We are fast approaching the Winter Solstice. It is that moment when the night is the longest night, and the day is the shortest day. As all of you know I enjoy being active and walking to the beach to watch the sunrise. However, I feel these long nights conspire against the walk. I remain tucked under the blankets getting more shut eye than I would normally tolerate. And this is because of yin/yang. The traditional definition is that yin is the dark side of the mountain and yang is the sunny side of the mountain.
The darkness and Yin requires that we retreat and become quiet and still. One makes an effort to conserve our energy for the cold nights and short days. I spoke with a friend in Alaska asking what time the dawn was there. What I heard was that a little after 9 am, they have light. I would remain in bed. It isn’t laziness at all. It is following something natural that tells us exactly what every moment requires from us. It is the darkness that allows you to sink into the pillow, forget the to-do lists, and know the peace of the dark.
What are the virtues of darkness? It is not forgetfulness. It is stillness. It is the possibility of reaching the expansive emptiness. When I studied with Jack Kornfield, he used to speak of one of his teachers saying empty, empty, happy, happy. I talk about that emptiness when teaching meditation, and it is a natural state of being in this moment of the long nights and in the movement of the earth.
What do we do with this time to make the most of it? As we celebrate this still point, we are in constant movement. Allow yourself to sink into it as you do in the pillow. Ride that wave of stillness. Explore it. As within the yin/yang symbol we remember that there is always light within the dark and dark within the light.
In the holiday celebrations, we light candles. Even in the darkness we will find the light within and see that it actually is constant movement. In celebration of the solstice, I will be offering an early Qigong class on Saturday the 21st at 8:30 AM. Contact me for the registration information. The actual moment of the Solstice is 4:00 AM on the east coast. We could of course get up then, but we won’t.
