Winter Solstice 2021“Inner peace is the key: if you have inner peace, the external problems do not affect your deep sense of peace and tranquility…without this inner peace, no matter how comfortable your life is materially, you may still be worried, disturbed, or unhappy because of circumstances.” Dalai Lama 

The Winter Solstice is a time to gently celebrate, then hibernate, rest and reflect on the year gone. A very gradual rebirth stirs as the light grows. Part of this process is what do we need to let go of spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically to become “lighter”, what seeds would we like to nurture, what future do we aspire to?What gifts can we exchange and share with others? This year is fuller than others with uncertainty; how can we nurture and stabilise ourselves internally? Old emotional triggers may appear over the next few days, weeks; they are being activated so that we can release them and develop/maintain that vital sense of inner peace as well as tranquility.

There is a feeling of working on what needs to change within ourselves before the Universe “makes us” when we are unprepared. Patience, including compassion for ourselves and others, is another key this Solstice. Reserving judgement until we have a clear sense of what exactly causes us disharmony/to be triggered  and what action do we need to take – remembering not to panic; there is time throughout this part of the solstice. After 1st February we will have greater understanding of  the options we have, together with a clearer understanding of what is truly our community.

What does leadership mean to you? It is a strong theme this Solstice. Are you easily influenced by others? Do you control by being stubborn, withdrawing, gaslighting, giving your power away? Have power over? Maybe this is about a harmonious form of leadership, being open minded, knowing when to be camouflaged, when to be visible, when a situation requires authentic team work, when internal work in solitude is required.

Challenges can be questioning personal loyalties (beliefs, ideals, opinions and people) which may be misguided, not wanting to check out what is real and applicable practically, caring too deeply as a form of avoidance, being ungrounded/accident prone because of preoccupation. It will be really helpful to strengthen our spiritual practices, keeping them simple in order to ensure that we use them daily, even hourly at times, as the energies around us may be turbulent at times. A reminder that the greatest darkness can hide in the light, and light can appear in the darkness. As the Dalai Lama also says “Compassion is the radicalism of our time” this includes forgiveness. Interestingly humour can be a great strategy in order to lighten up.

Finally whatever happens we are moving towards Spring and any personal work we undertake now will prepare for then. Breathe into your very bones anything that truly feeds your soul.