The Light Returns, Yule Celebrations, Full Moon, Abundance

Firstly I wanted to say thank you thank you thank you to everyone of you who has been with me throughout this year, reading my blogs, commenting and sharing your life, and supporting the Luna Rhythms Yoga offerings. I feel immense gratitude to you all and much love.

As we come to the end of the year, it is natural to look back and take a review of what has transpired. For me it’s been a rich experience of loss and abundance in equal measure. A deepening of the human heart, as only time, and experiences can so powerfully provide.

At times I have felt deflated, uninspired, anxious, lost and filled with grief. At other times filled with wonder, joy, excitement inspiration and peace. Throughout all these emotional states I always felt love surrounding me, and I know that the spiritual commitments I chose 20 years ago when I truly began the journey of awakening to my true nature, have supported me, held me and guided me through it all.

As we come together to celebrate the festivities this yuletide, may we all embrace the challenges and the joys with open arms, love and grace. May the love of our family and friends keep us uplifted, for it’s the relationships we share in this lifetime that are way more important than any material offerings, no matter how wonderful they are.

The Full Moon shines bright in Gemini this month, heralding in the yuletide festivities, and an opportunity to celebrate and give thanks to all of the gifts of abundance this year, with love in our hearts.

Try placing your hand on your heart centre and bow to you hands and say:

Thank you

Thank you to Life

Thank you for You

Thank you for Me

Thank you that I can say Thank you

Thank you for each and every encounter today

Thank for what is bitter or sweet for all are gifts for my growing

Thank you Life

Thank you

(Thank you words from Mooji)

Yule, or Winter Solstice, marks both the shortest day and the returning of the light. At the darkest point in the yearly cycle, when the sun is at its most southerly point and the days are shorter than the nights, we gather to celebrate the sun’s return. Because once the solstice has passed the days begin to lengthen again. Imperceptibly at first. First the sun will appear to stand still – rising and setting at the same time for three days during the solstice period (solstice comes from the Latin for ‘sun still’) – and then the imperceptible lengthening of the daylight will begin. Following Samhain’s death and entry into the great void, Yule brings rebirth and renewal.

Now is the time to gather with friends, in gratitude for all that has been accomplished and achieved through the turning of this cycle. One of the greatest gifts of Yule is the opportunity to look back on the previous cycle with a sense of completion and fulfilment whilst also looking forward to the coming cycle with intention and anticipation.

Exchanging gifts with one another; enjoying feasts and dancing; drinking mead, mulled wine, or warm spiced cider helps to bring warmth to this winter festival. Traditionally people would have gathered now before the snow set in to block the ways, or made their journey to sacred sites such as Stonehenge or New Grange in Ireland, which is aligned with the Winter Solstice sunrise.

You can create a sense of warmth by lighting a fire or candles. Candles bring a warm light to the darkness and winter is the perfect time to enjoy warm, scented baths with candlelight. Candlelight can create a meditative setting for your yoga practice, and by lighting a candle you are signalling your intention to attune to the light within.

Yule can be a challenging time for many people, and the Luna Rhythms Yoga practices for this season are designed to support the cultivation of internal light, playfulness and inner joy. 

Trataka, or candle-gazing, is a practice that can be used to cleanse your physical and spiritual eyes and turn your gaze within for meditation. Placing a candle at eye level, a little way away from you (about arm’s length) gaze at the candle with open, unblinking, eyes for as long as possible (or about one to three minutes). This will make your eyes water a little, bringing cleansing tears to wash them clean. When you are ready to close your eyes, focus your gaze – or drishti – inwardly on the inner flame that you will see at your eyebrow centre. Hold your attention on this inner flame for as long as you can, then open your eyes and repeat from the beginning. The whole practice can be done for three rounds. On completing the practice, sit quietly in meditation with inner awareness for a while. 

Benefits of trataka may include bringing clarity and brightness to your eyes, balancing your nervous system, and improving memory, concentration and willpower. It activates your third eye, or ajna chakra, and is a great preparation for meditation.

Trataka connects you to your own inner light at the centre of your being, the core of your heart, and can remind you to shine your light in the darkness.

How Luna Rhythms Yoga can support you through the season of Yule

At Luna Rhythms, our unique system of yoga integrated with the lunar cycles and solar seasons teaches techniques from the ancient yogic practices of asana, pranayama, mudra, bandha and mantra in alignment with the energies of the day, season and cycle. Yule can provide you with opportunities to cultivate your inner light to guide you through the winter darkness. 

Your inner light is the light of love.

You can connect with the light of love by calling the energy of Krishna into your heart. Chanting Krishna’s invocational mantra, Om Klim Krishnaya Nahama, energises the vibration of love, devotion and magnetic attraction at the root of your heart: the centre of your being. Dark blue like the solstice sky at night, Krishna in this manifestation is experienced as the all-loving force of attraction at the root of your own heart. Krishna embodies the spirit of playfulness as a reminder to soften your hard edges, guided by the magnetic joy that is always alive within you. 

Krishna’s dark blue aspect, the colour of the night sky, is also a reminder to go within while the earth and sun are in stillness – pausing at the end of their dance before it is time to begin again. 

Akasha Mudra – or, the gesture of infinite space – is a simple hand position that can connect you to the limitless emptiness of the void. Dwelling within the void of winter’s darkness, this mudra helps to connect you with a sense of inner spaciousness, vastness, openness and non-grasping. Benefits may include assisting inner balance, calming emotions, inducing a light trance and harmonizing brain activity. 

Practising Akasha Mudra can help to create an experience of connection between the individual and the whole, and enable you to embody feelings of wholeness and fulfilment from within. 

To practice this mudra, simply join the tip of your middle finger with the tip of your thumb on each hand. To make this a meditation, rest the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth just behind your front teeth and turn your gaze inward to ajna chakra, your third eye centre. Observe the flow of your breath.

Cultivating internal light, playfulness and inner joy during Yule can support you through this season’s long dark nights, serving as a reminder that these qualities are always present within you.

Asanas that open your chest and expand your heart, including Indudalasana (Crescent Moon side bend), Tarasana (Starlight pose with arms and legs extended), Virabhadrasana II (Warrior 2), and Trikonasana (Triangle pose), can also help to connect you with your inner light and joy. Try Natavarasana (Krishna’s Flute pose) to find your inner playfulness!

Each season at Luna Rhythms Yoga we practice a range of different techniques from the yogic tradition that enable us to embody and integrate the energies of that season in powerful and positive ways. We work with the monthly and daily rhythms of the moon cycle to give subtle nuance to those techniques, ensuring that our practice is always in alignment with exactly what we need when we need it.

Be Abundance 2022

Join me for a two hour workshop where I will share a 28 day abundance practice, that we can do together, welcoming in an incredible vibration to start the year.

We will work with the spirit and energy of Lakshmi, the Goddess of abundance, and visualise and call in the life of abundance we were born to experience.

This is an in person workshop at my house, but you can also join online if you are not local.

Book your spot here: https://app.moonclerk.com/pay/2u8hkkncz6z5

Lastly I wish you all love, peace and joy.

From my heart to yours

Diana

xxxxx