Winter Solstice | Pausing Between Darkness And Light

The Winter Solstice is a beautiful and special time in nature when the sun pauses on its axis and we are invited to pause, too. On the shortest day of the year, or in this season of winter generally, join me to pause in the space of darkness before we welcome the light back in. In this meditation, we honor the duality in both nature and ourselves as we move with the image of a candle flame through the different parts of the body.

Transcript

Welcome,

Friend.

Welcome to this meditation,

And welcome to the season of the winter solstice.

Before we get started,

I invite you to darken your space if it is possible for you.

So maybe turning off the lights or dimming the lights.

And I invite you to also light a candle,

If that's available to you.

Maybe bringing that nearby.

And you can pause this meditation if you'd like.

And if you're not able to make your space dark or grab a candle,

No worries at all.

And we'll begin in a seated or a lying down position,

Just whichever one feels better for you in this moment.

And I invite you to find a position that feels comfortable for you.

One where you feel like you can find a sense of stillness.

But you also want to find a posture that allows you to feel alert and awake.

Letting your hands rest in your lap or maybe along your sides if you're lying down.

Letting your shoulders be soft,

Your spine be long.

And if you'd like,

You can allow your eyes to close or just let your gaze rest out on a point out in front of you.

And we'll begin by just noticing the breath.

Noticing where you most easily sense the breath,

Whether that's in the nose or in the space above your upper lip,

Or maybe in the rise and fall of your belly or your chest.

Or maybe you just have a general sense of the body breathing.

And just taking these first few moments to be with the breath.

Not needing to change it,

But just noticing what the texture of the breath is like in this moment.

Maybe it feels rough and choppy.

Maybe it feels long and smooth.

But just noticing.

And noticing too if you have an impulse to want to control or change the breath in this moment.

Let's see if you can find a sense of home in the breath,

A sense of arriving,

A sense of safety.

And sometimes the breath can feel triggering or unsafe for some people.

And if that's the case for you,

Then I invite you to rest your awareness somewhere else in the body.

Maybe in the hands or the pelvis or the feet.

But if you're with the breath,

See if you can sense into the invitation and the breath to be present.

And now begin to slowly lengthen your inhales.

And allowing your exhales to lengthen as well.

And maybe your exhales are just a little bit longer than the inhales.

And tuning into your belly and your lungs,

Your ribcage,

Your diaphragm,

As they expand and become full with each inhale.

And as they contract and empty with each exhale.

The winter solstice is such a special time in nature.

It is the day of the year when our hours of sunlight are the shortest and the length of darkness is the longest.

But it's also the point when the sun pauses on its axis before changing directions.

And there's this sense of stillness,

Of quietness within the depth of the darkness.

And even the sun seems to acknowledge this stillness.

And so we too are invited in this season to pause.

And not just on this day of the winter solstice,

But in this month,

In this season of winter,

Where darkness dominates.

And we're invited to slow down the day to day hustle and bustle in this continuous ongoing of tasks and checking off the tasks.

So just letting these breaths be nice and long.

With each exhale,

Just allowing yourself to soften a little bit more.

With each breath,

Just trusting the stillness more and more and resting in it.

And now become aware of the darkness behind your eyelids.

And if your eyes are open,

Just becoming aware of the darkness within your space.

Just getting a sense of the darkness of the internal world.

And what I mean by that is when we close our eyes to the external world,

What we see is darkness.

And just noticing if that brings up any feelings for you any feelings of resistance or fear.

If your mind goes in a more negative direction or a more positive or neutral direction.

And see if you can find a sense of comfort in the darkness.

Kind of like a baby in the womb or a seed being cradled by the earth.

See if you can feel the invitation to relax and to be still.

And now within this darkness,

I invite you to bring to mind the image of a candle flame.

Noticing its yellow and orange colors and maybe even the bright blue at the very center of the flame where the wick is.

And noticing how the flame moves about,

How it dances.

And this flame is attached to a long draper candle and you are holding the candle.

And I invite you to go on an internal journey with me with this candle in your hand,

Holding it by the base.

And I invite you to bring this candle flame all the way down into your toes.

And as we move through the body,

Imagine that the area where your awareness is at right now in the toes is the only place that is lit up by the light of this flame and everything else is dark.

So just noticing the toes,

Any sensations that you feel here.

And now bringing that candle flame into the feet,

The tops of the feet and the bottoms of the feet and into the heels and the ankles.

Letting the flame bring light into these places.

And now journeying up into the lower legs as the light turns on and the calves and the shins.

Noticing all the veins and muscles and bones in the lower legs.

