Being an overachiever all my life, I now extend grace to my body, my mind, my thoughts, and feelings. I let go of all things and simply rest in the hands of the Divine Mother, who lovingly holds me.
Having never broken a bone in my life to this point, I have always been quite agile and fit. I’m accustomed to gentle stretching, yoga, and daily walking a mile or so along the beach. Well, that changed about 7 weeks ago. Moving too quickly, I was placing a heavy box of dishes into the back of the car for donation. My left foot rolled over a dip in the concrete and over I went, fracturing ankle and foot bones in the process. Thankfully, the dishes broke my fall, or it would have been a broken arm and wrist as well.
Now, here’s the important part of the story, so listen carefully. If it had not been for this unfortunate event the first week of December, I would not have allowed myself to “winter” and rest during this time. I would have been running around through the holidays and overdoing, like I usually do. The art of wintering is not spoken of frequently enough, especially among overachievers. Overachievers always feel a need to do more.
Having been an overachiever all my life, I am now extending grace to my body, grace to my needs, grace to my overachieving thoughts. I have created a nest for myself. To create a nest for wintering, you need warmth, nourishment, and love. We’ve lost the art of wintering over time and have gone with an unnatural rhythm that is neither healthy nor sustainable for any form of life.
As I am resting my body, mind, and spirit, I’m also allowing myself to dream of beautiful gardens, peace on earth, health, joy, and prosperity for all my family and friends, and well-being for the spiritual center where it is my pleasure to serve.
The art of wintering is to live with the season. It can be a time for inner growth, attaining greater levels of wisdom and sensing the sacred in all things. It is a time of renewal and preparation for yet another cycle in the great expanse of living upon this precious earth. A natural way of living requires that we live with the cycles.
Living with the seasons has been lost, of course, with modern technology; but if we are aware that we are out of sync with the natural rhythms of nature, we can do something about it. Instead of worrying that you’re inside because there’s a chilly wind, relax into staying inside and take advantage of the time to recoup, renew, restore.
Make certain that you have as much natural sunlight coming in as possible. Stretch your body, even if you have a restriction like a cast on your leg. You can still stretch your arms wide and say “thank you” to the universe for this healthy body, this warm home, this “nest” to restore and renew.
Wintering can provide a time to develop your inner wisdom and insight. Even if you have a busy job, you can take a day or two to rest and restore and allow your inner rhythm to match the seasons.
When forced to stay in because of weather or other circumstances, instead of fretting, see yourself being held lovingly by the Divine Mother, nurtured, fed, warmed, and cherished. I wish you an amazing rest of the winter as we look forward to Spring. Lovingly, Judy