How to Use Seasonal Meditation Questions

The seasonal meditation questions are a key component of the Seasonal Yoga approach. We use them every six weeks or so to correspond with the solstices, equinoxes, and seasonal transition points. The questions are a series of open inquiries that will help you do the following:

• Connect with the season you are in.
• Reflect on how you wish to use your energy and set your intentions for the coming season.
• Look back over the previous season, celebrating your successes and learning from the seeds that failed to germinate.
• Know when the best time is to plant seeds of intention and so giving them the best chance of growing and blossoming.
• Learn how to align your own energy with the prevalent energy of the season and know which time favours contemplation or action. Use your knowledge of the seasonal energy to balance periods of activity and rest.
• The meditation questions combined with a meditative approach will give you access to the deep wisdom of your subconscious mind.

By working with the meditation questions, you can become your own year-round life coach. By stopping every six weeks or so to use the meditation questions, you have a chance to review progress in all areas of your life, and if you have gone off track, you have the chance to correct yourself and get back on course again. I find using the meditation questions helps me to realise who and what are important to me and to direct my energy accordingly. 

Here's an example of some Summer Solstice meditation questions: 

• Who brings sunshine into my life and how do I show my gratitude to them for this?
  • Who lights my fire and who am I passionate about?
  • How will I go about spending time with them this summer?

My favourite way of working with the meditation questions is to combine them with a walking meditation. So, to do this I set my timer for 10 minutes, and then I walk and meditate upon the questions. I walk back and forth across the downstairs floor of my house, gently turning the meditation questions over in my mind. Then when my timer goes off, I make myself a cup of tea, and I sit down and write for 10-20 minutes, jotting down any insights I've gained from meditating upon the questions. 

You can also work with the meditation questions when you are outside on a walk, during a sitting meditation, or whilst holding a yoga pose. For those of you who are short of time, there are a few quick and easy ways of working with the questions. Simply read the meditation questions through before you go to bed and trust that your subconscious and universal conscious will come up with answers to the questions. You might also integrate one of the questions into an activity that you are doing anyway, such as walking to your car, walking along a corridor at work, exercising at the gym, jogging, showering, and so on. 

The seasonal meditation questions are an accessible way to begin your Seasonal Yoga journey. And if you commit to devoting some time to working with them every six weeks or so, your life will be enriched for it. Once you are in the habit of using them regularly, your life flows better, you’re well positioned to take advantage of opportunities that come your way, and you’ll find ways to make your dreams come true!

Full details of how to work with the Seasonal Meditation Questions can be found in the Yoga Through the Year book pages 13-19. 
See also: Seasonal Meditation Questions Summer, Recognise Your Losses and Celebrate Your Achievements