Winter Solstice is the great stillness before the Sun's strength builds, and days grow longer. It can be a time to rest and reflect.
The light of the Sun begins a new solar cycle at Winter Solstice. The rays shine into the dark, and nurture the newborn life there to be cultivated. And this is mirrored in nature, as the seeds are buried in the darkness of the Earth, to emerge once again with the life-giving rays of the Sun.
In winter everything lies dormant in the silent earth, it is a sacred time of rest and reflection before the awakening and the slow build toward brighter days.
The energy of winter is that of going within. It's the fruitful darkness and silence out of which our soul's yearnings and new inspirations can eventually emerge. As we consciously link our awareness to nature's cycles, our understanding of our own personal growth cycles begin to deepen.
Why do we spend so much time suppressing and hiding our darkness? When negative emotions come up and we feel them, they're inconvenient, uncomfortable, or worse, we make ourselves wrong for feeling them.
When we fear our own darkness, we cut ourselves off from an essential source of our own personal power. The key is not in letting darkness overwhelm our lives and our thoughts but in understanding that darkness can be one of the greatest catalysts for personal growth and transformation.
By allowing ourselves to feel our emotions and experience our own darkness, the darkness itself can become the spiritual cradle into which our inner light and new life is born.
Allow your feelings to guide you because your feelings are your truth.
Although many of us hear the call of our inner desires and dreams, it is often difficult to find the path forward to our own awakening. Learning to explore deeply is opening to the ultimate possibility of your life. Your internal awakening opens the door to a truly unimaginable possibility.
The winter solstice is a time of quiet energy, where you get the opportunity to look within yourself and focus on what you want and need. It's a time to set goals and intentions for the coming year, to examine and let go of our past, and to make changes within ourselves. The solstice is essentially tied to a personal awakening.
The winter solstice can be about looking inward and getting rid of the past you don't need to hold onto.
Probably the most important spiritual meaning of the winter solstice is that this is a time meant to reflect and recreate yourself. Spend some time to light a candle, keep the lights off, and embrace the darkness.
Whatever you choose to do to mark the end of the year, the coming of the new, and the rebirth of the light— whether pausing in quiet reflection, or celebrating with community, know that all over our planet, there are many fires burning brightly!
Mauri Ora
Joanne Hakaraia-Olson xx
Keep an eye out for our new workshops we're currently promoting called 'Mirimiri the Rongoā Workshops'. The focus is on rongoā for the tinana and how it can be absorbed into the body through simple Mirimiri movements. Our hands are our tools for giving and receiving information and you will learn how to use your hands intuitively during the two day workshop.
There are a few spaces left in our Auckland workshop. Ōtaki workshop is open for registrations.
Love this and love the winter solstice for turning inwards for reflection and growth.