Earlier in the autumn I had a request to work with the theme of darkness and light in a meditation session. We are now in the darkest time of the year leading up to the winter solstice and, as I write, the skies are darkening and it is wet and gloomy.
Many of us have old memories of our younger selves being frightened of the dark. One of my children had night time terrors. We tell each other myths and tales of dark and frightening beasts, of getting lost in dark woods or subterranean places; our dream world can offer up nightmares, and we often instinctively defend ourselves against what is invisible and unknown. In the world of news and geopolitics, we also hear of darkness and destruction, of enormous brutality and suffering and, but unlike the stories of our childhood, it can seem there is no Beauty to transform the beast into a prince.
A darkened room can, however, be soothing, important for recovery, a quiet space of temporary hibernation. We need the dark for proper sleep and rest: those deep, quiet, dark places resource us. Darkness can be a fertile space too: we grew in the hidden darkness of our mother’s body; seeds germinate in the darkness of the soil; trees, too, live both under and above ground.
In yoga practice, we attempt to reveal to ourselves what is hidden. The aim of much of our practice is to discover what is unconscious, invisible and unknown, and to connect to it by bringing it into the light of consciousness.
“Know thyself” advised the ancient Greeks. In the Baghavad Gita, we are given a route and a method: “Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self.”
In our asana work, the body is our gateway. We seek to uncover the places of unconscious tension, through sensitive movement practice, repeated carefully over time. These places of unconscious tension are where our history and habits are held. By learning to recognise our holding patterns, we make them visible and come to understand how we might release them. We feel more at home in our bodies as we learn to soften, and to move more freely and skilfully.
In meditation we use our capacity to enquire and reflect, to get to know ourselves more fully, and to grow in self-awareness. We venture into our inner world so that we can become more conscious of what is going on in the deeper layers of ourselves, beyond the rational mind and our material life.
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” Carl Jung.
In all yoga practice, self-awareness is the key. As we develop it, we (usually slowly) learn how the body, mind and emotions work, and how to deal with the challenges that arise. We are given maps to helps us navigate this inner landscape, techniques and methods we can use to journey inward, and guidance from those who have made the journey before.
Just as in our physical practice, we gradually get better at listening to our bodies, at understanding the language of sensory experience and trusting our own bodily wisdom; so in our meditation practice, we slowly learn to feel less afraid of the dark, to see the shadow self as a potential source of self-knowledge, and to tap into our innate wisdom.
To know the dark - Wendell Berry
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is travelled by dark feet and dark wings.