Winter Solstice & Death Meditation
Why would you want to meditate on your own death?
What is the significance of doing this practice around the winter solstice?
I will list a few benefits to this practice and then go into why it is important in the winter.
One reason why is to balance the root chakra energy which is all about survival. Unconsciously, we are running from a fear of death. Our actions and decisions can be based around this conscious or unconscious thought of, “I don’t want to die!” When we face our fear we start to overcome it. By looking at death in the face and recognizing it will happen as part of life the fear lessens.
Another reason to do a death meditation is to live more fully and freely in each moment. If we understand our own impermanence from an experiential standpoint then we increase our appreciation for life. Life starts to be more precious and we become even more focused on living in the present moment.
Another things I’ve noticed is we are available for family members and friends when they or someone they love is going through dying process. If we are still very afraid of our own death we are unable to show up to support others.
This happened when my favorite cousin past. He was not just a relative, he was my friend. I mourned at his funeral. I was very sad about his death, especially since he was so young. I trusted though in God’s timing and will. At the time I was studying self-ascension and there were articles about old souls who were young people leaving the planet so they could come back soon for the new age. I felt reassured in this.
Since his passing he will appear in my dreams and give me a hug and that also helps with the loss. I believe if I hadn’t done the work of coming to terms with the fact that I will die, maybe today tragically and maybe in the far off (or not so far off) future he wouldn’t feel comfortable turning up in my dreams and hugging me.
Since I have grown in my understanding of life and death and existence after death I prefer the word transition because that is how I see it. Our energy doesn’t just disappear forever, it transforms. This understanding also helps me. If you believe in heaven then you can also have a similar reassurance. Death is a transition out of a meat suit and into an energetic form.
There is death contemplation and meditation in many traditions. I first heard about it from a yogi who said he was a Buddhist practicing Christian. In the Christian tradition there is a Bible verse which I believe speaks to impermanence.
“As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.”
In the Buddhist tradition the practice is called Maraṇasati which means mindfulness of death or death awareness. The practice of remembering (frequently keeping in mind) that death can strike at anytime and we should practice assiduously with conscientious and with urgency in every moment, even in the time it takes to draw one breath. Essentially, Buddhists are encourage to think about death daily.
So why now? The winter solstice is a time signifying death and rebirth. It is about the finding the light within when it is the darkest outside. The veil between the worlds is thin at this time therefore it is an auspices time to consider death and the meaning of ones life.
Here is the meditation I led in 2020 on at the solstice if you would like to read it or record yourself reading it and listen to it. You can also use this for your clients or students, I would ask you let me know if you do!
Meditation on Death and Rebirth by Yogini Neve
Disclaimer: if you are anxious, depressed, or mentally unstable in anyway please do not practice this meditation.
Find a comfortable place to sit and let your eyes close. Relax.
Become aware of your breath.
Notice the natural inflow and the outflow of the breath. Without any effort body breathes itself.
Notice the fullness after the inhalation and the emptiness after the exhalation.
Bring your attention to the level of sensation. Feel this body you sit in. Let the body be still.
Focus on the sensation of being in a body; the meat suit. Notice the weight and heaviness of the body and the weight and heaviness of the head.
Feel how the skin feels, how the muscles feel, how the blood is moving. Notice your nervous system.
Allow yourself to feel the sensations of the physical body and the breath coming and going.
Now visualize yourself seasoned, aged, and feeling complete with your life’s purpose or dharma.
See yourself sitting, reviewing your will, finances, and how you would like your body to be taken care of after your death. Notice the emotions.
Now, visualize yourself walking around outside and seeing your favorite places in nature and you know you are seeing them for the last time.
Now visualize walking around your home and it is almost like you are whispering goodbye, seeing your possessions, furniture, pets, and it is as if they almost vanish once you gaze at them.
You go to your room and lay down. You see your loved ones appearing, family members and friends, one by one, you hug and kiss them and say goodbye. They know and you know your time is getting close.
Now you are having a harder time breathing deeply. You try to smile at your loved ones with the energy and strength you have left, but it seems they are fading away.
You know it is time for you to die and leave the physical body.
And you peacefully close your eyes.
You think, “this next breath could be my last breath.”
You whisper goodbye, to those who may be around you still and to the physical body, and you thank the body for all it has allowed you to experience.
You smell your lasts smells, you hear your last sounds from the room, you feel the sensations of the body one last time.
Your soul hears a distant sound.
With your last breath you release your soul from the body and it exits the body.
Notice from where and how the soul leaves the body.
Your light body is now separate from your physical body.
You are dead. Your body is dead.
You can still hear those around your body crying and grieving for you. You are no longer you, you are no longer there. There is no personality anymore.
You have transitioned. You see your old physical form lifeless, cold, void of energy.
Your light body ascends through dimensions of space and you arrive at a tunnel. Your light body walks into a greater light. You feel nothing.
You arrive in a familiar realm with other light beings. There is no time. There is no experience. There are no feelings.
You are here for a while bathed in light and peace.
Something shifts, you know your soul has signed a contract. You soul has chosen.
You walk through a door and down a familiar hallway of light.
Suddenly you are transported into a new space.
You are floating, you are safe, and you are warm. Your soul realizes you have sensation again. You realize you have a body, a small body. You hear a comforting pumping sound of a heartbeat.
Your soul hears a sound.
You have been reborn, or you are about to be! You go through a small uncomfortable tunnel and squeeze through a small space. You instantly forget your journey from life beyond human knowing.
Then you take your first breath and begin to cry.
You open your eyes and see blurry light. You have returned to a physical body. You are being held against another warm body.
You can feel and experience. Your soul smiles for it knows why you have returned to physical form.
When you are ready you can move slightly and come back to the room. You have died and been reborn.