Feeling Lazy and Uninspired? Read this…

I’m hearing it all over the place.  In the casual conversations between moms outside the school, in the grocery lines, as I chat with friends online.

There is a collective exhaustion that hits us right about this time — and for good reason. 

Winter is a time of inhalation.

As we descend into the darkest days of our year, our internal selves also need to retreat.

Just like our breath, every exhale must have a counterbalancing inhale. The rhythms of our yearly seasons, monthly cycles, and daily circadian clocks all speak of this inherent wisdom for a full and well life.

But our society elevates the exhalation. 

We exalt the exhale.

We march to the beat of a drum that has no natural crescendo and decline — it is ever pushing, ever amplified, ever manic.

Until most of us find ourselves energetically gasping for breath.

During winter, we are being called inward to reflect and ponder. To consider what is growing within us and what is ready to be let go.  To percolate ideas and plant dreams.  To deeply replenish and restore ourselves from the previous seasons.

So, I find it makes perfect sense when women I talk to feel overly edgy, utterly uninspired, and emotionally paper-thin as we head into the deep of the winter season.  It makes perfect sense because we aren’t honoring and responding to our sacred core’s needs.  We are masking, deflecting and pushing through the signs that we need to shift gears and slow down externally and internally, for a spell.

I’m asking you to look at your emotional and mental well-being during the winter from the perspective of the wisdom of the seasons.

What could you bring into your life that would make space for more of a retreat, renewal and deep rest that your body, mind, and heart are craving?  What could you remove from your life in order to better align with your deeper needs right now?

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