Saving Daylight, Treasuring Darkness

Yesterday morning, when the time changed, I woke up at 4:15 and couldn't get back to sleep. I've been told that this time of the morning is another liminal time, an in-between time when we can be most receptive to spiritual work, so it was a good time for my daily meditation. I love this time of the morning, when the house is still and dark. L. and V. are still sleeping then, and I have a few moments to myself. Because the moon is in its waxing gibbous phase, it has been bright, and I've enjoyed its white light shining on me in the darkness. And with the weather finally feeling a bit cooler, I feel the presence of autumn, of the turning-inward time. What a magical time of year this is, always my favorite...until spring, that is.

This morning, I'm again up early, enjoying the stillness, the moonlight, the warmth from the heater. I appreciate having this darkness in which to turn inward, to check email, to blog, to enjoy my tea. This time allows me to care for myself while saving daylight for my family (and, yes, work too), and believe me, at eight-months old, V. really powers through the daylight hours. She's "on," full-blast, throughout the day, sometimes with hardly a nap for recharging. Sometimes before I get up in the morning I think about staying in bed, trying to charge myself up even more for the day ahead, but these dark hours are part of my energy source. As long as I've gone to bed early enough, I feel these hours are more beneficial to my well-being than extra sleep. And so I'll sign off now. It's time for meditation and asana...