Your Yummy Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Coaching & Retreats
  • Cooking Classes
  • Recipes
  • Blog
  • Connect

Stillness  

1/1/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
I gave myself the month of December off (mostly).  I have never been a fan of the hurried, busy consumerist lead up to Christmas.  It has never felt right to me.  If you are a follower of the seasons, as I am, this time of year is about rest and renewal.  Many plants send all their energy into their roots and let the visible, exposed parts die off in preparation for winter.  Many spiritual traditions suggest that we also slow down and take this time when we don’t have to be busy planting, hoeing, and harvesting to do some inward journeying.  To be still. 

Lots of others are longing for this too.  When people complain to me about having seasonal affective disorder I remind them that the natural thing to do in winter is to slow down, nap a lot, allow the body to rest, and my theory is that S.A.D is about being out of balance with that natural urge.   And they universally say to me, “Yes!  That is what I need, what my body and soul want.”

I have come to really love this season of stillness and darkness.  I try not to do a lot of planning before the solstice, the return of the light.  I try to allow myself to not know what’s next, to allow the seeds of what’s next their time to germinate in darkness, before they come to light.

After pushing myself hard the last few months, I really needed this down time.  My body has been feeling the effects of the stress too: my fibromyalgia symptoms have flared up, and I have been craving sugar.  By allowing myself this time of not-pushing, I am now feeling much more serene and still inside.  In a good way.  The days are already getting noticeably longer, and I’m beginning to be ready to start looking ahead.

There are, of course, nutritional supports that counter stress.  Healthy fats and probiotics do wonders for mood and patience levels.  I truly believe that it’s hard to feel good mentally and spiritually if we are pumping our bodies full of toxins all the time, and that healing our nutritional deficiencies allows our minds and spirits to blossom and grow.  That’s one reason the Gut and Psychology Syndrome makes so much sense to me. 

But, it’s also important not to overlook the other things that contribute  to a sense of nourishment and fulfillment.  Allowing time within each day, each week, and each year for stillness and non-doing is essential to my serenity and equilibrium throughout the year.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Archives

    January 2017
    September 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly