This week the Auckland chapter of The Hatchery gathered to celebrate the winter solstice.

This weekend marks the shortest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere - the time when there is more dark than light.

Sometimes we can feel this in ourselves too.

A sense that something is shifting beneath the surface. A feeling of being more introspective, more inward. The knowing that an old chapter may be ending, even though we can't yet see what comes next.

Can you relate?

And this is why we gather together: to hold each other through the darker times, to share food, light candles and bring in the light.

The winter solstice invites us to slow down, go within and sit with the discomfort of the unknown.

It's a time of death, transition, transformation and rebirth.

Winter solstice (or Yule) is connected to the earth element - a time of year when we plant seeds, but they are so deeply buried we cannot yet see what is emerging. We only know that something is changing. It requires a great deal of trust to be in this space.

What I love about honouring the solstices is that they remind us that we are always in transition and nothing is static or permanent. We are always moving from season to season, both in the external world and within ourselves.

Yet so many of us try to hold on to versions of ourselves that no longer fit.

We cling to old identities, old roles and old ways of being because they feel familiar, even when we know we have outgrown them. Sometimes what we call feeling stuck is simply the discomfort of a transition that is already underway.

When we can't accept our own changing selves and let go of outdated aspects of who we are, this is when we suffer. We are being asked to release old identities, patterns and ways of being that no longer serve us.

I posed two questions to the group:

• What feels complete or is coming to a natural ending and is ready to be released?
• What light, ember or knowing is emerging for you?

In Buddhism, reflecting on the impermanence within and around us helps us appreciate what is here in this moment without becoming attached to it.

This reflection led me to revisit a workshop I taught inside The Hatchery called Creating From Your Impermanence.

It explores a simple but profound question:

What changes when we stop living as though we have unlimited time?

Through reflection, journalling and a guided meditation, it invites us to consider what truly matters, what we may be taking for granted and what we are being asked to let go of.

When we can appreciate the impermanence of life, we get to be in life in a deeper way. We get to feel the presence and beauty of the moment, of the people we love and the ever-changing essence of ourselves.

I hope you enjoy this offering.

PS: If you'd like to explore this further, I'd love you to join me for my upcoming free workshop, The Real Reason You Feel Stuck, Reactive and At Capacity. [REGISTER HERE]