Take a slow,
Steady breath in and let it gently leave your body.
Feel yourself arriving here,
Wherever here happens to be.
You don't have to fix anything or make sense of anything right now.
You're simply arriving breath by breath.
As you settle in,
Notice whatever emotions are present.
Anxiety,
Sadness,
Restlessness,
Calm,
Or even nothing in particular.
Therapy often reminds us feelings are like weather systems.
They come and go.
They can pour,
Rumble,
Soften,
Or clear.
What you feel right now is not a forecast forever.
It's simply today's weather.
Let your breath remind you of that.
Every inhale,
Something new.
Every exhale,
A gentle release.
When joy rises,
Allow yourself to feel it fully without gripping it too tightly.
When sorrow visits,
Allow it to pass through without pushing it away.
Impermanence teaches us to appreciate what's here without demanding it stay.
We savor without clinging.
We release without regret.
As you breathe,
Invite yourself to witness your emotions.
Not as problems to solve,
But as experiences to notice.
In therapy,
This is the art of emotional regulation through acceptance.
You can hold space for anger or fear or tenderness without judgment.
You can say to each feeling,
I see you.
You belong for now.
Now bring your mind to a recent challenge.
Something that felt heavy or overwhelming.
Remind yourself that moment passed,
Just as this one will.
Resiliency isn't built by avoiding storms,
But by learning that no storm lasts forever.
You've survived so many endings,
And each one made room for something new.
Acceptance isn't resignation.
It's the quiet trust that both joy and sorrow belong to the same life.
That laughter and tears can sit at the same table.
Acceptance says,
I can hold it all because none of it will last forever.
And that's not a loss.
It's freedom.
Now return to your breath.
Notice the rise and the fall.
The pause and the next beginning.
Even your breath is impermanent.
Each one unique.
Each one new.
Notice how this moment keeps changing.
The sounds around you.
Sensations in your body.
The space between thoughts.
Everything is in motion.
Everything is flux.
In therapy we often explore this truth.
Emotional impermanence means trusting that feelings change.
Emotional permanence is the illusion that they,
Or the people expressing them,
Never will.
When we forget impermanence,
We start to panic when love shifts or moods change.
But when we embrace impermanence,
We become anchored in what is real.
The rhythm of change itself.
Each time you breathe,
Remind yourself that this moment will never come again.
When pain rises,
Whisper,
This too shall pass.
When joy visits,
Whisper,
This too is precious.
Practice noticing cognitive distortions when your mind says,
This feeling will last forever.
Gently answer,
No it won't.
Feelings are waves.
They crest.
They crash.
And they return to still water.
Imagine your emotions as a sine wave.
Rising,
Falling.
Pulsing with life.
Not wrong.
Not broken.
Just alive.
You aren't meant to live on a flat line of constant happiness.
You're meant to feel,
To flow,
To change.
So take one final breath.
And as you exhale,
Let go of the need for anything to stay the same.
Let impermanence be your teacher.
And your peace.
Peace.
