Think for a moment about what happens during the June solstice. In the northern hemisphere, it manifests as the longest day of the year, when there is the greatest amount of daylight. In the southern hemisphere, it’s the opposite – you have the shortest day of light.
This is like the yin and the yang of nature. In this case, the north is like the yang – the masculine, outward radiance of the greatest light. The south is like the yin – the feminine, inward retraction of light.
The Sacred Pause at the Turning Point
What is so special about this moment of the solstice? It represents a pause, just like the silent moment in our breath that exists between the inhale and the exhale. It is that quiet moment of peace, when nothing moves in the eternal stillness of Now.
If you think about your breath, you can see how that sacred moment in between breaths is the pause that happens just before you shift from inhaling to exhaling. It is the pause that happens when shifting from one cycle to the next. It is that moment of perfect balance.
The solstice mirrors our breath in this way. If you imagine the Earth’s pulse of day into night, or summer into winter, you can see the similarities. One cycle finishes, and another begins.
So the solstice is a special day for us, when it comes to our powerful connection to nature and our planet. No matter where you live, it is a day of completion of whatever current cycle our planet is in. In our human cases, it represents the completion of the current cycle in our lives. So this is a time to pause and reflect.
This is a moment when you can tune into your innermost self and find peace and balance. The balance occurs when you acknowledge the completion of where you’ve been, and then focus on your intention of where you want to go. This is a moment when you can feel the peace that occurs when you let go of the past (the exhale) and thus free yourself to welcome a fresh start in life (the inhale – just like breathing in some clean, fresh air).
A Simple Solstice Meditation
Take some time to try this simple solstice meditation. This is great to do on the solstice itself, but you can feel free to try it in the days before and after, too – or anytime you need a rebalancing reset.
Sit quietly and observe the motion of your breath. Then notice how it mimics the action of letting go of the old, and then opening up to receive something fresh and new.
Then expand on that principle by allowing yourself to feel the grace of releasing your past, and then opening your heart to a bright new future in front of you. Set your intention for a wonderful life ahead!