Thank you for all of your participation in the winter solstice celebration…even if you couldn’t make it, you were part of the occasion! What we do now as we go into winter provides an immeasurable amount of insight and energy into how next year unfolds.
Yes! Yes! Yes! We alter the course of our life patterns by being aware and conscious of the seasons.
From Saturday’s round table, here are our thoughts relative to letting winter be our ally, our guide, to help us go deeply, with clarity, into 2016:
- Most activity in winter is happening below ground, so this is a perfect time to do inner work. Go beneath the surface, probe into the roots and the mud, and remember why we are really here. It’s a superb time to support one another in groundbreaking personal work.
- There is an obvious lack of color compared to other seasons, so give permission to yourself and others to be less showy in the world, and really enjoy the inner movie rather than feeling compelled to demonstrate for outer world expectations…shed the shoulds.
- The stillness and quiet of wintertime offers no distractions, so follow the model…still still still…quiet quiet quiet…be be be. Be aware of using distractions (work, play, thinking, etc.) to stay on a recursive loop that misses the empowerment of winter.
- The winter cold can be really important to strengthening certain plants, and seeds for instance that won’t germinate without a freeze, but also that same winter cold can mean survival challenges for others and can be certain death. Let the intensity of facing our own mortality, grappling with our singularity, and seeing our fears for what they really are, have a strengthening effect. Be willing to go into the shadows that are dancing on the walls of the cave. There is much to say about this idea because after all, it is our own cave, campfire, and hence, our shadows, which do come out of hiding and openly challenge our constructs…it’s never about anyone or any thing else…it’s all about our dance. Be brave enough to court your Self, engage that beloved, and gently remind yourself to be unafraid of fear.
- Here in the northwest we have more rain and water movement, so remember to keep the water (emotions) moving. Let it soothe, cool, moisturize, be reflective, wash and cleanse, transform, fill empty places, bring comfort, shift the shapes of dreamtime to perfect your vision for the new year, and in its time – sprout the new seeds, bringing new life.
- There is this wonderfully dormant period where the light changes ever so gradually until we are sharing in the sun’s warmth again. Use this time to remember patience and take it slow: Our growth is an organic process and there is no rush to plant those spring seeds – nature takes Her Time, so shall we.
- Winter produces less…let’s be okay with getting more sleep and being less productive!
- During winter, nature is resting, in rejuvenation, rebuilding energy for next year’s growth, and renewing vitality and life force. This is a perfect time for healing – let’s take advantage of it…use it to do genuine bleeding-edge thought-provoking paradigm-shifting reality-altering heart-consciousness healing for yourself and your loved ones!
- The outward growth of everything is very small…the crocus and daffodils are little now and will show a tiny bit more in a few weeks, contrasting to spring bursting forth rapidly or summer’s onset of lush green. Allow the baby steps towards mastering a lucid and keen vision for your year…seeds don’t go in your fertile ground until Equinox, so relax and enjoy!
- As the weather pulls the leaves to the ground and what we see is the barren branches, it’s a good reminder of our internal brambles, and the branching and weedy tangles that wrap around in our process, very much like getting tied up. Let’s manage the landscape of our mind differently – simplify it and let it become a catalyst for next year as we plant new seeds.
- People seem friendlier in the winter…whatever that is about, the earthy smells, the hunkering down, the introspection…lets be one of those people who lightens a person’s load. Use a smile, the light in your eyes, or an extended compassionate hand and change someone’s day!