Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice is upon us. I would have liked to have been able to share this day with a group yoga and meditation to harness the stillness that the Solstice brings. While it was not possible this time, I look forward to the opportunity to share the changing seasons with you once Siri Shakti Yoga classes resume. In lieu of being with you personally at this special time I would like to share a little about what Winter Solstice means to me.

Winter Solstice marks the day at which the sun reaches it’s lowest point in the sky. This day is the shortest, the night the longest for the year. According to pagan calendars Solstice marks the start of winter as the sun reaches a still point on it’s infinite journey. It also marks the start of the sun’s return as the days begin to lengthen.

The path of the sun to its highest and lowest is followed in many cultures, the changes brought by the seasons celebrated. It is, after all, the cycle of life. The stories about the change of seasons often speak of a kind of death that befalls the earth at this time of year. The world is then reborn as the light returns and spring brings new life. The darkness and death are necessary in order to complete the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth.

Throughout our lives we also experience this cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth. We see it in the world around us and also in the world within, as we continually grow and change. It is through the act of going within, of stepping into our own darkness, our stillness, that we are able to allow that which needs to pass, pass and make room for what is to be reborn. At this time of the year, when the light is at its lowest, the darkness provides a perfect opportunity to find that inner stillness. For it is only through going within that we are able to re-emerge into the light.

So it is that the end of the light, the darkest day of the year, is also the start of the journey back into the light. By taking the time to sit in our darkness we are able to open ourselves to the new possibilities and blessings that come with the re-emerging light. When we use the word guru we are saying that which brings us from darkness to light. The experience of the Winter Solstice is the experience of guru, as the sun reaches it’s lowest point there is only one way to go, from the darkness into the light.

However you choose to celebrate Solstice, enjoy the prospect of coming into the light, revel in the peace of darkness so that you may shine. Today I am taking time to sit and to meditate in the stillness that is the Solstice. I feel an exciting year ahead and find it a blessing to be able to hold this space at this time, to hold the darkness so that the light, my true light may shine.

“Travel light, live light, be the light, spread the light” Yogi Bhajan

Happy Solstice everyone, may your own journey from the darkness to the light be filled with peace and Infinite joy.

Love, light and blessings

Sir Shakti