Honor transformation with a chant to Shiva, the Lord of Darkness and Destruction, and sit in silence to contemplate the questions posed within.
You’re welcome to take the meditation seated or reclined.
Style: Meditation
Duration: 25-mins
Level: open
Props: block or cushion to sit on
Focus: the shadow, transformation, winter solstice
Location: Vancouver, BC
Intention:
To honor the darkness and all that is unseen, the shadow and the hidden aspects of ourselves that we may see and feel within.
The shadow is the unseen- it is what is felt or probing around the periphery of the light. It is the halo of darkness. Winter Solstice is the ultimate day of the shadow, it being the longest day of the year.
With everything new, including our lives and the chapter we are in, there must be an ending. Everything comes to an eventual close; all things must die and end in order for the next phase to start. Let us honor the destruction and the deaths we are experiencing to create time for closure. Sometimes, with the end of things, there is grief and sadness and a period for mourning. This is an important Sadhana to do in order to release what has occurred before we move forward into the uncertainty of what is to come.
Questions to Contemplate:
Pranayama:
Khumbaka (breath retention)
Do several cycles of this pranayama OR breath in and out for 4-counts if breath retention does not serve.
Benefits of Kumbhaka include:
Mantra:
jai shiva shankara boom boom hare hari
Meaning = to Shiva, the Divine power that brings about change and transformation.