Anna-Belle, my New York rent-a-friend, asked me to go to a Solstice Meditation with her one night.
I said ‘no’ at first. I mean, I’m in New York.
Do I really want to go sit in a ‘salt cave’ (???) with other people and meditate for 90 minutes?
As it turns out? Yes.
Because out of nowhere, I change my mind the day of the event.
I text Anna-Belle if she thinks I can still come, she signs me up, and at 7PM I walk into the Salt Cave.
Which is a thing. The Salt Cave is a room in the Breathe Easy Spa in Manhattan, where the floor is Himalayan Salt gravel and the ventilation system circulates salty air. When I lick my lips they taste like salt and my hands feel rough after I leave – like I’ve been at the beach all day.
People meditate, do yoga and chakra healings in the Salt Cave.
This meditation session we’ll be doing is a special event, because of the solstice.
I learn that a solstice is an astronomical event where the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky from the Earth’s perspective, and (New) New Age believes the winter solstice is a good, powerful point to use for meditating and ‘the shift from dark to light’.
From left to right, Love Alchemist Diya SenGupta, Rockstar Shaman Alyson Charles, Self Help Weirdo and Anna-Belle Buyse.
When Anna-Belle and I walk in, the two women who organise this event, Alyson and Diya, are sitting on a yoga mat. I introduce myself and Alyson goes “Hi! I like hugs!” and envelops me in an embrace. I instantly like her: She reminds me of Superwoman with her sincerity and her sense of humor. Diya bounces around offering us peppermint oil.
NEW NEW AGE These, dear readers, are the embodiment of New New Age Women.
The young generation of women that is into healing, energy and spirituality while looking flawless on Instagram and being entrepreneurs of some sort. They’re not just beautiful, they have that real, genuine sincerity. They’re radiant, and their energy is just unadulterated joy and peace. I love these type of women (when it’s real).
Confession: Underneath all the cynical comedy bullshit, I’m actually a lot like these women. I hide it well, under layers of scepticism, but I dig this. This is totally my type of gig.
I trust energy, vibes, my intuition. I like yoga and meditation because it connects me to my Higher Self. I believe in a bunch of woo-woo shit. I did not get my Reiki 1 because I didn’t have anything better to do.
And I believe connecting to yourself and Whatever Else You Might Believe In can be a powerful aid in self development, inner peace and happiness. And to be perfectly honest with you, being the sceptic realist has done me no favours whatsoever in those areas.
Being the open-minded idiot who is into energy and intuition, however, has been insightful. And I have missed that part of myself. One of my resolutions was actually to get more in touch with that Hippie Side of me.
Which is how I end up here, in this meditation.
Before we start, Alyson introduces the meditation. She says “tonight is about truth, forgiveness and letting go” I believe you can never have too much of those things, so I’m all for it. “You’ve got to be willing to see the truth, and be willing to let go of things from your past, so try to be willing, here, now.” Well, okay.
THE MEDITATION Diya guides the meditation, but Alyson walks around with some shaman-instruments, and she lets the energy of the room guide her in her Spotify choices*. She switches between tribal-type music to ethereal, to somewhat poppy upbeat tracks. She occasionally ad-libs onto what Diya is saying, encouraging us to ‘really feel this’, or ‘really let go’.
Alyson’s music choices are on point as Diya first brings us into a meditative state, and then guides us through our chakra system, connecting us both to the earth as to the Higher Energy.
I withdraw into myself, listening to Diya’s words. Occasionally I feel Alyson near me. The wave of her energy occasionally helps me get deeper into the meditation.
I’m sitting there, cross-legged, and I ‘connect’ to whatever chakra and energy Diya tells me to. I have some experience with chakra healing (and if nothing else I think they at least are a very beautiful representation of energy centres in our body and certain elements of ourselves). This type of guided meditation works really well for me.
When we get to the heart chakra, and we’re told to forgive and let go. I cry. I let go of some of the pain I have unconsciously been carrying around still. When we get to the throat chakra, I suddenly think in crystal clear sentences what I felt unsettled about the past year, but never was able to put into words.
When we come out of the meditation, I feel calm, settled into myself but I still need to process what we just did, but I am happy I underwent the experience. Everyone in the room looks the way I’m feeling. Content, calm and still a bit introverted. Diya and Alyson take the time to thank us, and I hug the both of them when I leave. I tell Alyson to come to the Netherlands to do some events here.
BETTER FOR IT This meditation session was over a month ago now, and writing this blog makes me realise once again how good it was for me.
For starters, I’m very thankful still for those 90 (!) minutes of guided meditation. Not because the amount of time you’re able to do it matters, but because it was 90 minutes of pure introspection soul-connecting. That was a gift.
Additionally, I think it did help me to let some of my shit go. It’s so easy to get stuck in certain thought patterns or vicious cycles of emotions, and by really connecting to yourself like this, you see more of it, and can let go of it.
Finally, I actually meditate nowadays. I do a chakra-centered type meditation session about once a week, and I really like it. Using a guided meditation on YouTube or Spotify, I meditate while putting my hands on the different chakras. It helps me relax and go to sleep.
IN CONCLUSION I really liked the solstice meditation and I feel like I’m still reaping the benefits of it. Even with a pretty hectic month, I do feel more solid, more in touch with myself and others, and overall happier and more relaxed. I’ve also rediscovered chakra healing and meditation and have been working with that ever since.
If you’re open to this type of thing, and my blog post sparks an interest in you, do something with it, okay?
Do some research and see if there’s anything out there you’d be interested in. Whether it’s just a Chakra Realignment meditation from YouTube, a study session on the different chakras or a full blown chakra healing, maybe give it a go.
Okay, enough of this, back to the real world. Later dudes, love you.
*I’m sorry, but isn’t letting the ENERGY IN THE ROOM guide your SPOTIFY choices just the most New New Age thing you’ve ever heard? Love it.
What an amazing experience! I was wondering if you could share the spotify lists you use for meditation. Thank you so much.
Hi Claudio, putting them up Sunday! Stay tuned, x
Thanks so much!
Can we find something like this in NL pretty please?
I’d like to know as well :D.
I also want to know where in NL this is possible!
Laaaadies, apparently Balanzs The Hague does a Chakra Workshop but that’s the closest thing I’ve found so far. Will try to find more!
Ooh that Chakra Workshop looks really good, I think it’s the perfect gift for my boyfriend.. Thanks for the tip, I was looking for something just like this!
Sure thing! (And how cool your boyfriend is into that stuff!)
Klinkt als een mooie ervaring! Mooi beschreven ook.
De chakra en geleide meditaties zijn me bekend, maar deze vorm van meditatie kende ik niet! Ben nu wel erg benieuwd 🙂 Ken je meer van dit soort plekken?
Nog niet, maar vraag het me over een paar maanden nog eens!
Hee, wat een leuke post. Je hebt gelijk dat je vaak nogal sceptisch over dit soort dingen schrijft (en die neiging herken ik bij mezelf) maar nu ben je opener en misschien zelfs minder bevooroordeeld. Inspirerend vind ik dat, dankjewel.
Jaa, scepticisme is goed maar met dit soort individuele good-for-the-soul dingen is openstaan veel beter. 🙂 Liefs!
Such an honest post, thank you for letting your guard down. I love reading your experience.
As a fellow MSc I definitely recognize your natural skepticism towards these woo-woo style practices, but I also know that getting over yourself and just trying it can make you feel so much better. Thanks for sharing, girl!
Also, I agree with all of the above, let us know when you hear of something like this in NL! I’ll let you know when I find something, too 😉
I’m going to a Chakra Workshop in the Hague in March!