Hello everyone and welcome to this Christmas meditation.
I first invite you to find a comfortable place somewhere where you won't be disturbed for the next couple of minutes.
And start paying attention to your posture.
You are sitting on the floor or on a cushion embodying dignity and presence.
Your back is straight without being rigid and you can imagine that there is a little tread hanging from the ceiling.
Try to see if you can slightly tuck in your chin and extend the back of your neck.
Close your eyes if this feels comfortable for you right now and slowly reconnect with your body sitting here breathing.
And just like we took a few seconds to adjust our posture,
Let's now also try to arrive mentally into this space.
Trying to leave aside our to-do lists and gently reconnecting with what is important right now.
With the right here and right now.
Nothing more to do in the present moment.
Just welcoming and accepting whatever emerges.
And slowly reconnecting with our breath right now.
Feeling the air moving softly in and out of our body.
Flowing naturally.
And really feeling each in-breath and each out-breath for what they are without trying to change the experience.
And each time our mind gets carried away,
Bringing it back to the present moment.
Seizing the opportunity to refocus,
To come back to what is happening right here and right now.
And even if we have to do that dozens of times during the practice,
Just making sure to bring back our attention and our complete focus to what is happening right now.
Nothing more,
Nothing less.
And in a few days time it will be Christmas again.
A moment to enjoy.
A moment that we hope to spend with our friends and families.
The people who really matter in our lives.
And children from all over the globe will be expecting a special visit on the 24th of December,
The night before Christmas.
An old fat and grey man dressed in red will be coming that night.
Will be visiting all the children in the world.
Bringing them exactly what they have asked for,
What they have wished for.
Their dream toy.
And when you think about it,
Santa,
A bit like every one of us,
Is carrying a very heavy load on his shoulders.
A very heavy bag.
And each and every one of us is carrying his or her bag every day.
And our bag is full of regrets about the past.
Fear,
Worries or anxiety associated with the future.
Maybe even with the future of our planet.
Our bag could be full of sadness,
Grief,
Negative thoughts.
And whatever you are carrying right now,
No matter how heavy the load is,
I invite you to remove all these heavy parcels from your bag.
From the bag you are carrying on your shoulders.
And gently replacing all these heavy parcels by lighter gifts.
For this Christmas I'm offering you the gift of joy.
Smiles and laughter on the faces of all the people that you will meet.
I also offer you some sense of humor.
Exactly what you need to move on,
To keep going every day,
To overcome whatever obstacle comes your way.
I'm also filling your bag with some tenderness,
Some love and compassion for yourself first.
The most important and precious person in your life.
Let's feel how our bag is lighter right now.
Filled with all these precious gifts.
Maybe you are eager to open these parcels and share them around you.
And slowly take a few conscious breaths right now.
Inspiring through the nose and expiring through the mouth.
Releasing all the air as if you were blowing in a straw.
Once again inspiring through the nose and gently,
Very softly expiring through the mouth as if you were blowing on a feather.
And slowly coming back now in the room where you are.
Opening your eyes if you had closed them.
Stretching your body if that is what you feel like doing right now.
Slowly getting used to your surroundings,
The colors,
Shapes,
Sounds.
I hope you will have enjoyed this short Christmas meditation.
And I take this opportunity to wish you a very merry and peaceful Christmas to you and all your loved ones.
May the light of Christmas accompany you throughout the upcoming year.
And I hope to see you soon again.
