Tag: meditation

Solstice and Meditation Pearls

This year the winter solstice is also World Meditation Day, thanks to the United Nations. Both events hold a reverence for our place in the Universe.

The solstice honors Earth’s axis slanting away from Sun, delivering the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere (reversed in the Southern Hemisphere) on December 21st. It is a long-celebrated event around the world. While the earliest solstice celebration is unknown, archeologists Peter Biehl and Francois Bertemes made a fascinating discovery in Germany in 2002. They excavated a 7,000-year-old enclosed circle near the Halle-Wittenberg University, finding that the Goseck Henge has two “gates.” These openings line up with the start of the summer and winter solstices. Might this be the world’s first solar observatory?

Other places are better known as solstice subscribers as they have impressive structures that frame Sun as it rises: Ireland’s Newgrange, England’s Stonehenge (on the same latitude as Goseck and nearly the same longitude), and Mexico’s Chichén Itzá. Each bears witness to how observant early people were about Earth’s rhythm of changing seasons. Celebrating winter solstice may have begun as a gratefulness for completed harvest time, making time for rest and reflection. Feasts often accompany solstice festivals.

Ancient Rome celebrated Saturnalia to honor the sun god Saturn with offerings and gift-giving. By the 1st century BCE this celebration morphed into week-long partying. Many believe that Saturnalia festivals set the stage for modern-day Christmas traditions of feasting, candle-lighting, and exchanging gifts.

Indigenous people in the U.S. also had early celebrations on winter solstice. Hopi Native People celebrated Kachina Season with ritual ceremonies and dancing. Kachina figures have been found on rock art from 1350 CE. There is a reverence for kachinas, symbolic protective spirits. Kachina dolls, symbolizing prayer wishes, are given as gifts to young girls.

World Meditation Day links with solstice traditions in terms of reverence for and celebration of life. This United-Nations-recognized global event received unanimous adoption in the General Assembly on 12-06-24. The 2025 theme embraces all people’s traditions and faiths: “Inner Peace, Global Harmony.” There is an emphasis on an individual’s stillness and mindfulness as ingredients that lead to compassion, mental wellness, and peaceful actions. Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to what is happening in the moment rather than focusing on fixing the past or fantasizing futures.

As a star-gazing fan, I applaud those who mindfully watched seasonal changes set to solstice times. And I embrace the global emphasis of World Meditation Day. As a daily meditator, I’d like to see meditation taught in our schools. Rather than waiting for behavior problems to crop up on the playground and in school hallways, why not be proactive and teach mindfulness practices to children and adolescents? Meditation, journaling, and focused mindfulness practices can transcend many differences among individuals.  

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

456. What does winter solstice mean to you?

457. How might you engage in mindfulness practices and create more inner peace for yourself?

Women and Well-being

Following last week’s blog, Men and Well-being, it seems appropriate to address women’s well-being. First, here is a 4-point working definition of well-being that is supported by neuroscience research from the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison:

  • Awareness: A heightened, flexible attentiveness to one’s environment and internal cues such as bodily sensations, thoughts and feelings.
  • Connection: A feeling of care and kinship toward other people that promotes supportive relationships through acknowledging and understanding another’s unique perspective.
  • Insight: A self-knowledge concerning how one’s emotions, thoughts and beliefs shape their experiences and sense of self.
  • Purpose: A keen understanding about one’s core values and deeper motivation to be capable of applying them in daily life.

Perhaps you know some women who embody these concepts. I know many women who are proficient in these ways of well-being. My theory about why this is so prevalent among women is that women are the ones who give birth to the future generation. Whether they have this opportunity or not, they often are responsible for educating precious children. These givers of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness need their own well-being honed to be capable of being positive role models in guiding youth.

It is a huge benefit that women have a good amount of the hormone and neurotransmitter, oxytocin, sometimes referred to as the “love hormone.” Men have less of this hormone gem, although they do possess oxytocin. Couples in the early stages of a romantic attachment have significantly higher levels of oxytocin than singles! Oxytocin is an arousal helper. Levels of the hormone spike both during and after sex. Hugs, physical touch and meaningful eye contact all release oxytocin.

