Winter Solstice Meditation For Deep Self-Connection

In this meditation/guided visualization, you will connect to the spirit of the winter solstice. At the time of deepest dark in the wheel of the year, we can retreat to a place of quiet reflection and reconnection to what we want to create in our lives. Perfect for people who want to make meaning out of the changing of the seasons.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to your winter solstice visualization.

So while you get yourself all set up you might want to light a candle,

Get blankets,

Get some essential oils,

Whatever works for you for this sort of experience.

I'll tell you a little bit about the winter solstice and what this time of year means.

So the winter solstice is also called Yule and it is the time of year when the world is at its darkest.

The nights have gotten shorter and shorter and we are now at the heart of the darkness.

And yet it's also the time when light starts returning.

It's really an axis of the year.

So you could say that it's a time of profound faith that out of the deepest darkness the light will return,

The sun will reappear.

And in the pagan traditions the winter solstice is the time of the sun's birthday.

It is a time of reflection,

Yes,

On the year that has passed but it's also a time of imagining the year ahead.

Some of the symbols of this time are the holly that represents the sacred feminine,

The mistletoe that represents the sacred masculine and there's also the evergreens,

The pine tree,

The yew tree,

Wreaths and candles.

So I invite you to make yourself really comfortable.

Make sure especially that you're warm enough and that you won't be disturbed for the next 15 to 20 minutes or so.

You may want to close your eyes or just soften your gaze as we're going to turn our attention slowly inward.

Let yourself arrive in your body,

Letting thoughts,

Plans settle like snow falling on the ground.

And sense the point of contact of your feet with the floor if you're sitting and the points of contact that your body is making with the surface that it's lying or sitting on.

Seeing if you can relax a little bit into those points,

Letting your body yield a little to being supported.

You might be aware of some sounds around you,

The temperature of the air,

The feeling of clothes on your skin.

Notice your breathing,

Your belly swelling on the in-breath,

Subsiding on the out-breath,

Starting to tune in to the subtle sensations of the breath.

Clothes shifting slightly,

Ribcage expanding and subsiding,

Slight movements in the shoulders,

The touch of cold air on the nostrils with warmer air flowing out.

Breathing in calm,

Breathing out peace.

Breathing in calm,

Breathing out peace.

Now I invite you to visualize yourself standing at the bottom of a big hill covered in pine forests at dusk.

The light is slowly fading,

The air is cold.

As you look around and to the sky you might see your first star might have appeared and the sky is slowly turning from pink to purple.

You're warmly dressed and surrounded by a deep sense of peace.

And you can see a path that goes up that hill through the forests.

You can't see where it finishes but it's as if you know where it's going,

As if you're guided.

You're not lost.

You walk up that path through the forest of pine trees.

There's no sound apart from your shoes on the ground,

The gritty earth underfoot.

The air is cold and very still.

And as you climb up the path your breath makes little clouds of air,

Taking the sense of going into the dark with deep faith.

As the sky starts to turn from purple to night,

It's as if the path in front of you is illuminated with a soft glow.

And although there's cold air on your face,

Your body is warm.

And eventually your climb takes you up to a landing.

And on that landing is the entrance to a cave.

Now as you look up to the sky it is dark and stars have appeared.

You see them shining above you like diamonds.

But it's cold outside and inside that cave you can see the glow of a fire.

And you feel drawn to enter,

Feeling completely safe.

As you enter you discover that it's very vast.

There's a big fire in the middle of the cave and people are sitting all around it,

Smiling,

Contemplating.

They give you a friendly nod as you enter.

Imagine that all these people are all of us who are at this moment listening to solstice meditations,

Creating rituals for the end of the year and the beginning of a new one.

There may be people you know and complete strangers.

But they're all drawn to making meaning in a similar way to you.

You find a place by the fire that seems to be waiting just for you.

It's very comfortable.

You might be sitting on layers of warm fabric,

On lush cushions,

Comfortable bench,

Whatever comes to mind.

And as you start looking into the fire,

Into the flames,

You let that warmth start to surround you and to seep into your body.

Looking into the flames you are invited now to reflect on the qualities that you have shown this year.

This year might have been one of challenges.

There may have been grief,

Loss,

Difficult emotions,

Sadness,

Anger.

And there might also have been laughter,

Joy,

Connections new and old,

Achievements,

Kindness,

Adventures.

As you look into the flames you can let your mind roam to the year just passed,

Keeping yourself safe.

If anything feels too difficult to revisit,

There's no need to go too deep.

What this Yule fire is asking you to do is really deeply acknowledge yourself for all the ways in which you have shown up this year.

In courage,

In kindness,

In resilience,

Fierceness,

Wisdom,

Generosity.

I will leave you now a little space to reflect on those qualities that you have shown.

Now as we are poised towards the returning of the light,

We are still at the darkest point of the year.

And the invitation is to let yourself go very,

Very quiet.

As you look into the flames you feel a sense of dropping down,

Down.

Suddenly you're not aware of the people around you anymore.

It's as if it's just you and the spirit of Yule in the flames.

In this deep cave at the threshold of the new year,

There are three questions that Yule asks of us.

Let each of them drop down like a penny in a deep well and just see what comes up,

No matter how vague or unformed or surprising.

The first question is what really matters to you at this point in your life?

Letting an answer bubble up.

What really matters to you at this point in your life?

The second question is what do you want to create this year?

What do you want to create this year?

And what values will anchor you in that vision for the year?

What values will anchor you in order to create that vision for the year?

Trusting that if answers did not come very clearly this time,

Things will bubble up in their own time,

As they do.

And everything that has been revealed or that is yet hiding beneath the surface has been absorbed into the flames of the fire.

And you realize now that the fire is slowly going down.

The flames are getting smaller and smaller until as you watch the fire burns itself out.

And there in its ashes is a gift for you,

A symbol of everything we've explored just now.

What has this spirit of Yule left you with that you can take with you into the new year?

Now you take this precious gift and you stand up and stretch and make ready to leave the cave.

And you see that people around you also have found their gifts and are ready to make their way out.

And as you step outside onto the landing again,

You realize that the sky,

Although still full of stars,

Is starting to turn lighter in the east.

Yes,

The sun is coming.

It is returning.

It's a new dawn.

And from now on,

The days are going to get longer.

You realize that all your circle is also standing there contemplating the beauty of the light coming back,

This slow,

Beautiful sunrise.

And as you all take a deep breath in and slowly let it out,

You know that you've been blessed by the spirit of Yule.

And now is the time to start climbing down the hill with the gift that you've been given to give to yourself,

To other people,

Or to the world in the year ahead.

Letting that forest landscape dissolve now.

Connecting back to your breath.

Now is the time to slowly come back to your body.

We have journeyed deep.

It's time to bring some life back into the toes,

Into the fingers.

Taking a deep breath,

A stretch.

And if you feel so inclined,

Putting your hand on your heart to really seal whatever visions have come to you in this visualization.

Letting your head take a gentle bow to yourself,

To your practice,

To your presence,

And to the spirit of Yule,

And to all the beings who are making meaning in this way.

I wish you many blessings.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Reviews

Wonderful practice for the Winter solstice, thank you so much 🤍🌟