WINTER REFLECTIONS II
by Doren Day, L. Ac.
The ground is frozen. The leaves are long gone and the energy of the plants has gone underground. It is Winter. Winter is a time of year, but it is also a pattern that shows up in all of us and in every process. Before there can be a Spring (and all of the following seasons) there must be a Winter – a time of rest, stillness and deepening power. In Five Element Acupuncture the season of Winter is correlated with the element Water. This relates to our reserves of energy, our fear and our determination.
In each of us, Winter represents the need to go deep. We need to experience deep sleep in order to have the energy to accomplish our day. We sometimes need to search our souls deeply in order to know which direction our life should take next. We need to find a source that is deeper than our fears when we are facing a challenge.
Last year I completed the long process of earning my degree in acupuncture. Over 4 years I had met college prerequisites, attended thousands of class hours, worked on many school projects, finished my 500 hour internship, taken thousands of pulses and clocked almost 20,000 miles on my car. It was an active, intense and rewarding time. As it came time to let go of “being in school” (the Autumn of the process), I realized what lay ahead of me was another intense process – beginning a practice - which would require another push of energy and focus (a lot like Spring).
A small voice inside of me said that I needed a break before beginning a new project. I listened. I realized that I needed to truly STOP in order to move forward with integrity. I needed to get quiet and settled, to go deep and rest. So I booked myself for a retreat at a monastery in Crestone, Colorado where I would have a week of solitude. In a beautiful setting, in my own private cabin, I spent a week in silence, praying, seeking and listening. It was like drinking a cool glass of water on a hot, dry day. My soul was renewed.
While we can’t always find the time for a week-long retreat, there are many ways that we can honor our need for rest and quiet depth. It may be something as simple as knowing when to say “no” to one more activity. Or allowing one more day to pass in reflection before making a decision, waiting in stillness for something to arise. Here are some simple suggestions for ways to support the Water element in you during this Winter season:
- Get to bed a little earlier and get up a little later
- Eat warming foods with plenty of root vegetables, like stews
- Stay warm – grandma was right, keep your neck and lower back from getting chilled
- Sit quietly everyday for 10 minutes – without programming that time
- Be willing to wait for new beginnings
- Set aside a day for rest – stay at home, leave the schedule open for what arises
Since there is so little encouragement from our world to honor this part of the cycle it is a weak area for many of us. We often feel like we are on a treadmill with the constant message to "go, go, go." Five Element Acupuncture can help support this process in you by increasing your energy and helping you find the will to commit to living in total health and vitality.
