A heart-felt gift for you
Moving With Stillness - An Audio Meditation
Celtic Wheel Series #2: Moving With Stillness
This is a 4-minute read, which gives background to the audio-recorded medtation below. I also adapted the words of a well-known Christmas Carol to enjoy as a sort of lullaby with the meditation (text and audio below).
The Celtic Wheel turned to Solstice during the night of 21st December.* This is the time when we are as deep as we can be in the territory of the Cailleach - see The Magic of the Cailleach and Surrendering to the Cailleach . The stillness was palpable as I star-gazed and meditated by the fire. While absorbing the quality of its energy, I remembered that the art of meditation is in finding the still point amidst the swirling chaos of life.
As the light increases incrementally each day from now until Summer Solstice and January brings a return to ‘busy-ness’ in the world of things, it is easy to forget that we are, for another while yet, in the dark season of Winter, until Spring shoots begin to emerge. In the same way as the natural world needs rest to re-store energy during this time, so it is with us.
The meditation I offer here (audio below), is intended as a guide back to the still point that always exists in you, no matter the circumstances or busy-ness of your life. It is as much a gift from you to yourself as it is a gift from me to you because only you can give yourself the 10 minutes’ pause, any time you choose, to go there.
Of course, there is no ‘pause’ button for life and life is never truly still - there is always movement. If we pay attention though, really pay attention, we may become aware of the spaces in-between. This is where we find peace.
When we rest in a meditative state, the body may appear to be un-moving from the outside, yet, the heart still beats, the blood still flows, as long as there is breath. Internally, if we pay close attention to this never-ending movement, it is possible to observe a barely perceptible pause, an ellipsis of sorts, at the end of the inhale and at the end of the exhale.
The heart is often referred to as our centre. Perhaps this is because our hearts are always in tune with our internal life, responding as they do to our moment-to-moment experience. Surely then, to know how we are in any given moment, and to know who we are when our ‘story’ fades into the background; our immutable, un-changing, never-ending essence; we must tune in to our own internal beat.
I recommend lying down for this mediation but you may wish to sit, either on a cushion or a chair. Whichever position you choose, take the time to make sure you are warm and comfortable, so that you benefit as much as possible. Know also, that if your body needs to move during the meditation, follow its lead, as always….
*The word ‘solstice’, literally translated, means ‘sun-stop’ or ‘an ghrian stad’, as gaeilge. To the eyes of the ancients, the solstices, were the two points of the year, mid-Summer and mid-Winter, where the sun appeared to stop for a few days on its path. Thus, each solstice is regarded as a ‘still-point’.
In technical terms, it is either of the two moments in the year, when the sun’s apparent path is farthest north or south from Earth’s Equator. The term solstice is also used in reference to either of the two points of greatest deviation of the ecliptic - the sun’s apparent annual path - from the celestial equator. (Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica)
The Celtic Wheel (year) is divided into eight turns by the two solstices (mid-Summer & mid-Winter); the two equinoxes (equal day & night - March & September); then, by the four cross-quarter festivals marking the arrival of Winter, Spring, Summer & Autumn.
That was actually lovely Áine, thank you 😊🙏💓