Winter Solstice and Yoga

The spectacular solstice sunrise I watched this week, jumped the queue and interrupted my intended “crucial ingredients for a more balanced life” blog post. (Perhaps that’s better suited to the New Year anyway, when we’re all determined and motivated, making resolutions for the year ahead…)

[youtube=http://youtu.be/1S6J6jWGeug]

I tend to think of the winter solstice and the end of the calendar year as a time for us to reflect on lessons learned, accept the year’s experiences as more threads to the tapestry of life, and leave behind what no longer serves us. It’s also a time to make room for the possibility of bright new beginnings, welcoming the sun back into our lives.

The solstice was a few days ago, but it’s not too late to feel the energy of the year coming to a close and take time to contemplate the year ahead – perhaps bringing these intentions and wishes into your meditation and physical yoga practice. I enjoyed this mindful yoga sequence on linking your yoga practice to the energy and intention of a winter solstice.

Celebrate the wonder of a beautiful new dawn!

[A wee note here … if you’re seeing strange adverts (nose and ear hair trimmers) in the space below, it’s because WordPress randomly displays these ads in return for my free blog space. I don’t make money from the ads and neither do I have a choice on what appears. Perhaps over time, the hair trimmers will be replaced by yoga mats and yoga books :-). ]