The Deathbed Clarity

It is the image Katia uses to move you through time. After you relax your body, a train stops in front of you, you step aboard, and it carries you far into the future to your deathbed. At the end, you thank your future self and board the same train to return to the present moment.

First, the setting: where you are, who is beside you or whether you prefer to be alone, what objects surround you, whether it is day or night. You are encouraged to feel peaceful and to give yourself a small smile for a life well lived.

You look back with gratitude at your body, your relationships, your work and what you are leaving behind. Then you consider challenges and how they helped you grow, and the joyful, simple moments you remember with love. Finally come the harder questions: what you wish you had done more of, what you would do with a second chance, and what you might forgive or ask forgiveness for.

It is one of the last prompts, after you have seen your life as a whole, a mix of light and shadow and your own masterpiece. Imagining what you would tell your younger self lets you hear what you already know. It is also followed by a question about your hopes for the people and the world you leave behind.

You take two sips of air in, then exhale loudly, and repeat this a few times. You then breathe at your own pace, sipping in the space around you and exhaling into it. After that, you soften each part of the body from the head down to the feet until it feels almost transparent.

The closing words say you now have the power to create a life you will be grateful for, and to mold any life vision. Notice what came up about what you wish you had done more of, and consider choosing a little more beauty, love and presence in your days.