Flowing with the Nature of Winter

Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the Winter Solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice. The winter has also been described as a period of time characterized by coldness, misery, barrenness, or death. How do you stay in tune with the flow of cold, misery and death? I am in Northern Califo
ia writing this on November 1st, and if you haven't felt the shortening days of winter approaching yet, you certainly feel it now. The sunrise is noted at 7:35 am and the sunset at 6:11 pm on this date, as opposed to the longest day of the year (June 21st) with a sunrise at 5:48 am and sunset at 8:35 pm. That is more than 4 hours less daylight as we approach the shortest day of the year on December 21st. This is nature, and we have no control over getting the sun to rise or set at any other time. If we are to flow with nature, what is this time of more darkness and more cold asking of our bodies and spirits? Instinctively, it makes sense to get more rest and eat/drink warm foods during the colder and darker time of year. The lack of sunlight sends a message to our bodies to slow down, as we see in nature with animals who hibe
ate until spring. And yet November through December is a more active and social time for most people so there is a faster and more constant pace generated. The way our holidays are celebrated today with all the plans, parties, shopping, eating, etc, it makes it a more stressful period of time. How much more of your precious energy do you want to let slip away without being conscious of your body, mind and spirit's needs during these slower and darker months? Ruth Stout, an American author, writes, "There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you ..... In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself." Some WINTER ways to flow with nature and connect with You. Withdraw from activities that do not give you energy - even if it's family (find a polite way to bow out) Include drinking at least 2 cups of hot water every dayr
Nest in bed for an extra 1/2 hour in the morningr
Tuck in bed a 1/2 hour earlier at nightr
Enter your day with a smile on your facer
Rest your body by breathing deeply at least 30 seconds a day Practice these WINTER ways and you will surely experience more peace, passion and pleasure, and create more harmony within and without.