This is a guided meditation for you to deeply connect with and embody the energy of this time of winter solstice,
When the sun stands still and the darkest night is before us.
Solstice is a turning point,
A turning point within our yearly earthly relationship to the cosmos,
When the sunlight begins its return and the days ever so slowly begin to lengthen until the longest day of the year on summer solstice.
This winter solstice time is a time of wonder and awe.
It is also a time for witnessing that within you which may want to be released and to let go.
It is a time for visioning and setting intentions for the new as well,
Allowing this coming light to illuminate your path forward and creating that which you are calling forth in your life right now.
So begin by closing your eyes and taking a deep,
Cleansing breath.
Use your breath to gather your energy,
Use your breath to attune your energy to that of the winter solstice,
This time of stillness,
This time of being in the dark,
Relishing that nurturing quality of the dark and allowing this pause to be felt fully within your body,
Heart and mind in this quiet of the present moment.
Begin to breathe even deeper,
Allowing your breath to deepen and to take you even more within,
Tuning into the silence around you as if you're sitting in a safe,
Dark cave,
Or perhaps pausing in a moonlit forest after a deep snow.
It's as if the whole world were wrapped in stillness.
As you continue to focus on your breath,
Breathing deeply in and pausing,
Breathing deeply out and pausing.
Perhaps imagine that you're walking along a forest path in the moonlight.
There's been a fresh snow and the snow sparkles and you can hear the crunch of it beneath your feet.
There's the call of an owl in the distance and the scent of pine in the air.
As you are walking,
You come to a clearing up ahead where there is a sea of white snow and in the center,
A magnificent giant standing stone.
It reaches far into the moonlight starry sky above.
At the base of it,
There is a small mossy frost covered stone that is perfect for sitting.
Go ahead and take a seat there and lean back against the powerful stone and perhaps look up to the full moon,
The starry sky above you.
It is dark and still.
Sitting there at the base of the stone,
Begin to consider the past year.
Here in the dark,
In the night,
The dark receives the dark composts that which is released into it.
The dark holds the layers of the unconscious within it.
On this dark night of the winter solstice,
The darkness feels like a loving embrace,
Much like the deep rich soil of Mother Earth.
It receives and absorbs all that you wish to give it.
From this moment,
Begin to activate that transcendent witness within you.
The transcendent witness being that part of yourself that can take a step back from your life and gaze upon it as if you were looking down upon yourself.
Consider the past year.
As you consider all that has taken place in the past year,
Allow yourself to simply look upon it without judgment,
Opening your awareness to observe your life from a bigger,
More expansive perspective.
What challenges are you ready to release?
Is there pain that you can surrender right now,
Allowing the dark to transform it?
Giving anything to the darkness that is ready to be released?
Perhaps there are strong emotions such as anger.
Go ahead and release anything to the darkness that you are ready to let go of.
Imagine it being absorbed,
Perhaps to the stone beneath,
Perhaps to the stone at your back.
Feeling the support,
The strength drawing from that stone.
Maybe you would like to let go of resentments or grievances that have been clouding the flow of love within.
Now is the time.
Completely surrender and allow the dark to hold and to love you,
Supporting you fully as you let it go.
Focusing on your breath once more,
Begin to thank the transcendent observer part of yourself,
Feeling that gratitude.
Breathing in and out,
Shift your focus to your heart center.
Breathing in and out through your heart,
Connecting with that center place within you,
That place where the divine spark resides,
That place of deep connection to the sacred.
Breathing in and breathing out through your heart,
Begin to vision an intention,
An intention for your life that you would like to hold during this time where the coming of the light returns and begins to lengthen and to grow.
The light of the divine spirit can begin to illuminate and grow this intention in the coming days.
What is in your heart that wants to expand?
What is in your heart that wants to be expressed in the world?
What is it you are ready to call forth?
What is it you are ready to call forth?
Imagine that you plant the seed of intention now in your heart,
Praying and knowing that spirit receives the seed in this moment and knowing that it will continually be nourished and grown by the light,
Little by little,
Step by step as the daylight lengthens in the days to come until the full light of the summer solstice.
Breathing in,
Connect with a sense of gratitude.
Feel the power of the stone that is holding you and supporting you and connecting you with the earth below and the sky above.
In this powerful connection,
You are fully loved and held by divine grace.
You are fully held and loved in the present stillness and the beauty of this winter solstice.
And right now you can know that you have released that which was ready to be released into the dark and you have intended new growth as the light returns.
Having completed this part of the meditation,
You can imagine that you begin to stand and walk along the snow-dusted path back through the forest in the moonlight,
Returning to your starting point.
Knowing that you have fully embraced the beautiful gifts that this winter solstice has to offer,
Bring your hands together and begin to rub them to create heat and place them gently over your eyes.
You can begin to open your eyes and return to the present space around you,
Releasing this meditation with love and gratitude.
