Category: ritualization

Happy Winter Solstice you!

Just as the Solstice Sun sets tonight, Saturn and Jupiter will form the mythical Star of Bethlehem, last seen in 1623, as they cross paths in the early sunset sky, followed by a meteor shower at night. Worth getting out in the cold to witness!

On each Solstice I make space to be with myself in nature and set intentions for the next half of my revolution around the Sun. It matters, read on to hear why.

This Winter Solstice closes out a big year, beginning an especially potent one, dissolving old forms and creating newness fueled by the fire 2020 lit in our hearts. It’s extra special to me because, this year, my intention includes helping you birth yours!

The keyword for this time is daring, and I am opening my most daring offering yet- a transformative community to heal and awaken together.

Murmurations- the next Transformational Group Intensive begins on January 28th.

In this 6 month journey, we will fly together to pave the path to your deepest intentions in a loving, conscious community.

In the last cohort I led, two people stopped smoking without actively pushing to do so! Such is the power of an intentional and loving group to heal.

And this course is all about that- coming together with intention and love, as one, tapping into intelligence bigger than each of us, amplifying the gifts we each bring, while healing our shadows.

In the last intensive, each of us asked ourselves: What is my deepest longing? What stands in my way? What stops me from unconditionally loving myself? What stops me from unconditionally loving others?

As we dropped our masks, allowing ourselves to see and be seen, as we invited our longings and resistances to be known, embraced and loved, magic happened. As we dared to name our deepest calling, and commit to our heart’s call, we embodied the intentions we had set in just 6 short weeks.

The next round goes for 6 months to anchor us through the passing trials of the pandemic and exploit the potency of this transformational time between the Winter and Summer Solstices.

If you’re longing to create change in your life, this may be just the time and place to heed that call.

The Solstice may seem like just another day for you, and beyond the cool physics of it, I too didn’t pay much attention to it for most of my life, until something in me shifted.

Let me tell you what makes the Solstice is so important to me now.

In my late 20’s, I noticed I craved time with the Sun and the Moon like people crave chocolate! As I began to honor my need for more time in nature, I noticed that my whole nervous system responded to the rhythms of the Sun and Moon.

If you pay attention, you’ll notice too.

I couldn’t deny what was happening outside me was reflected in my own neurophysiology!

A true skeptic, I started paying attention. I found clear patterns in my way of being- how I slept, how much, how much I ate, how talkative I felt, what I wanted to do with my day, actually were clearly reflected in the phases of the Moon. Then, I started seeing the bigger patterns through the year…how the Equinoxes and Solstices and the phases they ushered shifted my leanings.

At one point, I could tell the phase of the moon by sensing into my body and my energy when I woke up in the morning. In it I saw again a reflection of the Sanskrit mahavakya “Aham Bhramasmi.” I am the Universe, or, my identity is cosmic.

It is. And so is yours.

It was in those days that I realized the Solstice was significant. I could feel my energy build up as it approached, shift as it left. Every cell in my body knew something was about to change, and I could use it to my advantage to release, re-set and re-align.

Later I learned that the Solstice is a day that Yogis – those who aspire towards and embody the ultimate union, between the individual and the universal – recognize as a time of transition into enhanced receptivity of Grace for every body. All of creation comes together to enhance the light within us- and enlightenment becomes a heightened possibility.

All thresholds embody possibility, and the Winter Solstice marks the expansion of light on Earth. Where the Summer Solstice is the beginning of Dakshinayana, a time of purification and cultivation, the Winter Solstice is the beginning of Uttarayana, a time of heightened receptivity.

And because, as Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj said, “both astronomy and anatomy describe you,” if your inner landscape is releasing, re-setting and wanting new direction, know it’s because you are part of life’s great rhythm. 

Because you and I are the Earth, the changes out there are reflected within us- so the light expands inside us, just like it does outside.

That’s why it’s a good day to set intentions, and the keyword here is daring. And that’s why Murmurations is intentionally aligned between the Solstices- to mine the potential of this time.

Dare!

To declare how you want to be.
To channel your innermost fire.
To articulate your deepest desires.
To include all of creation in its fruition!

The time is now. The time is ripe.

If you forgot you can negotiate with the universe, let me remind you you can! And now is a good time to do begin.

Our intentions do exactly that.

So now my Solstice celebration includes going out at sunset to greet the Sun and the Moon, making a fire and reflecting on the year past. I thank the experiences I lived through for their teachings and release parts I don’t need on the journey ahead. Then, I open inner daring and set intentions for what I want to nurture in the year ahead, clearly, so all the forces that be, conscious and unconscious, know and align to my intent.

Knowing that the whole universe is listening, I invite it to participate in realizing my heart’s intention.

I hope you’ll pause and find your way of marking the moment and daring to dream big, because you know in your bones that holding back your heart isn’t why you’re here now or how you want to live.

Maybe you too can ask what are your deepest intentions? Even if you don’t know how you’ll get there, what do you long to create in your life?

If you are committed to your intentions and clearing the blocks that hinder your way, life will find a way to orchestrate their fruition. Having a mirror to reflect your truth, your beauty, your power, your shadow facilitates the journey, and getting there is more fun when we go together!

If you’re still reading, I hope you’ll join me and eleven courageous inner explorers in the six month sojourn through this sacred time, in Murmurations.

There are two cohorts forming and there is space for you…I am really excited about this one!

If it calls to you, let’s connect and see if it’s right for us to walk the path together. 

Enjoy the celestial celebration ahead!

with love and care,
Ishita