Today on Holistic Joy,
The season of life you are in is exactly where you are meant to be.
Get comfortable.
Close your eyes.
Or if you prefer,
Just allow them to take a soft,
Gentle gaze.
You can sit up.
You can lie down.
Just try and keep a nice long spine.
And as you allow yourself to get settled,
Start to breathe a little deeper.
Nothing too extreme,
But just different.
Marking that this time is something out of the ordinary.
It's a special few minutes that you have dedicated to your own self-care.
To accessing what's important to you.
To just simply allowing yourself to be as you are.
Breathe in fully through your nose.
And out again through your nose.
Perhaps you notice parts of your breath that seem to flow a little easier than others today.
Maybe you also notice areas that it feels a little sticky.
You're not trying to change anything or understand anything.
You're just simply noticing.
Noticing what is true and real for you in this moment on this day.
With every breath out,
Allow your body to soften.
Sometimes we need to do it quite deliberately.
Allow your shoulders to drop heavy down your back.
Allow the muscles in your jaw to loosen.
And allow all the crinkles in between your eyes,
Between your eyebrows,
To melt and release.
With every breath in,
Allow yourself to become a little bit more aware.
Aware of how you're feeling.
What you're carrying.
How your inner world is showing up for you today in this moment.
And as you breathe out,
Allow yourself to loosen your grip on any of those things that have come into your awareness.
So you breathe in to notice,
To feel.
And you breathe out to soften,
To release.
Breathe in to feel.
Breathe out to release.
Begin to deepen your breathing now.
Exploring the range,
The depth of both your inhales and your exhales.
Pay very special attention to the point right at the bottom of your exhale before you breathe in.
Maybe pause there for just a moment.
Allowing that feeling of emptiness,
Nothingness to come into your mind for just a moment.
Before you breathe in again.
Take your exhale,
Pause at the bottom.
And then inhale once again.
Keep doing this for just a few breaths.
Exploring that point at the bottom of your exhale.
And as that moment becomes a little bit more clear,
Hold on to that moment.
Hold on to the bottom of your exhale for a bit longer.
Perhaps you even pause until it becomes a little uncomfortable before you breathe in again.
If you're reaching that point of discomfort at the bottom of your exhale,
Have a little faith.
The breath is coming.
So can you breathe in with zero urgency?
With no panic,
With no desperation because you know that the air is coming.
Practice that.
Breathe in fully.
Exhale away.
Pause at the bottom.
And then just breathe in.
Breathe in with calmness and peace because the air was coming and you knew that.
Our breath is a cycle like everything else.
It is a small cycle,
Just like the seasons.
And every part of that cycle has value.
As you breathe in,
That's your springtime.
That's new growth,
New life,
Something beginning for the very first time.
And then you reach the top of your inhale and you're in summer.
Everything's lush and full at its peak and its prime.
And then you start to breathe out.
As you enter fall,
You start to purge the autumn of this breath cycle,
Letting go of what doesn't serve you,
Making space.
Until you reach the bottom of your exhale.
And that is your winter.
That is where you have released everything that no longer serves a purpose.
You have emptied yourself,
You have made space.
And while it may feel like you are surrounded by nothing,
Hopelessness,
Within the nothing exists the potential for everything.
Within the dead of winter lies the possibility,
The whisper of spring.
Of something new coming out of the space that you created.
And just as the spring will always come after the winter.
Just as the sun will rise after the darkest part of the night.
As will your inhale come after the emptiness at the bottom of your exhale.
What season of life are you in right now?
What part of the breath cycle are you experiencing in your life now?
Are you enjoying spring where something new is growing and blossoming,
Beginning and maybe it's a little scary?
Are you in summer where everything is full around you,
Life is busy,
You're at the peak of something that you've been working on?
Or something that has been growing,
You are now at the peak,
The prime of it.
Are you in the process of autumn?
Of releasing?
Of letting go of something,
Someone,
Some part of your life?
Or are you in winter?
Are you at the bottom of your exhale,
Where it feels as though there is nothing,
That you are empty,
There is no hope?
Therein lies the magic.
It is in the space that possibility exists,
That potential lives.
The air is coming.
Your springtime is coming.
Everything needs its time to reset and so do you.
So breathe easy.
Trust.
Trust that what is coming is exactly what you need.
Start to allow your breath to come back to its natural rhythm.
Start to notice your presence in the room.
Feel every part of your body that is connected to something solid.
Recognize the grounded feeling that comes from that.
See it as evidence that you are supported.
That someone,
Something has got your back.
And then begin to shift your awareness to the parts of your body that are free in space.
And with the grounded support of the earth beneath you,
You are able to move into the possibility and potential of space.
Notice the light coming in through your eyelids.
Connect with my voice and the ears that are hearing it.
Take a full breath in through your nose.
Open mouth exhale.
When you are ready,
Open your eyes.
