This meditation is to mark spring equinox or astara,
The cyclical ebb and flow of the seasons.
The themes that we will explore in this seasonal meditation are ones of ecology,
Beginnings
And the reciprocity of nature and community.
This meditation is best practiced laying down
With the eyes closed if that feels comfortable and safe in your body.
You are encouraged to
Find a place where you can be cosy.
You might want to pop a cushion underneath your knees
Or attend to your needs with an extra blanket.
Make sure that you're snug and warm.
The meditation
Includes visualization techniques and if your mind doesn't work in this way it's absolutely fine.
Feel free to tune into your own interpretation and this might be a felt sense or somatic experience
Inside the body or maybe it's seeing or feeling shapes or movements of colour.
Just know that any interpretation is absolutely fine.
The meditation also includes breath work
Or pranayama which is a way of controlling the breath and again you're welcome to explore this
With curiosity and if anything feels too much or not welcome or just not appropriate for you
In this moment please know that you don't have to do anything.
If the meditation conjures up
Strong feelings or images you are welcome to stay with them or if they feel overwhelming or just too
Much please return to the natural rhythm of your breath,
The sanctity of your body and the support
That the earth is offering you.
Most of all remember that there is no right or wrong way to
Practice and ultimately you can't mess it up.
So if you're ready let us begin.
Breathe in,
See before you the number one,
Tall and bright and true.
Breathe out,
Breathe in,
See before you the number two,
Tall,
Bright,
True.
Breathe out,
Breathe in,
See before you the number
Three,
Tall and bright and true.
Breathe out.
In your mind's eye you see a tall ancient circular wall.
Walk alongside the wall.
Trace the perimeter of the cool stones with your hand.
Keep walking
Until you find a gate that forms the entrance.
Inside your pocket you find a key.
Take the key in your hand.
Open the gate.
You enter a wild woodland that engorges the land
Beyond the confines of any man-made walls.
The woods glisten in the hope of springtime June.
The June dances on the earth and the leaves like cabochon jewels.
Use your senses.
See,
Hear,
Smell,
Feel,
Taste
The promise of spring and the earthy clay of the land that is abundant with trees.
In our society
There is a big emphasis on winter being the time for intention setting.
This is not the way of the
Earth.
Instead,
Spring is the beginning of new seasons and new cycles.
It is a time of birth
And rebirth.
It is also the energy of the element wood.
The trees of the woodland and the forests
Are the forebearers of wood.
The trees make wood and fuel for the fire.
The wood turns to ash which
In turn will nourish the land.
A reminder that as the earth spins and the wheel of the year turns
We are forever called back home to ourselves and a deeper sense of balance.
Settle into the green woodland landscape.
See around you the trees.
Some elder trees are tall and ancient.
Some trees have been ravaged by the winter and bear scars on their trunks and on their branches.
Some new sapling trees have stems that are not yet hardened with bark but are trees nonetheless.
Let the landscape choose you.
Let it guide you.
Find your patch of earth to rest on.
Let the earth call you back home.
Maybe you choose the trunk of a tree.
Maybe you find a tree stump or maybe you are called to rest under a toadstool
Or anywhere else.
Move towards your patch of land and when you find it take rest.
Wherever you are there are snug blankets for you to add or remove from your body as needed
And the earth underfoot is covered with a blanket of moss which offers warmth and comfort.
You nuzzle into the earth and you take your blankets and you feel supported by the clay of the land.
In a moment we will start breathing like this.
We will inhale through slightly pursed lips as if
You're drinking through a straw.
Feel the cool air come in and you might make a gentle sipping noise
But it doesn't have to be loud it can be barely audible and as we exhale we will exhale the warm
Air slowly through the nose and feel supported by the earth as the body becomes heavier giving
More of your weight to the earth.
So as you're ready to let's start the breath now.
Inhale through
The mouth.
Feel the cool spring air enter your body.
Exhale through the nose.
Feel the warmth
Of the moss come up to meet you.
Inhale the cool spring air through the mouth.
Feel your lungs.
Exhale through the nose and feel the layers of salt in the earth holding your body.
Inhale the cool spring air through the mouth.
Exhale the warm air through the nose.
Feel held by the layers of rock and crystal.
Inhale the cool spring air through your mouth.
Exhale the warm air through your nose and feel the support from the animal homes and dens
That rest below your body.
Inhale the cool spring air through the mouth.
Exhale the warm air through the nose.
Feel nourished by the underwater streams and wells.
