Hello and welcome.
In today's practice,
We're marking the spring equinox or astara,
A time when light and dark are again in balance and we feel the stirrings in the world around us.
Settle your body to a comfortable position,
Allow your eyes to softly close,
Maybe place your hands on your heart and your chest.
Feel your breath rise and fall beneath your hands.
Allow your breath to deepen,
Let's take a breath in together and exhale.
Begin to arrive,
Let your mind still and allow yourself to be here,
Now.
Astara is a time when the world rests in balance.
Light and dark meet as equals,
Neither pressing forward,
Neither pulling away.
This is the spring equinox,
The hinge of the year.
Let us journey together to mark this time.
Start to imagine yourself standing in a Scottish meadow at dawn.
Feel a slight breeze touch your face,
You can hear the tinkle of a stream in the distance.
The ground is damp beneath your feet,
Rich with thaw and promise.
There's a gentle mist rising slowly from the earth.
All around you,
The land is waking,
Not in haste,
But with quiet certainty.
Beneath the soil,
Roots stretch,
Seeds soften.
What was held in darkness now responds to the light.
What we have cherished and begun to consider in the dark months is now ready to be born.
As you breathe in,
Feel that same balance within you.
Rest and movement,
Release and becoming.
Stand fully present at this threshold.
Birdsong stirs around you,
Tentative and clear.
That distant burn runs freely now,
No longer held by frost.
The hills still carry winter's memory,
Yet green traces their edges.
Start to notice what is asking to grow within you.
Not what you should begin,
But what feels honest,
What feels alive,
What feels ready.
The equinox teaches us harmony and balance,
Not force.
Growth happens because conditions are right,
Not because it is demanded.
Stand here a while,
Balanced,
Rooted,
Open.
The land around you stands at the threshold.
Winter has loosened its grip,
But spring has not yet claimed dominion.
Light and dark face one another,
Equal,
Respectful,
And both necessary.
You start to walk a path through the meadow.
The ground is soft underfoot and ready for life to bloom from it.
Ahead,
You see her.
You've met Breed before.
She walks barefoot across the field,
Her cloak woven of green shoots and pale sunlight.
Where her feet touch the earth,
Life responds.
She carries no flame today,
But the fire has softened into warmth all around.
She turns to you,
Smiling.
This is the day of balance,
She says in a voice as clear as starlight.
The time of the light is now,
But we shouldn't forget what winter taught us.
Breed kneels,
Pressing her hands into the soil.
You feel it too,
The deep pulse of the earth waking.
What grows strongest,
She continues,
Is what honours its roots.
She invites you to do the same.
Place your hands on the ground now.
Feel your awareness sinking into your own foundation.
Your breath,
Your body,
Your presence.
Take a deep inhale in,
And slowly exhale to release.
From there,
Feel yourself rise.
Not away from the dark,
But with it beneath you.
The wind moves through the grass.
Birds lift into the sky,
Wheeling overhead.
Breed stands now in full light,
Yet you see her shadow resting clearly at her feet.
As you grow your intentions,
And begin to cultivate action,
She says,
Remember where they were born from.
Carry both light and dark forwards,
And you will walk wisely.
Slowly,
She steps back,
Her form becoming light,
Becoming land.
You remain,
Balanced,
Grounded.
Awake now,
Hands touching the soil,
Feeling that pulse of life beneath you.
What have you been cultivating over the darker months?
What will you nurture through the pulse of the earth and life?
Feel the energy of your desires flow from you into the ground,
Ready to be born,
Ready to grow.
When you are ready,
Rise.
Feel the ground strong beneath you.
Feel the light on your skin as the sun starts to rise.
And then begin to let the meadow go.
Return to your surroundings.
Allow your mind to release the vision,
And feel your senses ground you in your presence.
Take a deep breath in,
And slowly exhale.
As you blink your eyes open,
And let the practice go,
I hope you can find some stillness in the balance of Austara,
And that you carry forth your desires into action in the coming months.
Thank you for sharing this practice with me.
