Category Archives: Meditation

Deep Water – The Midwinter Solstice

Meditation, Water Element, Winter Solstice, Yin, ,

deep waterToday marks the Winter Solstice in the southern hemisphere. It is the shortest day of the year; how short depends on how far you are from the Equator. Where I live near Adelaide there are 9 hours 48 minutes of daylight and 14 hours 12 minutes of darkness. From tomorrow the days begin to get longer and the nights shorter.

In the northern hemisphere, the Winter Solstice coincides with the celebration of Christmas which became conflated with previous pagan festivals that commemorated the depths of winter. Ancient stone circles such as Stonehenge were aligned to mark the winter and summer solstices, indicating the profound significance of these days. And in the Scandinavian and Germanic cultures the midwinter festival of Yule honoured the gods in order to protect the people from starvation through the depth of winter to come.

These days there are few at risk of starvation, but the observance of the deep winter continues strongly in the northern hemisphere where Christmastide contains within it the Yuletide of old. There is a celebration of the light within the darkness in the Yule log and  Christmas tree lights. There is an echo of the winter slaughter of animals and brewing of ale in the form of Christmas feasting. And there is the tribute to the power of the tribe in the gathering of friends and family on Christmas Day.

Yet here in the Australia, we are bereft of a celebration of winter. Our Christmas Day comes at the opposite end of the year, when the days are long and the temperatures high. How can we celebrate the depth of winter? Some people have inaugurated their own ‘Christmas in July’ as a way of reconnecting to this winter spirit.

In the Five Element model, the Winter Solstice is the seasonal manifestation of the Water Element. Water represents the deepest yin: dark, cold, moist, withdrawing, self-reflective. If we can align ourselves with these qualities at this time of year, we connect with the power of yin. The more we can go to these deep places within, the more we have access the gifts of Water: Knowing, Potential, Power, Stillness, Trust, Wisdom and Will.

Our culture is not very supportive of yin. And here in the southern hemisphere we don’t have a festival to celebrate the aspects of yin. So we need to create or own personal commemoration of the Winter Solstice. Over the next days, I invite you to spend more time resting, meditating, contemplating. Sit quietly by the fire; light the  room with candles; take solitary walks in nature; tuck up in bed early. Plumb the depths of your own Water within. Cultivating your yin qualities at this time of year will provide you with the resources and the resilience to sustain you through the yang half of the year which begins in spring.

winter solstice

Water Element Meditation Practice

Breathing, Kidney, Meditation, Water Element, , , ,

Last time I suggested a number ways that you can support the Water within. Here is a meditation practice that strongly invigorates Water by harvesting the Qi of the breath, storing it in the Kidneys and circulating it throughout the body.

Belly Breathing and Circulation Visualisation

Belly breathingThis meditation focuses on building the Qi in the belly centre and circulating that Qi around the Central Channel. It both cultivates and circulates Qi. The practice can be done alone or in a group. When done as a group meditation, the group field can powerfully strengthen the holding ground of Presence.

Find a comfortable sitting position. Bring your awareness to the hara, that place two fingers width below the navel and the same distance inside the body. Just notice the sensations in that area. Sensations of temperature or movement. Maybe there’s no sensation at all. Just notice what is there. Now as you breathe in, imagine you are drawing in the universal Qi, the heavenly Qi with your breath and bringing it down to that place in the belly. As you breathe out, imagine you are holding the energy that has been captured from the breath. Breathing in, drawing the Qi; breathing out, holding the Qi. Do this for a few minutes.

Now that the energy that has been gathered in the hara, allow it to fall like a slow waterfall downwards to the perineum, the soft place in the very floor of the pelvis. Then as you breathe in, imagine that the energy is being drawn up the spine and over the top of the head. As you breathe out, watch the energy move down the front of the body like a slow waterfall down to the perineum. Breathing in up the back and out down the front. You may see it as a ball of light, a ball of energy, maybe you feel it as a movement of energy, or maybe just watch and imagine in your mind that it is moving along that circuit. Do this for a few minutes.

As you finish the next cycle, bring your attention back to the hara and notice the sensations that are there now. Notice any changes in your body and mind.

When you are ready, open your eyes and come back into the room

If you do this daily throughout the winter, you will build a strong platform of strength and resilience that will power you through the spring and summer to come.

The Way of the Five Seasons

Book cover

 

The above is an extract from the the Water chapter of my latest book, “The Way of the Five Seasons”. You can purchase it now from Book Depository UK. For a signed copy, contact me at john@acupressure.com.au