Soulful Lessons from 122 Days of Candle Meditation

Wild hearts and wonderful souls, it feels only right to pause and reflect here with you as I reach 122 days into my candle meditation practice. What began as a simple daily ritual has become one of the most grounding and revealing experiences of my year and tonight feels extra special.

Today is Friday the 2nd May, the 122nd day of 2025, and I find myself seated on the balcony of the Hilton Alexandria Corniche, overlooking the vast blue of the Mediterranean Sea. The hum of Alexandria surrounds me with traffic in the distance, soft waves lapping below, city lights flickering below me but my gaze is steady on the single candle flame dancing gently before me in the sea breeze.

As I breathed in this moment, I realised how deeply connected I have become to this practice.

My word of the year, IGNITE, feels more alive than ever tonight, in ways that I couldn’t have predicted. Candle meditation has become such a powerful part of my daily rhythm. Here I am—122 days in—and I can honestly say, it has awakened me.

One of the most unexpected gifts of this Middle Eastern adventure has been how often candles, flames and firelight have appeared along the way. Guiding me, grounding me, reminding me to pause. Whether dining by candlelight in Amman, walking past lantern-lit alleyways in Cairo, candles in churches, golden glows in temple corridors or holding the steady gaze of the powerful flame lifting a hot air balloon in Luxor—this practice has followed me. Or maybe, I have followed it.  

Day 119 felt especially magical as I found myself drawn to the flame of a hot air balloon over Luxor, rising above ancient lands with the fire that carried us into the sky. It was a powerful reminder that not all flames are meant to sit in stillness—some are meant to lift you higher than you ever imagined.

Let me share something I have come to know… Candle meditation isn’t just about the flame you can see. It’s about the flame within—the one that stays with you no matter where you are in the world or in your life. Tonight, on this balcony by the sea, I realised something deeper: the flame hasn’t been following me… I havebeen following it.

This practice has reminded me of a few things—and with every flame, a new lesson is revealed.

Lesson 1: The Flame Reflects My Energy

Some nights, the flame is steady and strong—burning tall and unwavering even as the world moves wildly around it. Other nights, it flickers, quivers, or dims, mirroring the movement within me—my thoughts, my emotions, the tender chaos I sometimes carry. Then there are nights when it barely stays lit at all, echoing the exhaustion in my body and spirit.

Just like the flame, I shift and change.

Just like the flame, you also shift and change.

This practice has taught me to meet myself exactly as I am—without forcing stillness or demanding perfection. Just presence. Just breath. Just grace.

What has your energy felt like lately—steady, restless, bright, or dim?
What would it feel like to simply witness it, without needing to fix it or change it?

Lesson 2: Presence in the Pause is Powerful

In a world constantly urging us to do more, be more and move faster, candle meditation gently slows me down. It invites me to rest in the space between breaths—that sacred pause where presence lives.

The flickering flame reminds me to breathe deeper, soften into stillness, and find peace not in the outcome, but in the now.

There is no past to fix, no future to chase. Just here. Just this. Presence isn’t passive—it’s sacred and powerful.

Where in your life could you invite more pause, more stillness, more breaths?

Lesson 3: The Flame is My Mirror and My Medicine

The flame reflects my inner fire—the part of me that longs to burn bright, lead with heart, and show up fully.

The flame is also medicine. A gentle reminder that I don’t need to burn out to shine brightly.

I can burn slow, steady and strong. That is more than enough.

How can you tend to your inner flame with more care and compassion?

Lesson 4: Stillness is Fierce, Not Passive

Stillness is not weakness—it is a fierce act of reclamation in a noisy, overstimulated world. Sitting in stillness is a powerful act of self-leadership, where clarity, truth and intuition rise to the surface.

To sit with the flame, to choose being over doing, is a wild and sacred kind of strength.

Stillness is where clarity lives, where wisdom rises, where the soul feels heard.

What does fierce stillness look like for you? How can you create space to meet yourself there?

Lesson 5: There Is Always a Flame to Ignite

Whether I’m in my cosy home in Australia, a hotel room in Cairo, on a balcony in Alexandria or floating above the Valley of the Kings in a hot air balloon, the flame is always there—reminding me that the light is always available, both within and around me, no matter where I am.

 No matter where I am in life or in the world, I can choose to ignite.

What flame are you being invited to ignite in your life right now?

Lesson 6: You Carry Your Sanctuary Within

From Cairo rooftops to the ancient stones of Petra, from the sky of Luxor to this Alexandrian sea— no matter where I have wandered, the flame has stayed with me.

Not because I packed it, but because the sanctuary was never external.

It was always within.

Lesson 7: Stillness Isn’t Empty

In the quiet, I meet myself.

In the stillness, I hear what the world often drowns out.

The flame flickers, but it never rushes.

Even in stillness, there is movement. Even in silence, there is truth.

Lesson 8: Transformation Takes Time

A candle doesn’t burst into flame—it builds slowly. Steady. Sure.

So do we.

The flame reminds me to honour my pace, to trust the slow unfurling of change.

Even when it’s not loud or visible, transformation is always happening.

Lesson 9: Your Light is Not Fragile

Some days the wind howls. Some nights feel darker than others.

The flame—on the wick and within—endures. It bends, it dances, but it does not go out as our inner light is resilient.

How can you tend to your inner flame with more care and compassion? 

Lesson 10: Every Flame Holds a Message

Even when the flame wavers or nearly goes out, it still holds life. It reminds me to honour the wobbles, the imperfect moments, and the sacredness of the in-between. Some flames whisper rest, while others invite movement. Some ask for release. Others ignite clarity.

Each time I sit with the flame, I ask, What are you here to show me today?

The answer always arrives—sometimes in words, sometimes in warmth, always wrapped in quiet wisdom.

What parts of your journey feel unsteady? What wisdom might be hiding in the flicker?

Some days the flame burns bright and steady.

Some days it flickers and dances.

Some days it almost goes out.

Yet it is always there, waiting for me to return, to sit, to breathe, to reconnect.

As the flame flickers and fades, may these reminders stay with you—each one a spark I have embodied through the sacred stillness of candle meditation.

🕯️ Breathe deeply when life feels too big.
🕯️ Return to presence when my mind wants to race ahead.
🕯️ Find stillness even when the world feels loud.
🕯️ Slow down to breathe and to find presence in the space between the breath.
🕯️ Remember that I am the flame, not just the one watching it.
🕯️ Trust that even a small light can brighten the darkest room.
🕯️ Let what needs to melt, melt. Let what wants to burn away, burn.
🕯️ Allow each flicker to teach me that change is constant—and sacred.
🕯️ Know that clarity comes when I sit with the shadows, not run from them.
🕯️ Honour the sacred pause before the next inhale, the next step, the next beginning.
🕯️ Keep tending to my inner flame with love, breath, and gentle attention.

Tonight, as I sat overlooking the sea, I sat with the flame as I whispered these simple yet potent words to myself:

No matter where I am in life, and no matter where I am in the world, there is always a flame to ignite. 

Tonight I am carrying that flame forward into the next moment, the next breath and the next wild adventure and I invite you to do the same. 

With open hearts and curious minds we will keep that flame alive, within us inside and all around us.