Inhale the cool spring air through the mouth.
Exhale the warm air through the nose.
Feel the warmth and protection of the earth's core that
Burns bright like the fire warming your bones.
Take one more round of breath like this.
Feel all the layers of earth,
Salt,
Rock,
Crystal,
The animal homes and dens.
The underwater streams and wells and the core of the earth down there in the darkness
Supporting your animal body.
And then let the breath return to its natural rhythm
So there's no need to control or manipulate the breath.
From your cozy den know without intellect that through the seasons the soil on which you lie
Has become fertile.
It has been nourished through nature's wintry work.
In the autumn the trees around you relinquished their leaves which fell like tears to the earth.
The leaves in turn decayed,
Slowly became compost,
Turned to mulch.
And you,
Just like your tree siblings,
Have had things that you have lost or you have had to let
Go of.
And at times it has been hard and at times it has felt lonely.
And you have relinquished your
Tears to the earth in the past seasonal cycles and all the cycles.
The whole of your life and
The ancestors who came before you have a sense of the back of your body,
Back of the head,
Shoulders,
Arms,
The spine,
Glutes,
Thighs,
Calves,
Ankles,
All supported by the clay of the land.
All nourished by leaves that once fell.
It is your birthright to lay here on the earth and receive
Its support.
Your worth is intrinsic,
It does not need to be earned.
And as you lay here turn your
Mind's eye to the root systems of the tree siblings which surround you.
The roots of the
Tree siblings which surround you.
Have a sense that they have been growing down into the darkness
All winter.
And it is from this darkness that all life grows.
Have a sense of the support that all
The elements are offering you.
All that lays below your beautiful animal body.
As you breathe in,
Have a sense of all the people who have walked the land before you and are supporting you with
Their memory.
And as you breathe out,
Perhaps through the mouth,
See if there's something that
You can soften.
As you breathe in,
Feel ancestors supporting you.
Ancestors from the familiar but
Also too the ancient rocks,
The ancient trees which are just as ancestral and just as supportive.
And as you breathe out,
Perhaps through the mouth,
See if there is something that you can let go of.
As you breathe in,
Remember the wisdom and guidance from all of your teachers.
And as you breathe out,
Perhaps through the mouth,
See if there is something that you can relinquish.
Continue like this,
In through the nose,
Releasing,
Letting it go,
Clearing breath through the mouth.
And the winters are long and they are cold.
And there have been struggles to endure in the periods
Of composting,
The deep wintry root work.
Remembering that you are nature.
Your trials,
Adversities,
Tribulations,
They will compost and over time they will nourish you and your sibling trees.
Let the breath return to a natural rhythm.
No need to change or manipulate or control the breath.
Let your body breathe the breath.
You see in your mind's eye the remembrance of spring.
Seeing new supple leaves and tiny buds are starting to sprout.
The promise of spring,
New life,
New beginnings,
New vitality.
Allow the green of spring to surround you.
Breathe it in.
Let it breathe you in.
Some of the buds of spring are intentionally planted in the soil with hope that the sun
Will bring them into fruition.
And prayers come in the form of intentionally watering
And tending to the seeds so that new life will sprout.
Some shoots are nature's own and mighty forms of natural regeneration.
This is the process by which,
Given the right conditions,
The natural world can self-seed
And rejuvenate.
If we allow nature to take its course,
It will regenerate.
Larger elder trees are long-lived and produce more fruit than the younger ones.
Larger elder trees are long-lived and produce high volume of pollen and seeds every year,
Increasing their chances of reproducing.
The woodlands and the forest are a vast
Interconnected web of reciprocity.
Tree seeds can be dispersed great distances by wind,
Water,
Birds,
Insects and animal friends.
Natural regeneration benefits the whole ecosystem.
It benefits us and it benefits our community.
Now in the safety of your woodland nest,
You have a felt sense of a bud starting to emerge at your heart space.
This bud is born of an intentionally planted seed.
Drop into your physical heart.
If it's useful,
There's an invitation to bring your left hand onto your heart space,
Which is located just to the left of your breastbone,
With the palm facing down.
The physical heart is the first organ to form in the darkness of the embryo.
From the heart,
So too grew the rest of your body.
From this darkness,
What is the intention you wish to grow and cultivate?
Maybe this seed of intention comes to you in words or images.
It might be a feeling.
Maybe there's a memory.
And equally,
Maybe there's nothing at all and know that that's okay too.
Really dropping into the heart space,
This intentional seed and seeing what you need to call in.
