Welcoming 2015 Without a Bang

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Welcoming 2015 Without a Bang

For many the 'Drop of the Ball' has long been an alarm-bell to ‘fix’ what we don't like about ourselves, or so we will feel better.  We resolve to be thinner, healthier, wealthier, more ambitious, more confident, etc. 

However, our urge to 'change' ourselves, or our conditions, is often driven by a deeper unconscious desire to avoid, cover up, or numb out what we are really feeling. For instance, let me tell you a little bit about my annual urge to cut bangs. 

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At Home Winter Solstice Retreat and Ritual

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At Home Winter Solstice Retreat and Ritual

n December 21, nature moves us through yet another one of her cycles! On this day, in the Northern Hemisphere, we will enter the darkest moment of the year. This day marks the Winter Solstice, the shortest day and longest night. In Latin, the meaning of Winter Solstice is ‘sun set still in winter.’ Historically, many cultures honor the solstice as a time to acknowledge the passage of life and death, death and rebirth; our greatest contraction and expansion. For after the long dark evening of the solstice, the sun experiences a rebirth; it waxes in power and daylight hours begin to grow longer again.

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Home Practices for Sustainable Energy All Winter Long

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Home Practices for Sustainable Energy All Winter Long

Winter is nature’s time of hibernation, retreat, and contraction. As winter’s cold, wet, dark, and heavy qualities increase around us, they grow within us as well. 

Nature demands that we insulate more as winter encourages us to wear more layers, stay inside, and do fewer activities outdoors. We are urged to move inward for rest and replenishment, just as the Earth stops producing in order to build a new reserve and be bountiful again in the spring. While we slow down and preserve the precious reserves which are essential for replenishment at this time, we also need to keep winter’s heavier qualities in balance.

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Easy Ways to Slow Down, Do Less, and Rejuvenate

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Easy Ways to Slow Down, Do Less, and Rejuvenate

If I had it my way this month, I’d spend less time ‘out in the world’ and more time in my pajamas cuddled up on the couch in front of my fireplace. And why shouldn’t I? All of nature is doing it!

Throughout winter, the Earth contracts, stops producing, and slows down to allow its inner energy reserve to accumulate. When winter thaws, this stored energy bursts into spring, allowing the earth to produce abundantly again. Like the Earth, we too go through cycles of contraction and expansion. We need to slow down and pull in so that we replenish our energy instead of depleting our reserves during this vulnerable time of year.

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A Word of Wisdom and 3 Mini Meditations For Our Everyday Lives

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A Word of Wisdom and 3 Mini Meditations For Our Everyday Lives

Many of my students express that they are simply too busy to find time to pause and do a formal meditation practice. Yet, the busier we get, the more our lives grow out of balance. These busy times call for extra creative ways to incorporate moments of stillness and repose.  Even a small pause can help us tune into the present moment in a big way. Just a few minutes of simple practices here and there can make a profound difference!

 

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