solstices & equinoxes

If you wander into a Lighten Up meditation regularly enough you’re bound to hear me talk about the days of power called the Solstices and the Equinoxes. These transits come around every three months and they’re important opportunities that we all can take advantage of. The Spring Equinox is officially at 16:57 UTC which translates to 9:57 am Pacific time – but despite the fact that there’s a moment on the clock where the Equinox literally occurs, it’s actually good to recognize that, like any transit, the effects last for a significant period of time.

I talked about some of this in a post for the Summer Solstice back in 2012 (can you believe that much time has passed already?!?). All of that advice about using the day of power as a template for how you want every day to be is absolutely relevant for an equinox, too. Someone asked about the significance of the Spring Equinox at a Lighten Up class recently so I thought I’d share that today too.

The Spring and the Fall Equinox are complements to each other, in a different way than Winter and Summer Solstices are. Springtime is traditionally about rebirth and beginnings, right? It’s when farmers plant their crops (at least, we know that that’s true; probably not many of us are doing too many crop-plantings these days!). The Fall is when those crops are harvested. You can use that as a metaphor for any important project in your life: If it’s a big task that you want to commit to a six-month delivery on, then starting around the Spring Equinox can be awesome.

Of course, if you’re meditating, then many things can happen much more quickly than in six-month intervals! For example, if you decide you want to get a new job, you can make that decision and start putting things into place immediately – and set your intent to land in your fabulous new position by the Solstice. You certainly shouldn’t need a full six months to make something like that happen – especially not when you have the power of a daily meditation practice to fuel your life.

So while the Spring and the Fall Equinox are particular types of complements, they’re also both about balance, in different ways. Based on the position of the Earth in conjunction with the Sun, the equinoxes are when day and night are of equal length – or at least, pretty darned close (depending on literally where you’re located on the face of the planet). Today the sun came up at 7:11am and it will set at 7:20pm. The actual experience of daylight is different due to how light comes through the horizon and such (see wikipedia if you’re curious) but this balance of day/night is the definition of an equinox.

What does that mean for you?

Well, if “balance” is the theme of the day, then you can set things up to take advantage of that:

• Be sure to get up on time – don’t indulge in any “snooze-dance” on a special day like this
• That will give you the right setup for a good meditation in the morning
• Make a point of getting a workout in – exercise is very important for a spiritual practice
• Work on a task or deliverable that’s personally important to you – plan things out, commit to a new level of achievement, get the infrastructure in place for your next big achievement
• Put in your all at the office, and then schedule time for some fun in the evening – maybe go to a movie or have dinner with a friend

In other words, make it a Goldilocks day: Nothing too extreme, managing it all, with a focus on taking care of yourself in the just-right way.

If you’re reading this too late to take advantage of today’s Equinox, no worries! There’s always another day of power coming around the corner. Set your intent today for what you will accomplish tomorrow, and then work work work to make it happen!

The spiritual path is about empowerment, and then using that empowerment to make life better for yourself (and, eventually, learning how to give some of that goodness back to the world).

Happy Equinox!

Can you believe that Spring is here?!? Pretty amazing – and amazing is just the start of it! 2013 is already shaping up to be a fabulous year and we’re now one-quarter of the way into it. This is a great time to take stock of where you’re at. What type of goals did you set for yourself for the year? What type of successes have you already achieved?

If you’ve just added meditation as a foundational element in your life, then CONGRATULATIONS! That’s a remarkable vote of confidence that you’ve placed in yourself. Taking the time every day to do something this positive, this healthy, this life-affirming is a phenomenal way to make change happen in life. Good for you for getting started!

If you’ve let your meditation practice slip a little, then this is an ideal time to pick it up again. The extra energy available at the Equinox can jumpstart your practice and take you to a new level.

Don’t forget to celebrate your wins and fold that positivity into the next goal you set for yourself. You can climb the ladder of the natural transits of the year and re-create yourself into an entirely different – lighter, freer, happier – person! Focus your attention on the little things and set a goal for a big achievement you want to make, and see how your meditation can fuel your progress towards the top.

Have fun with it!

The winter solstice is one of the most amazing cycles. It”s a time when the earth pulls in and gathers her power, and the quiet available in the darkness can be used as a resource. When it’s cold outside, people tend to hold their energy in their bodies, which means it’s a little less crowded out in the world. And of course it’s the time when we celebrate the birth of an Enlightened being, plus we get the resetting of the calendar and the sense of renewal and opportunity that the New Year brings.

This steady ramping of energy is subtle but powerful. The days of the year seem to stream past and so quickly we find ourselves at year-end again, almost without noticing. One of the benefits of noting the equinoxes and solstices is it helps us to track the time, and these cycles can also be used for intentional progress on the path. As a time of power such as the winter solstice and turn-of-year approaches, you can make the most of it by increasing your efforts in your spiritual practice. If you are an irregular meditator, you can leverage the upcurrent by making meditation a part of every day. Even just 10or 15 minutes can make a difference, and if you do it every day it’s easier to continue doing it every day. If you’re already consistent in sitting to meditate then you can extend your sessions — you don’t have to overachieve this, adding just five more minutes can make a big difference.

The best way to make meditation a standard part of your life is by finding a group of like-minded seekers who are doing the same thing, and getting involved. If you”re attending a weekly meditation then you’re more likely to continue it on your own on the days in between.

Big change is possible this time of year. See what your life can become by adding – or expanding – some meditation to it!