Magic of Winter

This article is a part of my ‘Living with the Seasons’ series. It’s adopted from notes from a series of seminars, on-line courses and chapters of several books I’ve written.

Living with the Seasons

Nowadays, in our so called ‘modern world’ so many people are almost unaware of the seasons. As we are a part of nature, also the cycles of nature are within us. Now-a-days, most people are just so busy, pounding away on the treadmill at full speed, they barely slow down to take notice of the seasonal changes. It’s often said; ‘who cares?’ … and of course if all that one is concerned about is earning money and not truly nurturing their essence, then they wouldn’t care. Care is synonymous with love. The quality of our relationships reflect how we care about our-self. If they don’t care about their relationship with nature, they’re not loving themselves.

The Magic of Winter

Winter is a very special season … it’s the time for dwelling into the realms of our unconscious … here’s where we learn much about our-self. The winter is the darkest season of the year. For most of humanity, throughout many cultures worldwide, winter has been recognised as the most mystical time. It’s been a time of coming together, as a collective, with tribal and family gatherings, community and cultural celebrations, etc.

Today, our most significant annual event is centred around the middle of winter. Of course in the northern hemisphere this has now been hijacked by what has become known as Christmas and the now New Year, in January. Yet, where we live in Australia, in the southern hemisphere, our winter is in June.

What does Winter mean for you?

I guess, it’s fair enough to say that winter is just seen as an inconvenient time for most. It’s a natural phenomena that happens every year. It’s when we need to get the ‘winter woollies’ out and light-up the fire place again. It’s the seasons that bring contrast, colour and aliveness to our world. Yet, in our so called ‘modern-age’ most people are generally distracted by the worldly events that consume them, most people have little or no idea what this natural event is really about. Today only a handful of conscious beings are aware of the significance of this natural phenomenon.

Once upon a time, mankind was more in tune with nature and with themselves. Winter can be seen as a

Winter is essentially a time of reversal. It’s a turnaround from an outer expression to an inner reflection. Along with this is also a reflective effect on our physiology.

Winter in essence, is akin to the night-time. This is the deepest, darkest part of our cycle. It’s  …  depth of winter and with the transition …

This deep, dark period is a time to connect to the deepest, darkest and mysterious part within us. This is the most ‘Yin, and ‘negative’ aspect of our psyche. It’s a time of inner exploration and reflection.

Everything and everyone has a shadow. A shadow is the opposite character of the self is embraced.

Winter is the season to slow down, go within, relax, unwind and destress. With the natural falling away of our outer-directed energy, winter is the time to retreat and journey within to the realms of the unconscious and nurture our self.

According to the eastern philosophy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TOM), winter is Yin in nature. Yin is known as being inactive, cold, and damp. This is the time to become introspective, restful and consolidate.

TOM has a concept of Chi. TOM also acknowledges winter as relating to our ‘Kidneys’ which stores our ‘Jing’ essence. Jing is the TOM expression for the ‘essence of Chi’ that supports our vital life force, and is considered one of the “three treasures” that keeps our mind, body, and spirit in balance. TOM considers the Jing in our kidneys, as like batteries, which defines our basic constitution. It’s intimately connected to our growth and maturation. It determines the strength of our bones, our vitality and willpower. While the gradual depletion of Jing is natural, as we age, much like a battery wears down over time, ancient Chinese medical texts promote a number of ways to cultivate our Jing.

Life-style is an important aspect of good wellbeing. Winter is the time when our hibernating instinct will draw us to naturally require more sleep with the longer nights.

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