If you would have asked me to describe the seasons 10 years ago, I probably would have told you about the major holidays throughout the year, when school was in session, vacations, my birthday and the basic characteristics of Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. They were mostly changes that I saw external to myself, shifts in weather that didn’t have much of an impact on ME. This changed drastically over the years . A particular memory of winter comes to mind that gave me more understanding about “nature” and the seasons.
It was in the “dead” of winter and on that particular day I was inspired to write some lyrics for a song. I decided that I would go to Lake Needwood, a local park here in Maryland, because being outside usually heightens my creativity. It had already been snowing that day and when I arrived at the park nobody was there, I was the only one. I went deep into the woods where I sat on a fallen tree that gave me a view of the frozen lake. There was complete silence, except for the sound of the snow falling around me. I could feel the cold through my gloves and I was aware that I was holding my body very tense, shivering every now and then. Everything around me was a grayish hue and lacked vibrance like that of a forest in the spring or summer. I sat there for an hour or so without the desire to write or move. I simply just wanted to be there hands in my coat pockets observing the quietness outside and interestingly, myself. In that moment I began to learn that”Nature” is not an external phenomena that I am separate from, something that I simply observe passing me by. It started to dawn on me that winter lives in me as it does in all other things.
When I began to study Chinese Medicine and the fundamental principles of Yin and Yang this made even more sense. Yin and Yang are polarities, opposite forces of the same source that create the environment for life; day and night, hot and cold, fast and slow, male and female etc.
Yin: night, cold, slow, female, winter etc.
Yang: day, hot, fast, male, summer etc.
There is no Yang without Yin and no Yin without yang.
I am writing this post because the winter solstice on December 21st is upon us. The winter solstice is the peak of the yin energy of the whole year. It is the day with the least amount of sunlight and most amount of darkness. It is considered the deepest part of winter.
Winter according to Chinese medicine is a time to conserve our essential energies in preparation to have a healthy spring and summer. It is also the time of the Kidneys and the Bladder, both organs that hold and distribute this essential energy throughout the body.
In order to conserve this essential energy we must:
1. Find time to rest
2 Reflect or meditate
3. Nourish ourselves – eating nutritious foods like root vegetables, warm soups, and bone broth.
I encourage you, amidst the busyness of the holidays, to take some time to be still. Allow yourself to “hibernate” and be in winter. The condensing and storing of our energies during this time of year have a great impact upon us especially when the yang rises into spring and summer.
What is your experience of Winter?
What do you notice in yourself?