Change, at nature’s pace

Greetings Embody community!  As we find ourselves nestled in for the cold and grey winter weather, we want to invite awareness to this time of slow incremental change.

As we have crossed the midpoint of solstice and the light begins to stay with us slightly longer, there is still more time before we reach the newness and opening of spring.

I notice myself during this time wanting to hurry Winter along, just as I often want to rush my own healing and transformational journey. There lies a pattern in rushing to the bright, shiny, expansive energy, the feel-good ecstatic vibes, and the attempt at bypassing feelings of tiredness or melancholy.

It is all too common in our busy world to want to keep moving forward with the same gusto as before, because if there is a slowing down then pesky thoughts might surface… Am I falling behind? Am I doing enough? We can forget that there is extreme growth possible in lingering at this moment in time, with the energy we currently hold, yet it might look more like an inward depth than an outward goal. 

It is important to remind ourselves that this is a time to cultivate our inner gardens and find our own source of warmth and light from within, even as our outer world may still be damp and cold. How do you tend to your well-being, keep your life force flowing, and keep moving toward your dreams with the energy available to you in the Winter?

These months in the Pacific Northwest always feel like a time for embracing ourselves as we cocoon - reforming, adapting, and evolving, sometimes in the slightest ways. It is essential to continue to take time to rest as the body asks for it, maybe more than usual, and to become aware of your resilience as you recognize the resiliency in the natural world that surrounds you. That which has died will return in a new way, maybe in an entirely new form, during the spring blooms.

Change is happening, on its timeline, within you, and in the natural world. We can try to hurry things along, yet this focus on trying to get somewhere can burn us out before we even start moving in the right direction. Slow changes give us time to course correct, to evaluate where our compass is pointed, and to notice where the thoughts and actions we participate in moment to moment take us. This pace also gives us ample time to connect to our bodies and make adjustments in our lives that will benefit our entire being, instead of just fulfilling a mental fantasy or desire.

Deliberately, we can bring curiosity to how we can support the transformations happening by sending our love and attention to the dark places that feel they have been decomposing within us and our surroundings. What is breaking down to be rebuilt? How can you support this?

May the warmth of our hearts and inner light of intuition guide us during these lingering gray days, and the wise and resilient land inspire us on this beautiful, transformative path.