“Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.” ~ Paul Theroux
The days are growing shorter, the darkness more prevalent, and the stillness of the Earth more profound…
“Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.”
Tis the season of drawn-out nights of lingering darkness and shortened days with a distant sun. A time of quiet stillness in Nature and a sense of hibernation strong among those who live in Her midst.
So many fear Winter, dread it’s gloomy shadows and it’s harsh, cold air. But I see it as a time of inner coziness and introspection. Winter is a time for rest, for ease, for gentleness, and for self-created warmth. It’s a time to recover from the heady rush of Summer that blazed so brightly into the Harvest of Autumn.
Winter is a time to allow yourself a chance to hibernate and heal. To tend to your wounds (both proverbial and literal) and to show yourself grace. You can pause and take stock of yourself, of your life, of your home, your work, your play, your loved ones, etc. You can decided for yourself what is working, what is not. You can choose what tweaks you can make to create a life you love. It’s a time to see you again and to nourish and love and dote upon yourself. It’s a time to rest and resettle, refocus and rejuvenate. It’s also a time to recenter your focus upon yourself and what you need, want, and desire.
Winter is such a lovely time to prepare for the year ahead, for the Spring days that will once again breathe vibrancy upon Nature and upon you. With all of the tending you do for yourself, you can begin to plant seeds for future days and plans. As the days once again lengthen and warm, you’ll begin to nurture those seeds, being kind, soft, and patient, allowing them to germinate as they need to.
Will it always be as soft and lovely as I describe – Hell no! It never really is, is it? Due to our oh, so human ways and the “society” so many have been raised in, it can be quite difficult to not only wrap our minds around Winter being a resting and preparing time, but to actually put into practice. We are made to function in a go-Go-GO world, and yet does it really need to be so?
Yes, there are certain things we cannot forgo (gotta work, for example), but do we really have to keep doing things the same way? Do we have to always follow the flow and complain if everyone else is complaining? Or run ourselves ragged to keep up with societal markers of “achievement”? Maybe, instead of going along to get along, we started to listen to ourselves a bit more. Maybe we start to slow down and let go of expectations that maybe just don’t work for us.
This Winter I am allowing myself to rest and be still and quiet as I need. I’m going to be delving more deeply into Somatic releases, Yoga, tapping, and meditating. I’m going to be doing my best to show myself that I care and that I am loved by me. I’ll be working on letting my self-judgement ease – I would never judge anyone to the standards I hold myself to, after all. I am going to go into each day with a mind to undo the damage that been inflicted (by myself and others) and the habits I’ve formed in response. While these are things that I will always be doing, by bringing them more to the forefront in the Winter, I hope to find myself more willing to be soft and gentle.
With the holidays right here it’s been a quite hectic time, but now the quiet, dark days of the Winter ahead hold a dear promise of hope, coziness and hygge. The weather outside might be frightful (for any number of reasons) but the fire I’m stoking within myself shall be delightful!
I wish the same for you and I do hope that you are able to find some rest, recovery, and preparation time of your own this Winter and just know I’ll be lighting the way with bits of sparkle and hope!
Take care and just know that you are not alone.
Namaste ~ Ella
~ Affirmation Mondays are positive words of wisdom, insight and joy to add a bit of cheer to the start of your week and any day you need a bit of a pick-me-up! For even more inspiration please check out my Affirmation Mondays Pinterest Board and my Quote-spirational Board!
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