It’s important to get really in touch with yourself and recognize what, in life, especially in regards to cycles, is good for you and what is bad for you – and for me, mainstream, western society’s holidays were a real issue for me – so I sat with it and thought about what this season really meant to me and how I wanted to use it.
I tend to treat winter as time that is “between years” – at Halloween/Samhain, the year ends, and at Candlemas, the new year starts. So from November through January, we aren’t really “in” any year, we are just “between.”
I use this time like the New Moon – I slow down, I rest, I rejuvenate, and then I do the shadow work. I turn my attention inward, I review what the last year has been like, I check in with my emotions, my body, and my mental state and see what is going on there and if anything needs to be addressed. I process any feelings or issues that have been lingering, and I do what I need to do to work through them – and usually that just involves sitting with them and acknowledging them. A lot of times, I’ll watch all the sad and emotional movies I’ve been avoiding watching the entire year previous – it’s very cathartic.
It usually LOOSELY works out so that November is a “crash” month where I focus on resting, taking it easy, and checking in with the body. December is usually kind of a processing, crying, and watching sad movies and then planning month. And then January is more planning and preparing for the new year.
So, are there any parts of the year that you do this too? Any parts of the year where something like this might work for you? I’d love to hear them!
