Hari Om Dear friends,

I was asked to share the writing I did in honor of the Winter Solstice. I hope you find it comforting as we move into this Winter season. No classes this week. See you Tuesday Jan 2, 2024!

Leaning into Winter

At Winter Solstice we enter not only the winter season but we enter the winter of our lives,  the winter of our hearts the winter of  those cold places within us.

We also enter the places that keep us warm during the coldness, during the
Darkness, the stillness, and the bareness within the spaces of the long nights when it’s all we can do to go inside and feel the winter touch our hearts and force us to  to explore our inner lives so we can come out the other way, so we can come out into the light more ourselves, more present, more forgiving, compassionate, grateful loving, kind… more kind to ourselves and others.

Winter is the time to stop and reflect, slow down and cultivate patience. We can’t rush or halt nature’s turnings much as we can’t rush or go back in our own life stories.

We can’t control the natural rhythms of life of nature…  so we learn to flow with them move into them instead of away from them.   To lean in to the experience whole heartedly as fall turns to winter.  As dark takes over light and witness its return once more.

This is a time to take stock of who you are now after what you’ve been through this past year and where you hope to go.  To clear your vision as you move into these dark long nights  giving yourself  time To figure some things out.  It could mean facing something that you’ve been avoiding, it could mean leaving something behind that you’ve been hanging on to, it could simply mean loving the present moment more and all that it has to offer.

Ultimately winter is the time to go inward into your own room of the soul and dream…. dream and visualize what coming out of the dark will be like for you remembering that Light will always triumph over darkness. So let us turn our gaze towards the increasing light and rejoice!

May this holiday season bring you peace. Much love and immense gratitude to you all!

Love, Amy