Imbolc is a great time to (re)start your Buddha Balance practice
I enjoy reading Rebecca Campbell’s spiritual articles. A blog post from her arrived in my inbox, this morning. I had to open it right away because it had a strange-sounding word in the title — Imbolc.
I found out that Feb 1 and 2 are celebrated as the Celtic Festival of Imbolc, in the Northern Hemisphere. It falls right in the middle of the Winter Solstice and the Spring Quinox. This is a time of great celestial and spiritual meaning in this ancient culture.
Imbolc is a time of budding and emerging — new ideas, new habits, new ways of being. It is celebrated as the day when light re-enters after the long, dark winters. It is when seeds within the earth begin to sprout, flowers within buds prepare to bloom and intentions within our hearts begin to take form for the outer world. It is when our deepest, truest, best version steps forth into the light a little bit more.
In essence, Imbolc is symbolic of the life force pushing up from the ground and forth into the world.
Vedic culture calls this life force Kundalini shakti. In that sense, this is the day when the longing to live becomes so unbearably strong in the tiny seedling that it pushes against its mighty mother, the Earth, and bursts forth into life against her gravitational pull.
As I enjoy deepening my Buddha Balance practice, I wonder which intentions within me are yearning to take form?
Which intentions are taking form for you?
Which intellectual children want to leave the nest of your heart and burst forth into the world on their own?
Which buds are eager to bloom?
Unless we reorient inwards and reclaim our mental centre of gravity, we will not know the answers to these questions.
Our mental centre is that space within, where our dual self ceases, even momentarily, and all that remains is a peaceful experience of the centre.
Unless we start our journey toward that space, we will not hear the soft rustle of petals that are beginning to open.
We will not recognise new habits that yearn to be formed.
We will not sense doors opening to a newer version of ourselves.
I invite you today, on this midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox, to birth a new habit — a practice of seeking an internal balance — Buddha Balance.
One that does not depend on the events of your life being desirable or less-than-desirable. One that does not tie itself up in outcomes.
One that is purely your choice, un-incentivized, un-nudged, un-manipulated in any way.
One where your free will is truly free.
It is my mission to bring back balance, five minutes at a time. To know more, explore my book, Buddha Balance Journal.
Join our community in collectively working through the journal, by showing up virtually, at Buddha Balance Club (coming up!)
