Self-Care in Different Seasons
In the Northern Hemisphere, where I live, it’s getting darker and colder by the day. Sunrise is currently at 7:11 AM and sunset is at 4:33 PM. This is a very short day with less than 9 hours of daylight. If I use awareness and check in to how the body feels right now it is: often tired, the mind feels foggy, and I want a lot more rest than I do in the summer months when the days are very long. If I lived in the Southern Hemisphere, such as a friend of mine from Australia does, I’d likely have a lot of energy, be very active, and need much less rest. However, I’d probably need more water to not get ‘foggy’ or ‘muddle-headed.’
Spiritual aspirants sometimes ignore the body and its needs and rhythms. We think we should ‘push’ the body to do exactly what the mind wants it to, no matter the season. If we’re doing spiritual practice, and it’s a lengthy, daily practice, we hesitate to modify it to the rhythm of the seasons. However, your Awareness and your perceptions are channeled through the vehicle of the body. Your deepest intuitions are often sensed as ‘body sensations’ or ‘feelings.’
It could be useful to consider the health and well-being of the body as an integral part of your spiritual practice. It could also be useful to consider altering spiritual practice and providing alternatives at different seasons, and even in different kinds of weather. Again, I notice that if it’s raining or snowing, my body feels heavy and slow. It may be the opposite for you but, the point is…it’s quite wonderful for your body AND your spiritual practice, when you let the body have a ‘voice’ in your decisions, rather than just pushing from the mind. May everyone reading this Awaken in this lifetime! It is possible.