
This is about the time of year where the collective blues settle in and the sun plays hide and seek. For the last two weeks in Connecticut, I couldn’t fit it anywhere. In fact it hid so good I couldn’t find it for two whole weeks. Conversations with friends all across the country went something like:
“Is it sunny where you are"?
“Sadly, no. You?”
“Not a chance, I haven’t seen the sun in days.”
It starts to take a toll after a while, personally. If you don’t enjoy the brisk air, snow-related activities of the Northeast and shoveling- what’s it good for?
Winter was always one of those seasons where I had to look a little closer than the rest to see the beauty of it here in the Northeast. Admittedly, isn’t my favorite. But every year, I resolve to change my relationship to it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. However, I’ve found at least one clear, steady advantage: reflection.
Broadly, it’s a ripe time of year for introspection. Many clients have found that more self-reflective, completive practices come most easily in Winter and if you think of it more, doesn’t it make sense? The life force energy of plants most notably, due to their lack of leaves and fruit, huddles closer to the core. This energy or ‘prana’ of our living, outside friends draws in. Drawing into their center, conserving, doing the magic work of restoration only the wisdom of prana can.
Many Eastern systems of healing, Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine to name two, see us humans as microcosms of the natural world. Where the elements of ether and air around us, are too, elevated within us. It lends itself to spacious, reflective, creative being. More specifically, you might find a practice of meditation or any varied mindfulness activity to be more appealing as the stillness of the outside world creeps in. These elements may make themselves known in a burst of creative thinking, a project you put to the side in summer is brought out from the storage bin, or a moment of expansive, open awareness as you look outside at the silhouettes of the bare trees.
I’ve found people either run away and hide from meditation- or they’re really interested. While incredible to learn the discipline of skillful attention and the incredible opportunity full presence affords (more on this later), there are many ways to harness the energy of air and ether that come together to create what we know as winter.
What comes to you as you read this? Consult the quiet voice of intuition as you look to answer: What kind of self-care practice could you really use this week and what will you do to make it happen?
And in all its moody glory, can you harness the beauty of Winter’s fruits and fly with the wind in your sails. 🌬
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