Hi everyone.
This meditation is called Joy in the Dark Night.
This is a meditation for us to find some comfort in these darkest days in the Northern Hemisphere.
When the days are shortest and the cold starts to settle in,
So I invite you now to find yourself in a comfortable position,
Comfortable enough where you find some ease and restfulness,
As well as some alertness in your body,
Whether you're sitting,
Standing,
Or lying down.
Just now in this moment,
Check in with the body as we begin,
Noticing perhaps there's a center of gravity that can be felt and a way of balancing and grounding,
Centering in this present moment.
And let's begin by inviting ourselves to come into stillness.
Finding the breath.
Or the body as a way to anchor the mind here.
Present moment awareness.
Complementary to awareness is how we are paying attention.
So check in now to your own sense of your attitude in this practice.
And if you find some edge or tightness,
Maybe some goal-oriented way of being in this meditation,
I invite you to see if it's possible to soften those edges now.
This practice may be a refuge space.
May you find joy and ease in this present moment.
And here we are again.
Where has the mind gone now?
Simply being aware of the different states our minds travel through,
The ways the mind tends to get wound up in stress,
In certain kinds of thoughts that define who we are.
And somehow within and beyond those daily patterns,
Right in this moment you might find in your body a way of existing and letting go of the stories that attach us to stress,
Anxiety,
Heaviness in our lives.
If this isn't possible for you right now,
I invite you to sit with what you're feeling just as it is,
Seeing if you can in a way hold a candle alongside of the darkness.
Working beyond the ideas of what is right or wrong in our lives in this very present moment,
Finding the joy in simply being.
This could be a small joy.
Notice for yourself in the body how this joy might show up in a small sense of warmth.
Perhaps there's some ease.
You may find bigger joy expanding from the heart wherever your joy is right now.
Being there with it,
Spending time with this joy because it is a light,
A light that shows us a way to walk through the darkest days.
