Welcome to this Embracing Darkness meditation.
This is being recorded in the days leading up to the winter solstice,
The darkest days,
As earth descends into winter,
The season of endings,
Of dormancy and rest.
And it's this wisdom that the earth guides us to find this within ourselves.
As cyclical beings,
We're invited to move through cycles of death and rebirth.
And we're normally taught to avoid this,
This dormancy.
It's not seen as productive,
But it's necessary.
And so today we're going to take some time to rest.
So just finding yourself in a comfortable position.
You may like to be seated or lying down.
Just resting somewhere that you can be undisturbed for the next few moments.
And just taking a nice deep cleansing breath in.
Filling your lungs.
And just letting go on the exhale.
Just inviting you now to notice,
Are you holding on to any tension or tightness?
How do your feet feel today?
Are they heavy?
Moving up into your legs,
Just maybe allowing them to soften.
Into your pelvis,
Your abdomen.
And just taking time to notice your breath,
Your heartbeat.
Your shoulders,
Are they tense or can you allow for them to soften?
Your jaw,
Your eyebrows.
Just feeling yourself dropping into a deeper state of relaxation.
Everybody winters.
Some winters are long and harsh.
And some,
Like a cold snap,
Are over quite quickly,
But leave an imprint on you.
When you descend into this period of darkness,
You feel yourself cut off from around you.
For however long you hide away,
Maybe from social media,
Maybe you become less visible in your community.
Maybe you retreat from your usual activities.
For some of us,
It requires completely removing ourselves from a situation,
Place or person.
And in the darkness,
We find stillness.
A moment of pause.
And here we give ourselves permission to feel.
When you visualize the earth in winter,
She will appear dormant.
And in her dormancy,
She has surrendered to the change.
The decrease in sunlight and the cold.
So just taking yourself now to a space when you think of winter.
Maybe you're out in nature or wrapped up.
Maybe you are inside,
But you can see the wintery scene outside the window.
Just allow yourself to be wherever feels safe for you today.
And just taking in your surroundings.
You may be still,
You may be wondering.
When we think about the earth surrendering to winter,
I'd like you to consider where have you surrendered to changes happening within you?
Where are you still resisting?
When we enter a period of darkness,
We don't always know when it will end.
We have an idea of when winter will end,
But some seasons they seem to go on longer,
Way into March or April.
Sometimes we can find we get to February and it already feels like spring.
And this can often lead us into a period of uncertainty,
Not knowing when it's going to end and how long it may go on for.
When you think of uncertainty,
How do you show up for yourself during periods of uncertainty?
Winter requires patience.
It can be hard to remember this,
That it's all part of the process,
A cycle.
It's just a phase.
And this phase is all part of a transformation.
And just as the earth displays this when her leaves shed in autumn and blooms again in spring,
We too must allow what needs to shed and die,
Move away from us.
In order for us to move into a new cycle.
We metamorphosize.
Nature does not resist this transformation.
What would it look like if you fully allowed whatever transformation is brewing within you to occur?
As the night's drawing,
We seek comfort.
Winter is a time when our homes are adorned with lights,
Lighting their candle,
Decorations.
And we seek little pleasures,
Things that bring us joy.
What little pleasures bring you light and joy?
Maybe something that's considered to be a guilty pleasure,
Like a glass of your favorite tipple.
Everything begins in the darkness,
Stardust from the void of space,
The dark waters of the womb,
The depths of the soil.
We all journey towards the light,
The birth.
When you think about the wonder that appears from the darkness,
Can you reframe your thoughts on darkness?
Can it be seen as a space of potential,
Like a blank page?
I invite you to take a moment now to visualize yourself like a tree that's in winter.
Bare.
If the leaves were all your labels and attachments,
What stands there?
The stripped back,
Bare essence of you.
You without the label of parent,
Lover,
Carer,
Friend,
Colleague,
Your job title.
Who are you?
Just as spring comes round again and the world reclaims its vibrancy and color.
Do you feel like the bare aspects of yourself are dormant?
Perhaps they're on hold.
Maybe you don't have time or energy to be your creative self.
Maybe your body is not fully your own right now.
Maybe your passions are on hold while duty dominates.
What aspects of yourself are waiting to bloom?
What reclamation is waiting for you?
Maybe it's time,
Freedom.
It's now time for you to leave this winter space.
Maybe it's familiar to you.
Maybe it was somewhere that exists only in your imagination.
So just bringing yourself back into your body.
Be ready to stretch.
I'm just inviting you to open your eyes and return back into the room.
Thank you for joining me on this embracing darkness meditation and I wish you a joyful and comforting winter ahead.
Thank you.