And now into the knees where you see the kneecaps.

And the muscles supporting the kneecaps.

And now bringing that candle flame into the upper legs,

Into the large,

Thick muscles of the quads and the hamstrings.

Noticing if there's any sensations here,

Any tingling,

Coolness or warmth.

Maybe there's a numbness,

Vibrating.

And now travel with your candle into the pelvic region,

Letting your awareness fill this part of the body.

Noticing the pelvis,

The hips,

The gluteus muscles,

The genitals.

Imagining this area of the body as a large bowl that is holding your awareness.

And noticing any sensations here,

Any tightness,

Tingling,

Spaciousness.

And now letting your awareness rise into the belly and let there be a softening in the belly with each inhale.

Just letting go of any tension or holding in this area.

Letting the belly be wide.

And now circling to the lower back.

And letting there be a spaciousness in this area as well.

And if there's some tightness in the lower back,

See if you can allow this tightness to be held in the spaciousness of your awareness.

Now bringing the light of your flame into the upper abdomen and the diaphragm,

Into the ribcage and the lungs.

Noticing the beating of your heart.

Imagine yourself filling this area with the light of this candle flame and using that light to become more aware of this area of the body.

Noticing any sensations here.

And again,

If there's any tightness or tension,

See if you can allow that to be without resisting it.

Just imagine that you're able to hold it with the spaciousness of your awareness.

And now circling around to the mid and upper back,

Bringing light into your spine,

Into your shoulder blades,

And into the shoulders where a lot of us hold some tension.

And see if you can let there be a softness and a stillness here,

Even in the midst of any tension.

That might also be here.

Let your shoulders be heavy as they give over to gravity.

And noticing the collarbones.

And now let your candle flame move out to the outsides of the collarbones and down the arms,

All the way down into the hands.

And bringing light into your hands.

Noticing if there's a sense of warmth or maybe coolness in the hands,

Any tingling or vibration,

Any sense of aliveness in the fingers and the palms.

And now moving up into the wrist and the lower arms.

Noticing the bones in the forearms and the muscles,

Veins,

Sensing blood moving through your arms.

And now coming into your elbows and the creases of your arms and into your upper arms.

And noticing if there's any sensations here,

Anything that you can detect with the light of your awareness.

And then again,

Moving along the collarbones and into the throat.

And pausing here as you hold your candle.

And filling the throat with your awareness.

Noticing the back of your neck.

Letting there be a soft curve in the back of the neck,

Along the spine.

Noticing the jaw and letting the jaw be soft.

And bringing light into the mouth.

Noticing the tongue,

The gums,

The lips,

The crease between the lips.

And letting your cheeks be soft.

And your nose and the skin along your nostrils.

And bringing your awareness into the space around your eyes.

Letting your eyelids be soft.

And again,

Noticing the darkness behind the eyelids.

And letting the flame of your candle bring a sense of awareness to this area.

And into the eyebrows,

The temples and the forehead.

And let this whole area be lit with awareness,

With stillness and spaciousness.

And feel it as it spreads into the ears and the back of the head,

Spreading through the back of the head and up into the crown of the head.

And now bring the light of your candle flame into the heart center once again.

And imagine it burning in the heart,

Surrounded by the darkness of winter solstice.

And now,

Little by little,

Imagine that flame growing brighter and warmer.

And lights up your entire body with your awareness.

And noticing areas where you feel sensation,

Tingling,

Spaciousness.

Vibration,

Coolness or warmth.

And to see if you can invite the light of your awareness to hold it all,

Everything that you're feeling,

Everything that you are,

The dark aspects of yourself and the lighter aspects of yourself.

Just holding all of it here in your awareness and allowing it with a sense of compassion and acceptance.

And sense into how the darkness and the light create a sense of wholeness within.

And how,

When you aren't resisting the darkness or clinging only to the light,

That you can find the sense of lightness and acceptance and wholeness in that.

And again,

Just noticing the breath and being with the stillness.

The soft rhythm of the breath.

And resting in this stillness,

This quietness.

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.

To know the dark,

Go dark.

Go without sight and find that the dark too blooms and sings and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.

To know the dark by Wendell Berry.

And take a deep breath,

Filling the belly,

The lungs.

And letting out a slow exhale.

And very slowly bring a little bit of movement into the wrists,

Maybe the shoulders or the neck,

The head.

You might even reach your arms overhead,

Taking a deep stretch.

And when you feel ready,

Letting the eyes blink open and coming back into this world of both darkness and light.

And I hope that you can move forward with space in your heart for both.

Happy winter solstice.