Welcome,
I invite you to take a comfortable seat for this journey to celebrate and acknowledge this turning point in the year.
This is an opportunity to honour and recognise the beauty of the autumn equinox.
So take your time to find your comfortable seated place,
Whether that is in a chair or upon cushions or sitting up in bed.
You may,
If you like,
Take some time to acknowledge this time as special,
Whether that means lighting a candle or some incense.
This will also be a time of reflection for us,
So if you would like to gather a pen and paper to have nearby,
Perhaps at the end of our journey,
You may write down any thoughts or ideas that came to you.
And as you get comfortable,
I invite you to close the eyes and as always a chance to breathe deep and to settle into our place of stillness.
Notice perhaps as we settle here,
The support of the earth below you,
The space of the sky above you.
Perhaps below you is first cushions or blankets,
Then carpet,
Down through foundations of homes,
And beneath that earth,
Rock and root,
All doing their part to support you.
Visualise all that supports you.
Now visualise the sky above you,
Clouds,
Air,
Light,
Birds,
And further up perhaps into atmosphere,
Sun,
Moon and stars.
Visualise your peaceful point between earth and sky in this still point of the equinox,
Equal day and equal night.
Your support from below,
Foundations,
Roots and earth,
An expanse of sky and air,
To move and grow into.
In the sweep of the sky above us,
Reaching from horizon to horizon,
In that great curving sweep of sky,
This is your hemisphere,
Your half of the globe.
The equinox arrives,
A perfect point of balance and an invitation to pause before we tip over into the darker half of the year,
And an invitation to find joy and gratitude within this darker half of the year.
Perhaps this time invites more cosy evenings in with friends when it's raining outside,
Or perhaps cold weather sees a chance to look forward to sumptuous meals,
Seasonal holidays,
Or watching as the natural world around you changes.
Take some time here if you wish to visualise what you are looking forward to as we journey into autumn and winter,
The longer nights that encourage us to seek cosiness and warmth,
And coming together around sparkling lights and loved ones,
Here at the autumn equinox.
Perhaps you may envisage the sun setting in glorious golden colours.
This can be a time of farewells,
But also of gratitude,
A time where we may explore settling into rest,
However that may look in your busy life.
Imagine yourself now at a point of threshold.
You might envisage a bridge or a path,
A doorway or gateway of some kind.
As we come to the equinox we find ourselves at a liminal point,
A chance to look back from where you have been,
All that has led you here and all that you have learned,
And then onwards,
Onwards to your next steps into the next half of the year.
Take your time to see your journey and your path,
However it may arise for you.
What may you let go of to lighten your load and ease your journey?
What may you be seeking in your next steps?
Take your time to sit here with your ideas and breath,
Breathing in and breathing out,
The rise and fall of breath,
Two equal moments of inhale and exhale,
Two halves of the year,
Autumn and winter,
Spring and summer,
Dark and light,
Rising and falling.
All things can find balance as we journey through each rise and each fall,
Each half of the year and the magic that might be found within it.
As we come to the end of this journey,
This short time of reflection,
I invite you to take as long as you need.
You might wish to take a further few minutes to reflect,
Or perhaps you would like to take some time to write or make notes on anything that this little meditation has brought up for you,
And just whenever you feel ready to do so,
I invite you to take some deeper breaths,
Perhaps take a stretch or a wiggle,
And when you are ready,
You may open the eyes and return to the room and to this special day or special night of the equinox or any time around this point,
For with every day we have a chance to reflect,
To look back on where we've been and look forward to where we're going,
And I hope that your equinox is one where you might find a certain balance and peace,
And I thank you so much for joining me.
I will bid you farewell,
And I look forward to journeying with you again soon.
Farewell for now.