Have a sense that each breath is nourishment from the darkness all the way to your heart,
Where the intentional bud is emerging.
Continue breathing in slow nourishing breaths to the heart.
And with each long slow exhalation,
See,
Feel,
Or sense in your mind's eye the growth of spring.
From bud to intentionally blooming flower,
Let your intention grow.
Let your intention grow.
The unknown unseen darkness supported this blooming life in your heart.
See your intention unfurl,
Your wisdom,
Your gifts and talents reveal themselves to the world.
There are two more seeds for you.
These are gifts from the woodlands from unknown trees that were transported to you in unknown ways.
These seeds represents the gifts that you receive from your community
And also the ways in which you turn up and participate in community.
Your presence,
The gift to community.
In the left hand,
There is a sapling that you receive from your community.
In the womb,
The arms and the hands grow from the cells that formed the heart.
There is a reminder that if we allow space for the land
And the gifts of nourishment from the ecosystem,
Community will bloom.
So again,
If you haven't done so already,
There's another invitation to bring left hand to the heart space located to the left of the breastbone.
But if it doesn't feel comfortable for you to touch that part of your body,
Just allow your focus and attention to rest there.
And call into your mind's eye the ways your community supports you,
People,
Places,
Institutions or something else.
Invitation to see in your mind's eye the people that make up your community,
The bodies of work,
The practices,
The rituals,
The ideology,
The shared beliefs that are the foundations for your community.
As you breathe into your heart space,
Fully receive the support from those that hold you in community.
Breathe into the support.
And in the right hand,
We find the seed that you offer to your community.
Again,
There is an invitation to negotiate consent with yourself first and foremost,
And this time place the right hand with the palm facing down,
Either on your belly or on the air.
And call into your mind's eye the ways in which you turn up
And offer your gifts and service to your community.
Think of all the things that these hands do every day for others,
For those around you.
And you might reflect on the acts of service within your own family or chosen family,
Comrades,
Colleagues,
Or the community of the ecosystem or the community of the whole earth.
Consider the minor and major ways you give.
And there's a gentle reminder for us all that in order for us to show up in our fullness,
For regeneration to happen in ways that are truly sustainable,
We must first tend to ourselves and our own little patch of earth.
The theme of Ostara or Spring Equinox is really one of balance.
And balance does not mean always giving and receiving equally.
It means finding balance between the two.
And as you exhale,
Acknowledge all the ways that through loving action you show up for the people
Around you.
Let your breath be an offering,
An acknowledgement.
And through the right hand,
Let it travel through the tissues and fibres of the body
And gift it back to the community and to the earth.
One more full,
Rounded breath like this.
Another invitation to keep or bring both of the hands to anywhere on the torso,
In case they're not there already.
And breathe into the space between the hands.
And breathe into the space between the hands,
Coming home to yourself,
Coming home to the sanctity and salvation of your body.
And we create space to reflect on the year so far.
Notice if there are any thoughts or words,
Symbols or memories.
That appear to you.
And as you're breathing into the space between the hands,
Drawing in unconditional high regard.
Unconditional high regard for yourself.
And unconditional high regard for all the people whose path you have crossed in the last cycle.
And when we call in unconditional high regard,
We know without intellect that we were doing the
Best that we could with the knowledge and the resources available to us at the time.
And we extend this to all the other people who we have met and interacted with.
When we draw in unconditional high regard,
We move away from judgment
And we move towards acceptance.
And seeing if this creates any more space within your body.
And again,
We allow any words,
Images,
Feelings or memories for ourself and for our community.
And then we let the practice go.
It is time to return to the grove of trees.
Fully rested,
You stand surrounded by the springtime trees.
Now it is time to thank your spot of land for the shelter and comfort and say your farewells.
Start to walk through the woodlands.
In the distance,
You can see the walls to the garden once again.
Walk to the wall.
Walk towards the gate.
Open the gate.
Find the path.
Open the gate.
Find the key to the gate once again in your pocket.
Take the key.
Lock the gate as you leave.
And know that you can return whenever you need to.
Now our practice draws towards its conclusion.
If you need to take more time to rest,
Please feel free to do so.
And if you're ready to get along with your day,
Perhaps starting to deepen the breath
And bring your awareness back to your extremities,
Twinkling fingers and toes,
Perhaps taking a full body stretch.
Perhaps taking a full body stretch.
Thank you so much for exploring Spring Equinox.
Seasonal blessings to you,
Beautiful human.
