Winter Solstice is an Optimal Time for Stillness
“The winter solstice marks the beginning of the return of Yang; a thunderclap shakes the sky”
Dongzhi yi yang lai fu shi, pili yisheng zhendong tian.
冬至一阳来复始，霹雳一声震动天。
~ Zhang Sanfeng’s Meditation Song 三丰打坐歌说
The winter solstice (dong zhi 冬至) marks a special point in the year: The days will start to get longer again, the sun will start to get stronger. Yin Qi has peaked and will now start to decline. Yang Qi will begin to emerge and grow. Neigong and neidan practice are concerned with accumulating Yang Qi in the body. This is considered an excellent time to practice stillness-based practices such as meditation (both specifically on the winter solstice day, as well as the few weeks preceding and following). There’s a saying, “冬至练一天，平时练半年” meaning, “a day of practice on the winter solstice is like a half year of practice during normal times.” This may be a bit exaggerated, but you get the point.
The winter solstice is the “midnight” of the year and corresponds to the character zi 子, the first of the earthly branches that were used in ancient China to describe cyclical time and applied to the daily cycle with each character representing a 2-hour time period. This is also represented by the Fu Hexagram ䷗ where a single yang (solid line) is beneath five yin (broken lines). The yin lines represent stillness and the yang line movement. Extreme yin gives birth to yang. Out of extreme stillness comes movement, energy. This is how neidan practice accesses pre-heaven Qi, Pure Yang and when phenomena like shenguang (神光) “the light of our spirit” begin to appear. Practicing at the zi point in the year makes it easier to resonate (感应) with the Original Yang Qi (元阳之气) in the environment.
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