The Unseen Gift of Winter - Fitness Incentive

“To remember the flow and rhythm we were born with…”

Jenn LaLima

The Power of Unlocking this Often Unseen Gift of the Winter Season

We all feel the change. The sky becomes dark before dinner, the crisp air fills and cleanses our lungs, and everything seems to slow down just a little. Until it doesn’t. The stars begin quietly competing with twinkling strings of lights, the giving season begins with doorbusters, and the winter to-do list starts to fill the calendar. The excitement – and varying winter emotions – flow to the forefront of our minds. It’s easy to get swept up in the holiday season dance when the rhythm picks up pace, and it’s easy to lose our internal rhythm without even noticing until…
It’s noticeable.

What is nature doing as we hustle and bustle? Letting go. Preparing to rest. Harnessing the power of all it already has. All it’s already created.
In my Yin & Restore Thursday evening classes, we have been asking a powerful question: What gifts are not being used to their fullest extent in this season of your life? And with that, what have you already learned, created, or gathered that you could utilize even more in your life? What tools and practices would help you magnify the goodness that you know you’re capable of creating with just a little more commitment to self-care and inner listening?

Look for the subtle clues to find where you are stuck.

What are some clues that pop up for you when you’ve begun to leave your health/wellness awareness behind? Maybe it’s a feeling of crankiness, impatience, or exhaustion that starts to arise here or there. Maybe it’s a lackluster sense of self, life, and others. Maybe it’s a physical sensation or a mental fogginess. We’ve all felt it in one way or another. The sense of realizing we’ve left ourselves behind just a bit, and there’s more that we want to feel, be, do, and give. But, we want to feel, be, do, and give from a place of strength, inspiration, and ease rather than from a feeling of depletion or unnatural force. We know when something is natural because it feels inspired!

Just. Like. Nature.

However, sometimes, the feeling of inspiration can be blocked by the unwillingness to take those first steps out of a comfort zone. Old, unconscious patterns that don’t work well for us can still feel comfortable and inviting. So, we rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. Old habits can feel uninspiring, yet so familiar. And so, we settle in that space with the illusion of ease. Yet, the true and lasting ease, the more-than-fleeting inspiration, is BORN FROM the moments you bust out of the familiar, old blocks to your success. What uncomfortable yet healthy steps have you taken in the past that led to feeling healthier, more inspired, and motivated to have a meaningful relationship with self-care?

You are Nature.

We see the plants and animals do the same things, so naturally, every year. There is a repetitive pattern that seems to work for them. They gather. They store and conserve. They reap the harvest that’s already been created. They burrow. They ground. Because the winter is coming, and nature knows it would be a force and unnatural to make the flowers blossom into something new as if it were spring. It would be a force and unnatural to have the leaves cling to the trees or to ask the blossoms to keep.on.giving. To ask nature to ignore its natural rhythm. To ask the tree to ignore its desire to take very, very, VERY good care of itself.

Have you ever thought about your natural rhythm?

We know we’re people, not squirrels or vegetable gardens. We know we have jobs, families, and responsibilities. But do we know enough about just how natural we truly are? Do we pause long enough to live the transitions, or are we rushing to the captured poses of the next photo album? Are we reaping the benefits of the mindful body awareness and strength it takes to move so slowly, breathing, from one yoga pose into another? Or are we more unconsciously throwing ourselves from one posture to the next?

In a class I taught this summer, a dancer friend and yoga student of mine felt the immense power of the breath-led, spinal wave yoga pose transition. She shared in that moment something an elder dance student said to her,
“Life is lived in the space between each photo album.”

Do we have practices that return us to our natural, desired rhythm often enough? Do we have experienced support for our self-reflection to land upon? A learning place for tried-and-true practices to find perspective? To identify and step toward goals? An accurate mirror to reflect? Non-judgmental ears where our thoughts can land, be sorted through, and deepening awareness be compassionately guided? Do we carve out the space in our week to breathe meaningfully? To allow ourselves to be caught compassionately by our internal, effortless flow? To remember the flow and rhythm we were born with? Are we committed to our own internal rhythm in a way that makes the “people-y-ness” about us a little more natural, inspired, thoughtfully, and healthily cared for?

Isn’t it hard to believe, if you really think about it, that we would ever choose to repeat a pattern that hasn’t worked for us in the past?! Maybe varying levels of disconnection from self isn’t something we’re intentionally choosing. The mind is a powerful thing! But, with Personal Development, Mindfulness practices, therapeutic work, Mindful Yoga Movement, and Asana stillness, we can find tools that we LOVE, that bring us so naturally in tune with our Own Season — in a way that feels a little closer to inspired living.

Personal development practices are supported by intrinsic motivation, guided and unlocked.

Not only can we become more deeply in tune with what our body/mind/spirit needs in this season, but we can simultaneously become beautifully in tune with the season we are living in. Autumn to winter.
Lived with intention, learning the gifts of this autumn-to-winter transition now can mean living in easier alignment all year long. It can mean nutrient-dense soil for those seeds you want to plant. It can mean your vision board – what you want out of life – blossoming just a couple of seasons from now because you took the time to live with intention. You took the time to deeply self-care.

This season, I will be guiding yoga students and Personal Development clients to feel the support and security of their rootedness. The richness of uncovering all that’s already there within them, just waiting to be seen and heard. The catalyst for intrinsic motivation and inspiration. As the trees naturally release their leaves, so can we. The leaves, once dancing in the air, one by one, land gracefully on the earth. They know the richness of the cycle begins with creating time and space for the grounding.