Beloved Yoga Friends,
Tuesday, December 21st, marked the Winter Solstice, the astronomical shift from autumn into winter, and the days of the most amount of darkness during the course of the year. On the Winter Solstice, and for the following three days, the sun appears to stand still in this low part of the sky before it begins to rise incrementally on the 24th, brining a bit more light each day, like a birth of the sun.
If we look to nature as our guide and wisdom teacher, winter symbolizes a time of stillness and deep rest. The natural world is in a gestational state, nourishing roots and the hidden energetic realms to fill inner reservoirs. This time of quietude fosters the life force so that sprouting and re-growth is possible in the coming spring. One can reflect upon how we tend ourselves during the winter season and the way it can affect our vitality and expression in the coming spring and summer.
In traditional Chinese medicine, the winter season is associated with the water element, the organs of the Kidneys and Urinary Bladder, and psychologically transforming fear into wisdom through introspection and understanding. I will dive deeper into these teachings in the next email....and this theme that will be weaved into all of the classes I lead in the coming weeks, as we settle into winter and the new year.
But for now, even in the midst of your potential holiday plans, meals, and get togethers, consider moving with intentionality, take time to pause, and see if you can offer yourself some moments of nourishing rest.
This poem from Brother David Steindl-Rast is such a wonderful invitation into the subtleties of this season:
May you grow still enough to hear the small noises earth makes in preparing for the long sleep of winter, so that you yourself may
grow calm and grounded deep within.
May you grow still enough to hear the trickling of water seeping into the ground, so that your soul may be softened and healed, and guided in its flow.
May you grow still enough to hear the splintering of starlight in the winter sky and the roar at earth's fiery core.
May you grow still enough to hear the stir of a single snowflake in the air, so that your inner silence may turn into hushed expectation.
Winter blessings,
Machelle