Solstice Poem

Solstice Poem by Margaret Atwood

This is the solstice, the still point

of the sun, its cusp and midnight,

the year’s threshold

and unlocking, where the past

lets go of and becomes the future;

the place of caught breath, the door

of a vanished house left ajar.

A simple meditation inspired by the Winter Solstice and Margaret Atwood’s Solstice Poem.

• Gently soften or close eyes. Give yourself time to settle into your body, and to release what has come to pass and is passing.
• Then begin to explore relaxing into spaciousness around you and within you. As you do, can you sense any points of stillness? If so, what do they feel like?
• Allowing yourself to be nourished by stillness, gently start to bring your natural breathing rhythm into awareness. Can you savor the top of your inhales, the cusps of your breath. May you also linger with the bottom of exhales, the midnights of your breath?
• Spend your final moments resting in harmony with the fertile darkness and quiet of winter, being receptive to sensing that which is becoming the future.

For a special 2020 Winter Solstice offering, check out Ritual. For seasonally inspired offerings head to classes. For more seasonal poems you might enjoy A Solstice Blessing by Pádraig Ó Tuama and  Winter’s Cloak by Joyce Rupp.