Welcome to Emergence Magazine Summer of Practice, a special series of guided audio practices.

I'm Emanuel Vaughn Lee, host of this podcast, an executive editor of Emergence magazine,

located on the unseated ancestral lands of the Coast

Mewalk people in present-day Marin County.

We're living in a world that is perpetually bathed in artificial light. We repel the dark.

And yet, we live in the midst of what is often referred to as dark times.

The realities of the climate crisis, inequality, and shifting political tides offer the most apparent

signs of this.

How can we be present and engaged in these dark times?

What are we foregoing as we trade the ancient curiosity evoked by the night sky for the

ceaseless illumination of artificial light?

How can gazing upon the night sky connect us to a greater sense of space, beauty, and possibility?

Are we able to come into relationship with something infinitely bigger than ourselves?

In this final episode of our Summer of Practice audio series,

we invite you to immerse yourself in nightfall.

Whether you live in the city or in a place where the outdoors is more accessible,

this practice is a guide for settling into the expansive wonder of the dark.

The audio for this practice runs for about 15 minutes,

including my guidance through each step and timed silence for you to engage with them.

I encourage you to take longer to sink into and explore each prompt, and so feel free to pause

the audio at any point if you feel you'd like to take a little bit more time with it.

This practice offers you an opportunity to connect with the landscape and living beings around you.

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