Jan 4
January can be a funny month. There’s an odd contradiction between the cultural energy of a new beginning, and the seasonal energy of not much happening: spring is still a long way off, January is definitely still winter in the natural world, and it’s the last time of year that I feel like eating salad or getting up early to meditate.
The winter solstice will occur soon, marking the beginning of ‘astronomical’ winter. Solstice means ‘sun standing still’, and one of the ways I like to mark it is by finding some stillness myself.
In the indigenous tradition of the UK, the end of October marks the end of the agricultural year, and the start of November is actually the beginning of the new year: darkness is the beginning of a new cycle, and it is from the darkness that light emerges. It seems fitting that, within this space of generative darkness, I can see several ways that I’m settling deeper into where I am (rather than trying to get somewhere else).
I can get a bit squirmy around the idea of joy, because - like anger - it is a very powerful energy. But through befriending the energy of anger, the door has also been opened to allow the energy of joy to flow more freely.
My meditation practice changed a lot during lockdown. Some of the things that used to encourage me to practice had shifted, and I was given the space to notice that.
Sheila Bayliss 