As we arrive at the Winter Solstice, we find ourselves at a quiet threshold near the end of the Year of the Snake. This has been a cycle of inward transformation, where the snake sheds its skin in the dark, long before any outward movement or new expansion begins. In this pause, before the energy of the Horse arrives in 2026, we are invited to rest, to forgive, and to gently lay down old patterns and identities, trusting that what is true will remain.
I’m also feeling deeply excited to be offering a three-night retreat this winter in the beautiful Crestone Valley at Vajra Vidya Retreat Center, a place that is very special to me and profoundly supportive of deep practice. Doing a retreat in Crestone in the winter is such a gift. The stillness, space, and quiet support of the land create an ideal environment for deep practice, reflection, and rest. I hope you can join us!
Below, you’ll find details about the retreat, as well as a few songs and a poem that may support you in your own shedding, releasing, and healing. May the dark of solstice help you tend gently to whatever needs attention right now. Happy Holidays everyone!
Share Seeds of Light Elizabeth Astor
Upcoming Retreat
Dates: Thursday March 12th, 4:30pm through lunchtime/1:00pm on Sunday March 15th
Location: Vajra Vidya Retreat Center, Crestone, CO. 81131
This retreat is about bridging the worlds, learning how to walk in this life with an open heart and an awakening mind, living in harmony with what is, and gently bridging the gap between being an embodied human and a being of light and presence.
We will explore enjoying and caring for this raw and beautiful experience of being human, and arriving at the doorway of your own goodness and wellness from the inside of yourself.
It is about walking through the world with an upright presence and an open, tender heart, allowing kindness to move in and around you, and learning how to function as an open-hearted being in this world.
“One of the most calming and powerful actions you can take in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, sends up flares, builds signal fires, and helps proper matters catch fire.
To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times—to be fierce and to show mercy toward others—are acts of immense bravery and necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it.
There can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours—they are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here.”
Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Together, we will explore what it means to be a pillar of light in this world, a present, divine human being in this life, awakening your true presence, tending your human life, and shining from the inside out.
We will be held in a field of silence to support deep inward listening, with times for teachings, questions, and shared inquiry woven throughout the retreat.
“Wherever I stand, may I be the soul of that place.”
Rumi
Pricing:
$680 per person for private room with shared bath and 3 meals a day
$710 per person for private room with private bath and 3 meals a day
$545 per person for commuter option with 3 meals a day
$215 for zoom participants
Sliding Scale is available for those experiencing financial hardship. A limited number of reduced rate tickets are available to help make participation possible for this who might not otherwise be able to join.
Teacher: Elizabeth Astor, MSOM, LAc, CHom
Elizabeth’s teaching arises from the knowing that within each of us there is an indestructible light and loving awareness. Like a star burning at the center of our being, it is ever-present, unbreakable, and radiant with wholeness and love. There is nothing more precious than awakening to that truth and allowing the luminosity of the Divine and our true nature to permeate every aspect of our lives.
Elizabeth walks the path of a modern-day mystic, bringing her whole heart to spiritual practice, teaching, and mothering her two daughters. She works as a medical intuitive, Akashic Records consultant, licensed acupuncturist, herbalist, homeopath, and mind-body-spirit specialist. With more than 20 years immersed in meditation practices and traditions from around the world—and over a year of her life dedicated to silent retreat—she holds a depth of wisdom rooted in direct experience.
Elizabeth was invited by her teacher, Sharon Landrith, to teach the path of meditation and awakening, and has been confirmed as a teacher in the lineage of Adyashanti. She now offers private one-on-one sessions, a monthly meditation group, retreats, and courses on meditation and intuition—spaces where sensitivity becomes strength, and the light within can be embodied in everyday life.
To learn more about Elizabeth, and her upcoming events, guided meditations, and teachings, click here.
This song is a beautiful reminder during this Solstice time, with nature’s invitation to slow down and turn inward.
This song is a powerful support in letting go as you shed any residue from the past year:
In honor of solstice, and this time of shedding all that does not serve our life going forward.
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When your eyes are tired the world is tired also. When your vision has gone, no part of the world can find you. Time to go into the dark where the night has eyes to recognize its own. There you can be sure you are not beyond love. The dark will be your home tonight. The night will give you a horizon further than you can see. You must learn one thing. The world was made to be free in. Give up all the other worlds except the one to which you belong. Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.
Seeds of Light is the blog of Elizabeth Astor, LAc, MSOM, CHom.
Visit www.elizabethastor.com to learn more about Elizabeth, and her upcoming events, guided meditations, and teachings.
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