Welcome to this practice to honor and acknowledge the winter solstice.
I'll be guiding you through a reflective and somatic practice,
Meaning we will use the body to connect with this time,
With what needs to be met,
What needs to be held,
What needs to be moved through,
And what needs to be released.
Although centered around the winter solstice,
This practice can be done any time of year that you are yearning to meet with vulnerability and openness,
The darkness,
The depth,
And the wisdom of your shadow.
I invite you to have a journal or some paper to hand so you can reflect on what arose during this practice at the end.
So,
Get comfortable.
You can do this practice seated,
Standing,
Or lying down.
Take a few moments for your body to settle and begin to feel the connection of your body to the earth.
Feel its stability,
Feel its stillness,
And as you settle in,
Draw in the warmth of your breath deeper into your body.
Become aware of the presence of your breath.
Wherever there is breath,
There is life,
And as you feel into this connection to your breath,
Feel life moving through you,
Expanding and contracting.
Feel the constant pulsation of life.
The winter solstice is a celebration and honoring of this time of year,
The very peak of winter that brings the longest night and the shortest day.
Whilst there is still some time to go before the spring comes,
We look forward to the coming of the light,
Towards the light after the darkness.
It's a time of darkness contrast with a time of infinite potential,
But it's in this time of stillness,
Introspection,
And shadow that we must be willing to slow down,
To listen,
And see.
To clear out the old energetically,
Physically,
And emotionally.
To unveil the layers that hide our humanness from one another.
To reveal our vulnerability,
The nakedness of our innocent souls.
It's a time to cultivate trust in the powers of the unseen,
To surrender into the wisdom of the darkness,
And listen to the power of your own intuition.
It's an invitation to open to the deep vulnerability that births wisdom,
That births unwavering trust in the darkness,
In the shadow,
And the mystery.
As you anchor into your breath,
Allow this to bring you to a different state of inner listening,
Turning inwards away from the world,
And imagine every cell in your body could listen to the non-verbal sensory world that lies within.
The world of sensation and emotion.
As you deepen into your breath and turn up the listening quality of your body,
The mind quietens.
Allow your breath to anchor you into a receptive,
Deep,
Listening state.
All your attention absorbed inwards,
Towards the beauty and mystery of the darkness.
Notice the earth beneath you,
Supporting you,
Holding you in its steady embrace.
The more you can connect to the feeling of being supported by the earth,
The more spaciousness you can experience.
Space to feel.
Space to be.
Feeling space within you as your breath expands and contracts the inner fabric of your being.
Feel the space around you.
Notice what is moving and changing within you.
Now turn your attention towards the darkness within you,
Towards the shadow,
Perhaps a part of you that you've been resisting being with,
Of seeing,
Of hearing,
Of validating.
Perhaps it's a sensation or maybe an emotion.
Can you be with that now?
Notice its color.
Notice its texture.
Notice where it resides in your body and just simply bring your awareness to this experience.
Now,
Using one or both hands,
I invite you to explore this sensation or emotion in your body.
Imagine you are visually explaining,
Using the movement of your hand,
How this expression is within you.
So your hand or hands become a living,
Moving,
Evolving expression of what you experience within.
Maybe your hand scrunches up into a tight fist.
Maybe it's moving smoothly or maybe it's moving erratically.
Maybe the movements are small.
Maybe the movements are big.
Stay present to the internal experience and allow itself to express through your hands.
Allow it to evolve,
To morph,
To express.
It doesn't need to make sense.
You don't need to analyze if you're doing it right or wrong.
You simply cannot do it wrong.
Allow yourself to breathe.
Feel the ground beneath you,
Supporting you.
Stay with this expression.
This part of you that perhaps has not been seen,
Has not been validated,
Has not been experienced in the way that it is right now.
Feel the ground beneath you,
Supporting you,
Holding you.
If other parts of the body want to move along too,
Just allow for this.
See if you can follow this thread of experience.
If sounds want to come,
Allow them to come.
If tears or other expressions of emotion want to flow,
Allow it.
This space is yours.
Perhaps this part of you that you're expressing has been lying dormant,
Unheard.
Can you now allow it to be witnessed,
To be seen.
Keep tracking this sensation or emotion in your body.
Allow your hand to be an extension of this experience,
Being its voice,
Its expression outside of your body.
True healing comes not from suppression,
But from bringing what has been sat dormant in the darkness into the light of our own awareness.
Now,
Slow this expression down.
Notice what arises.
Stay present,
Meeting this part of you in its darkest depths as you gently guide it out to the light of your awareness.
Your experience is valid.
Without wishing this experience to be different or to disappear,
Can you simply allow it to be seen,
To be witnessed,
To experience the full presence of your awareness.
Breathe.
Notice any emotions that have risen up to be felt.
Allow this to be felt,
To be expressed.
And as you stay present to this,
Notice what else is arising.
Maybe there are memories,
Words,
Sounds,
Images,
Colors,
Textures.
Any wisdom that is arising for this journey ahead.
If nothing else is coming up,
That's okay.
You cannot do this practice wrong.
Now begin to slow this practice down and down until you can just feel a gentle pulsation through the fabric of your being.
Notice.
Be receptive to what wants to arise through you.
Feel your connection to the earth.
Feel your connection to the breath.
And as we draw to the end of this practice,
I honor you for walking this brave journey through the dark inner worlds of your shadow.
Take some time to gently transition out of this practice.
Maybe by taking a few deep breaths.
Maybe gently wrapping your arms around yourself in a loving embrace.
Feeling your feet on the earth.
And when you're ready,
Taking out your journal,
If you have it to hand,
And spend some time reflecting on what arose.
And know that you can keep returning to this practice whenever you need the guidance to meet the wisdom of your shadow.
