Balancing Solar and Lunar Energies

This Thursday is the Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year. For those living some distance from the equator, this is the maximum potency of solar energy. One may associate it energetically with the Full Moon, the height of a cycle and the most powerful expression. And yet, what we often see is that the trees, our gardens, and the animal life around us is just getting started. It finally feels like summer, and the harvest we associate with summer’s peak will not come for another 1-2 months. This is an important detail for understanding the effect of this energy: the metaphorical harvest is a release, that occurs after this fullness. The energy builds and can feel as if it is bursting from every pore, but the effects may not be known for some time.

Seeds take time to grow, feelings take time to unfold, and wisdom sometimes blooms in the dark.

Some of you know that I personally am not a fan of gender essentialist terminology applied to energy, even though of course those qualities exist. But solar (masculine) and lunar (feminine) capture it quite well and these terms eclipse (ha) the limitations of our bodily forms.

Solar energy and Lunar energy

Maybe some of you remember from a certain They Might be Giants song: “the Sun is a mass of incandescent gas, a gigantic nuclear furnace— where hydrogen is fused into helium at temperatures of millions of degrees.” Which is to say, the Sun is primarily elemental Fire, but also Air. In working with solar energy we have the metaphorical representations of the elements: transformation, the mind and its thoughts, lightness and free movement. The sun is a literal source of power, it generates and feeds, it facilitates growth, and it can also burn. We can engage directly, such as feeling the sunlight, or through visualizing the manifestations and effects of solar energy.

The moon is a satellite of our earth, and its beautiful light is created by sunlight reflecting off the moon’s surface. One side of the moon never faces the sun, and the other side casts its glow in ever shifting shapes caused by the shadow of the earth, creating the lunar cycles.
As the light is reflected the moon imbues it with new qualities. The tone shifts from warm to cool, from yellow/orange to gray/blue. The gravity of the moon moves and pulls the water of our earth and the water of our bodies. We may feel emotions heightened, and also guided in the dark. The elemental qualities of Water and Earth provide their own form of transformation: steadiness within movement, emotions revealed and released, continued change over time, and renewal/rebirth.

Far from passive, the moon reminds us that reflections are powerful medicine, sometimes we need them to see what cannot be perceived directly.

The complimentary qualities of solar and lunar can be seen best in their relationship to each other:

I could go on! Within these representations, we have all the qualities of (re)calibration available to us. But let me speak to one of them just a little more…

Hemispheres of the body
A recent experiment in hemispheric work, that began with a meditation repeated over about 5 months with Tracee Stanley, was actually the whole inspiration for the upcoming Rinse & Repeat theme. (With my own personal twist).

Working with sides of the body is a powerful way to move energy and ride the current of lunar and solar qualities. When paired with the breath we can experience surprising shifts and new awareness of ourselves.
To my understanding, this is more of a Tantric practice than a Yoga Nidra practice, but one way of working with these qualities is moving the breath up the left side of the body on the inhale (lunar) and down the right side of the body on the exhale (solar). Alternate nostril breathing, with the third eye point as the fulcrum for this alternating flow of directional energy, is another later that can be added. Mantra can also be added. (Yes I will begin training soon, and some time in the future these practices will make their way into my offerings ).

But for now, I’ve been incorporating a visualization of the breath shifting from one side directly across to the other, as an extension of my energy practice and somatic practices from my workbook Inward Vision. I’ve found these to be quite potent, engaging the mind but allowing the body to become primary.
I encourage you to experiment with it yourself, and if you wish to be guided I’d be leading us through a series of practices on 6/21.

Our focus on the sensations of the body, and conscious movement of the breath, will prepare us to receive sound (and energy) through use of two beautiful gongs, chimes, ocean drum, and more.
This gathering takes place on day after Solstice and on the night of the Full Moon, we will begin in the light and end at dusk. It has been a long time since I’ve offered this group in-person and I’m really looking forward to being able to look around the room at each other. There just a few spots left, the info to register is below.

But if not this time around, I hope to connect with you soon! And I hope the healing potential of lunar and solar energy can be a support to you this week, as you navigate the ebbs and flows of all that you’re moving through.
Wishing you a vibrant, supportive, and enlivening Solstice.

Balancing Solar and Lunar Energies

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