My Gift to You: A Practice for Peace in Your Body, Mind and Spirit

The year is drawing to a close. As we enter winter, move through the holidays, and approach the new year, I bring you an offering. This poem and breathing practice are powerful medicine for generating peace in your body, mind and spirit. And as you read the words below, focus on your breathing. Listen to your body’s wisdom by becoming aware of how you are moved and noticing what passes through your mind.

Don’t judge what comes up. Just be with your thoughts and your breath as you read.

Create a World

Create a world for yourself

A world of peace and harmony

A world in which you dwell apart

A world where all is heightened beauty

Color and dance,

Create for yourself, a space

Private and sacred

Where none can enter

Unless invited

Where you can be at peace

And in full acceptance;

Do not absorb the painful searchings of others

Do not seek to know all

the "whys" and "wherefores"

Threads from ten thousand spools

Create the texture of life;

You are not asked to be responsible for the world

You are asked to live in it in peace.

- Barbara Paul-Emile

Take a moment right now to notice…

How do you feel?

What insights are coming to you?

What is the message your intuition?

How can you create space for yourself or within yourself to truly be at peace, dear heart?

Whatever’s coming up, be gentle with you.

This evening, December 21, is the winter solstice - the deepest and darkest moment of the year. The shortest day & longest night. From tomorrow onward, we will receive more and more sunlight each day as we approach spring.

Tonight is a perfect time to pause, to create sacred space for yourself, to fully release what is no longer in service. It’s a perfect time to take a moment and set your intention. What do you want to receive? What do you want to create? In your body? In your energy? In your life?

I invite you to breathe.

Right now.

It’s so simple to connect and attune to the breath.

As you continue reading, stay connected in with your breath. Become conscious of your inhale, your exhale. Tune into where you are in space, notice what it feels like to be in a body. Even as you keep reading.

Feel your feet and your legs, your hips and your pelvis. As you inhale, experience the gentle expansion in your belly. As you exhale, feel the release of your breath all the way to the very bottom. Rest in that emptiness.

Continue breathing, drawing the breath in through your nose, feeling the air moving through your nostrils, and exhaling out through your mouth. Allow yourself to notice the sensation of the air as it passes through your lips.

Bring your attention to the end of your exhale, and allow yourself to pause, holding the exhalation. Remaining empty for a moment or two. Feel the stillness inside, the sacred space within you. The silence in your body. The emptiness at the bottom.

Then feel - in the moment you’re inspired to inhale - the drawing in of a new breath.

Continue breathing like this for 5 more breaths. Experience the depth of the pause of the exhalation each time. Notice any comfort or discomfort that you feel in holding the exhale. Invite yourself to open up, allowing in a peaceful feeling with this pause, even with any discomfort that may be present. Again, experience the moment of fresh inhalation - feel the ease, the velocity of the breath, and the depth it’s able to reach.

As you bring your attention to your breath, ask yourself: How does letting go and pausing at the bottom support me? How does this help me create space for myself? How does it open me up to inviting more peace? To receiving more abundance?

Be awake to discovering. You might feel present to something you desire to release. Or perhaps a thought will come bubbling up about what you’re calling in. What will create a greater sense of peace in your body, energy, mind, and spirit? Be present to what is coming through your intuition - what will allow you to live from your core moving forward?

As you exhale, focus on all you desire to release. As you inhale, invite all that you are calling in.

May this simple breathing practice support you in connecting with your body and inspire deeper awareness of what you are creating space for right now, into this next season, and beyond.

Happy holidays and wonderful New Year,