Oxytocin is not just related to reproduction; it is involved in many of the positive emotions that we experience. Research suggests that men with higher-than-average oxytocin levels show greater empathy, trust, and attachment in their ongoing relationships. Oxytocin helps parents form lifelong bonds with their children. Oxytocin also is effective as a natural stress-reliever, as it can lower blood pressure and improve circulation. It has anti-inflammatory possibilities.

Overall, oxytocin is a hormone that helps one feel balanced. When oxytocin levels are low, there are noticeable effects in an individual that are troublesome – a low ability in relating to others, a reduced empathy range, and/or greater-than-average feelings of loneliness and anxiety.  Practices like meditation, deep breathing, and yoga can help release oxytocin.

There is a great need for all of us to awaken to our birthright of well-being. This is our time, this present time, to bond with one another. Our planet depends upon it. Our country depends upon it. Our communities depend upon it. Our families depend upon it. As ballerina and member of the Osage Nation, Maria Tallchief reminded, “Very often you are in the right place, at the right time, but you don’t know it.”

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

429. When are you aware of experiencing well-being?

430. What purpose might you fulfill today?        

Do Tigers Meditate?

Photo by Frida Lannerström on Unsplash [istock]

Cats, large and small, seem to have personalities just like people. Some cats are mostly wild things, while others have a Mother Theresa calming, quiet presence. But all of you cat lovers know how reflective-appearing your kitty can look (some of the time). Does your cat meditate? Do any animals meditate?

Dutch-American primatologist Frans de Waal and Canadian philosopher Evan Thompson have an interesting perspective in “Primates, Monks and the Mind: The Case of Empathy.” https://www.wisebrain.org/papers/EmpathyPrimates.pdf

Thompson admits that he does not know the developmental possibilities for contemplative mental ability in animals, although he made a compelling case for creatures showing “loving-kindness” in mother-offspring compassion witnessed across many species. His view is that it is impossible to study consciousness without addressing the use of empathy.

De Waal cited social relationships in not only primatology, but also in dogs (wolves) and dolphins. How often do dogs “sense” some sensitive emotion (energy) and come closer to announce, “I’m here for you?” The authors affirmed connectivity between animals. I can vouch for this. In my childhood we had two Weimaraner/Labrador dogs – Ike and Mamie. Guess who was President? When Mamie died, Ike never was quite the same animal. He languished. He grieved. Perhaps Ike and Mamie meditated together? They often appeared peaceful together. As brother and sister pups, they always hung out together. Their wolf ancestors hung out in packs so they could hunt big prey for mutual gain.

De Waal made the case that animals rarely kill another in their own species. Biologists argue that trying to kill is simply too dangerous for animals; de Waal proposed that it is mutual dependency that can hold aggression to some limits in animal world. He suggested, “You cannot wipe out groups in which your relatives live because from an evolutionary perspective that’s counterproductive.” Animals do fight with their own kind; in the case of primates, they make up afterward.

Whether we call it meditation or use another description, mammals appear to have times for quiet “reflection.”  Meditation in Primates Studies suggest that chimpanzees and orangutans do engage in meditative-like behaviors. They sit quietly for extended periods of time, open-eyed, and appear to show a relaxed awareness. Whether this is similar to meditation in humans is unresolved. Perhaps future research can determine how animal meditative-like behaviors compare to meditative brain states in humans.

One definition of meditation is the behavior of focusing on one thing, perhaps the breath, to the exclusion of everything else. Researchers find that some dogs and cats appear to show meditative-like behavior more than others. They find a cozy corner and stare into space. Do humans feel more relaxed when they see their kitty relax? Pets do teach humans many things. Perhaps they are mentors of meditation.

The practice for in-the-moment consciousness with empathy seems to escape too many humans. Yes, dear reader, it takes practice.

      Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

391. How often do you practice a meditative-like state?

392. What benefits do you notice when you consciously meditate?