As the year draws to an end, it is time to receive all the benefits of what it brought us. In yoga practice, the benefits of each session are received by lying down at the end in a profound state of rest. Now too, we can enter that state of relaxation and drink the nectar of the fruit of our journey this year. Ahhh

For many people this is a difficult time in which to find the space for relaxation and reflection. There may be the rush of preparing for festivities, people coming to stay, extra mouths to feed and excited children. Yet spiritual traditions from around the world honor the sacredness of this time of year. Contained within the outer excitement is an inner stillness that transcends time. The Solstice marks a brief moment of balance, when night and day are of equal length and the sun reaches its highest or lowest point. Those precious minutes of balance may be brief, yet they offer a doorway into timelessness. Our planet takes a deep breath and exhales in a long "Ahhhhhh". The Full Moon illuminates our inner vision. For us too, even if the moment we take to relax, breathe and reflect is brief, we can experience it as timeless and unlimited.

Ahhhhh, to receive the benefits.. what does that entail? This article carries specific suggestions that you can do in your own quiet time, or you can do while reading along. Allow your mind to gently review all that you have done this year, the places you have been, the milestones passed, the lessons learned, the people who came and the people who left. Watch, as in a movie, what has touched your life, what has had meaning, what rites of passage have come to pass. Notice any tendency to allocate incidents into "Good" and "Bad" categories, any tendency to judge and any tendency to welcome some things and resist others. Allow yourself to feel everything fully. In doing so you will allow the benefits to flow to you from everything that you have experienced, whatever it was.

This is a reminder of what you already know. This is a call to do what you already know to do. Remember to give thanks for everything that you have done, everyone you encountered, everything you experienced. Remember to breathe, breathe in the experience and breathe out, "Ahhhhhhh". Remember to give thanks even for your problems and your challenges. Those problems and challenges are the bearers of gifts, and feeling grateful can help you access the fullness of those gifts. If there are people to forgive, offer your forgiveness. If there are people to ask for forgiveness from, then now is the time. You can do this internally first, and then see if it is time to do it externally too. If you don't feel grateful but would like to, if you don't feel forgiving but would like to, then just say the words as best you can. They will create a pathway for the feelings to follow. If there's an area where you don't feel grateful at all, maybe angry or guilty or hurt or resentful, then allow yourself to experience the fullness of those feelings. Be authentic - it's an avenue for grace. The rawness and fullness of your emotions can set you free.

Take everything that this year brought you and bless it. Take everyone who came to you this year and bless them. Take everyone who left you this year and bless them. Bless all your teachers, all your friends, all your family. Bless everyone whose hand you touched, everyone you saw and felt, all the strangers you passed all year. Bless every photo you saw, every story you read, and every voice you heard. Bless the air you breathed, the water you drank, the food you ate, the earth you trod, the paths you walked. Bless the technology you used, the screen you are looking at, the transportation that carried you, the telephone signals. Bless everything and everyone that supported you being here, everything and everyone that impacted your life. Ahhhhhhhhhh..

Here at Moon Meditations we thank you for taking the time to read this message. Thank you for being with us, whether you are an old friend or a new one. We value your participation and honor our connectedness. We mean it. We breathe you in and share our journey with you. Ahhhh. Where we have been slow to respond to you, we apologize. Where we have been slow to post these articles, we apologize. Where we have offended you, we apologize. We bless you on your continued journey. We bless our journey together. Thank you for all the blessings you bring by being here at this special time and by shining your light. We all benefit from your presence.

Ahhhhhhh, we receive the blessings of all that you have brought us, the blessings of the community of lightworkers right here right now. Thank you, thank you, thank you.