Rethinking the way, we look at Winter
Winter Solstice December 21st the day with the least amount of sunlight and most amount of darkness when the day is shortest and the night is longest. At noon, the sun appears at its lowest altitude above the horizon.
Winter, or the dark part of the year, is the most Yin season, which may be more of a challenge this year as we have not had much of a chance to feel the Yang and freedom of Spring and Summer. The seasons are cyclical, every year we always come to Winter to be still and be ready for activity of the life again in Spring. Winter is not permanent, rather than resisting this time of year, we can learn to focus on what the season does offer – respite, reflection and a gestational period, when we can plant seeds for the vibrant days of Spring and Summer. It’s the time of year when the world is pregnant with promise. Adopting this positive mindset can be a helpful way of thinking about Winter and Lockdown.
Wintertime can be a time to thinking about and absorbing what happened in through the year and what a year it has been. Winter brings us solitude, which we can try to embrace and appreciate. A time to process, so you’re ready to go back out into the world to come, hopefully to some normality of celebrating the Yang of Spring and Summertime.
This dormancy allows us time to turn inwards and reflect. It allows us to gather our strengths and resources in preparation to begin to act on manifesting our goals and ambitions.
In the Traditional Five element Acupuncture system, Winter is associated with the Water Element, the organs and meridians being Bladder and Kidneys. The virtue of Water is its Wisdom, to look inwards and find our potential. Wisdom to overcome our fears and prepare ourselves for our emergence into the next year. If we are too fearful to take the next step in our lives, we may not be able to find greater health and happiness, we can freeze, much like water will freeze in Winter. And not be able to move forward. Traditional Five Element Acupuncture can help prevent this freezing or it can un-freeze us by helping us become unencumbered by our thoughts and fears.
The essence of Water and Winter beckon us to turn inwards and find our strengths. ‘Nothing under heaven is softer or weaker than Water, yet nothing can compare with it in attacking the hard and strong’ from the Dao De Jing ancient Chinese wisdom. Let us harness our Water energy this Winter Solstice and harmonise our Qi (Energy or Life Force) of the Winter season.
To find out more about how acupuncture can help with the wisdom and fear of the Water element in Winter contact Hannah on:- https://www.southwellacupuncture.co.uk/contact/