe.
Let your mind's eye open.
Find yourself in the clearing under a night sky.
This is a midnight sky,
A winter solstice sky.
It is dark and there is only starlight.
It's vast,
That sky.
It's so big you can't even fathom as you look at it.
But it's dark.
Really,
Really dark.
It's cold.
Really,
Really cold.
As you look and become aware of yourself,
You notice the snow around you gently falling just soft but there.
You notice you're dressed in furs.
The only way that you are staying warm is to be inside the skin of another.
You breathe out and you see the frost in the air.
You feel the cold against your nose and the little bits around your eyes and your cheeks and your lips that are exposed.
You can feel frost on your eyelashes and you are grateful for the warmth of the skin you wear.
The air is so cold and still and crunchy.
Every move is loud because it's so silent.
You hear the crunch of the snow under your feet.
You can hear the sound of a very large beast coming down the path.
Its breath is snorting.
Not in a bad way.
There's no fear here but this is a large creature.
And as she moves into your sight line,
You see her antlers.
You see the skins you wear on the creature.
The great reindeer.
The great matriarch of the herd.
She is here to guide you.
Follow her footsteps through the snow.
She is breaking the path for you.
And as you follow her,
Become part of her herd.
Eventually she will bring you to that clearing in the forest.
The tallest trees you've ever seen.
And there in the center of that clearing is that fire.
But it's not a fire right now.
It's out or what it seems like out.
And she leads you up to it,
To this giant pile of stones that ring this fire that has been in existence since the beginning.
Perhaps before the beginning.
And she looks at you and you understand that she would like you to look into the fire pit.
As you move some ashes,
Some old sticks of wood have been burned.
You start to feel the little bit of heat and you welcome it because it is so cold.
You finally find these small embers.
They're just so small.
But they're there.
And everything you see around you is frozen.
There is no kindling.
There is nothing to feed this fire around you so that it becomes a flame again.
You need this flame to live.
You need this flame for the world to live.
It is imperative that the flame reignites.
You are here tonight to look deep within your soul to see what you will give up to kindle this fire.
Look to see what you are hanging onto.
Shadowed pieces,
Familiar patterns,
Things that you aren't really ready to give up.
But you have to if you want this fire to kindle.
What will you feed the flames,
The embers,
The fire so that you can become warm again as you can feel the cold setting into your bones.
Your eyes are having a hard time opening.
Your lashes are starting to freeze together.
When you are ready,
Reach into your satchel or your belt.
Somewhere on your body there is a part of you that you can reach into and pull out this thing that you are willing to give up so that the fire and the light can be reborn.
You are here tonight to look deep within your soul to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Look to see what you will give up.
Take your time coming back to your body.
Really wiggle your toes and your fingers.
Breathe into your body and feel yourself on the floor or the chair that you are in.
Ready,
Journal,
Write,
Capture this experience before it floats away.
Blessings.
