Feb
12
This new series explores how becoming aware of the impact of seasonal change on health and well being can provide insight and new tools to guide your actions and improve your quality of life.
It’s not coincidental that, instead of celebrating the new year a week after the winter solstice, the Chinese calendar falls nearer to the spring equinox, when life underground begins to stir. Western cultures prefer to bypass the limits that winter rest represents, interfering as it does with lives based on continual growth. But continual activity loses its footing when it’s not rooted in periods of reflection and integration. And winter isn’t empty rest, it’s teeming with life under the surface.
As a long-time and unrepentant holistic thinker, I have always found sanity and intuitive common sense in wisdom traditions that emphasize seeing ourselves as natural creatures influenced by changes in the annual cycling of the seasons. Life is change, and change is stressful, correlated with accelerated aging and increased incidence of every type of chronic illness. Reflecting on the meaning of the Tao, meaning the Way, provides a frame for living in balance by taking our cue from observing nature.
The activity of rest
Taoist thought equates winter with the time of deepest yin, of the activity of rest, if you will. Contrasted with on-fire outgoing yang of high summer as its polar opposite, yin’s action is receptivity, actively taking the time to tune in after a full and creative year, to listen to how we feel, now, in our lives. Winter isn’t so much about creating resolutions – yet – that’s putting the cart before the horse – but more about creating internal order, aligning with what’s emerging, and gathering the resolve to bring it into being come spring. As you might imagine, getting this backwards, that is, strengthening your resolve before making resolutions, will save you a lot of energy expended on half-baked plans, and time spent going after things that it turns out you didn’t want after all.
So how do you be receptive? Taking our cue again from nature, winter is likened to water in the way it flows around and wears down obstacles in its path. Water seeks its own level and flows towards its destination propelled and bounded by banks that prevent it from dissipating its force in aimless meandering.
Among the things we can learn, and ask ourselves, are
* What have I learned about my limits?
* What direction is the river of my life flowing?
* Is this the direction I want to be going?
* Can I support what I need to do with the resources I have?
* What boundaries do I need to have in place so I don’t get distracted?
* If I want to shift direction, what actions will I need to take?
Taking the time to re-root yourself in what’s deepest and most potent in your nature has payoffs besides keeping your clear, oriented and focused. It preserves your energy. It strengthens your will. It strengthens access to your intuition, as well as to synchronicities, so you’ll be alert for them when they arise to guide your path. And tuning into yourself brings deep peace.
The rest of the story ….
Perhaps not surprisingly, the emotion associated with winter is fear. Sometimes, if you’ve been too busy to check in with yourself for a while, you may become acutely aware of a torrent of negative self-talk or chatter without discernible center or direction. Where is this underground stream of insight and comfort, you ask?
You actually feel stripped bare, like branches silhouetted against the winter sky. You”re frozen, paralyzed, rather than flowing and your first impulse is to keep moving! You may mistake this for depression or worse, as useless. True, some of your ‘symptoms’ can be likened to SAD, seasonal affect disorder, and strategies (like light boxes) are useful. You should do what you can to keep your physiology balanced. But the fact is that it can be hard, and sad, to face disappointment, failure or missed opportunity. Those are the facts of the matter.
If that’s true for you, the best strategy is to let them be. Take your cue from winter: Be still. Learn to observe the contents of your mind and emotions. Let them blanket you like a quiet cover of snow, and know that they are just emotions, they aren’t the totality of who you are. Let go of struggle. Let yourself be sad, angry, disappointed, frightened, empty, alone, or …fill in the blank. Keep breathing, crack a lopsided grin, shed a tear, or wince if you must, and let your breath remind you of the transience of thought and feeling.
Yes, water can harden into ice. But the opposite of fear is courage. Facing your deepest fears of inadequacy or emptiness builds courage. Other payoffs, ones that gives back in buckets, are increased self-esteem, calm, deepened wisdom, and increased ability with time, to flow without fear with whatever comes your way. Know that what emerges from this steaming compost heap, come spring, will be little sprouts of naturally inspired creative solutions, directions, and actions that will surprise and inspire your life.
Balancing receptivity and action – 5 steps to setting your intention
In case you have the mistaken impression that winter’s emotional weather is simply a detour into passivity, strengthening your resolve means turning your insights into intentions. Briefly, there are five very focused steps to setting your intention. Do them each and you’ll naturally produce what you intend.
1. Get clear about what it is you want. Be specific. Write it down – as what you want – not what you don’t want
2. Envision in fine detail, using all your senses, how you will feel and what you will have once you’ve accomplished that intention
3. Share your intention with someone in a way that will supportively hold you accountable to taking action
4. Do something today to demonstrate your commitment to your intention, even if only a baby step
5. Acknowledge that you did what you said you would and then, take the next step. And then the next…
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