Winter Harmony- Welcome Patti Foy

The Winter Harmony blog series is our gift to our beautiful community to help inspire and support you to live in harmony with winter. Join us and some amazing guest bloggers M-F during the month of January. Click here to see all the Winter Harmony posts in one place.

Get your own Winter Harmony Mandala to bring a little peace and joy to your winter season this year and see what message it has for you.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Photo Credit: Peggy2012CREATIVELENZ

15 Ways to Awaken to the Gifts of Winter

Are you snoozing through winter? Missing all the good juju?

It's time to wake up and greet the morning, sleepy-head!

Huh? You say. What's this about morning?

Well, as a Vedic astrologer or Jyotishi -- and as a nature lover in general -- I'm especially in tune with cycles and rhythms. And in many ways, the yearly cycle can be compared to our daily cycle.

It turns out that winter is like the morning of the year, complete with all the special qualities of a new dawn.

I'm going to share why that is so, and 15 suggestions (including a free audio download) to help you best harmonize with this awesome "morning" and make the most of it.

Return of the Light

Winter solstice marks the beginning of Uttarayana, an auspicious time when we welcome the return of the light. We often think of winter as cold and dark, but in reality, it begins just as the days start to get longer, not shorter. In fact, today is the 2nd of a 3-day Indian festival held especially to celebrate the Sun's journey northward, and to bestow the blessing "May you go higher and higher, to more and more Light".

As the light increases, so do our perceptions. This time of year relates to the movement of prana (vital energy) up the spine, from potential at the base to full actualization at the crown.

We are awakening to the possibilities, and this time of year supports us in beginning to bring our ideas into concrete form.

So ... Good Morning!

As I thought about this, I realized that this first half of the year (before summer solstice when the days begin to shorten again) is equivalent to morning in the daily cycle.

And I don't know about you, but I think morning is a pretty exquisite time of day!

We typically start morning indoors, all snuggled up in a cozy bed. We are refreshed from our night's sleep. We stretch, get our bearings, momentarily remembering who we are. Our head hasn't yet gotten overly involved, so we more easily access our pure being and can easily sense our essence.

It's a special time. It's quiet and calm, before the hubbub of the day is in full force. We gently become more and more focused on what's going on in our lives.

We're somewhere between alpha and theta brain waves, and our receptivity to inspiration and creative ideas is soaring. It's an ideal time to open to our intuition as we begin to consider what our day may bring and what we want to bring to it.

And as you know, the way we begin our day can make all the difference.

"Established in Being, perform action."
~ Bhagavad Gita

Practice Morning Rituals

Winter is much like this, but on a grander scale. It's like the first half of the morning (spring being the second half), and is a perfect opportunity to touch in with yourself, re-set, and begin again.

As you awaken to the morning of your year, you are more easily aware of your essence, clearing the way for you to most beautifully express it as you move forward.

And all of nature is supporting you in this process. How cool is that?

So keep in mind that the morning qualities and rituals I mentioned are supported right now. As you practice them, you may find that you not only enjoy them now but that there's a big payoff as well.

Here's a handy list of my suggestions:

1. Remember that the way you begin this year is a big influence on the rest of it.
2. Open to the increasing light in every sense. This can mean physically (e.g. get out into the sunshine - smile back at the Sun!), or even energetically by practicing activities or ways of being that raise your vibration and exercise your joy muscles.
3. Support the prana or life force moving through your body, especially your spine. Yoga (including the Sun Salutation asana) or meditating is especially effective now. Martial arts too.
4. Know that you are being supported right now in beginning to bring your hopes and dreams into manifestation. Stay open to all possibilities as you consider their potential. It's a good time to play with options and envision various creations.
5. Dabble. Just for the joy of it. (And then watch what happens.)
6. Expect ideas and inspiration. Make a note of them, they're probably right on!
7. Make it a point to use and strengthen your intuition; it's very accessible now. Maybe it's time for that class you've always wanted to take, or that book you want to buy. Or heck, let your own intuition teach you, that would be fun.
8. Snuggle up! Curl up! Hunker down ... and enjoy!
9. Get your bearings. Evaluate where you are, what's working, what's not. Need a re-set? Need to start over? You're likely to have a clear knowing right now along with how to move forward.
10. Remember who/what you are, in your essence. (This excellent website with its two shining angels can help you with that, I know. ;-))
11. Touch in with that essence before or while you take action. Any action.
12. Take time to appreciate silence, stillness, soft beauty, joy, being, life, etc. (Okay, everything! But especially gentle things that often go unnoticed.)
13. Allow yourself to be sometimes. You don't always have to do.
14. Honor your right-brain intuitive side *just* a little more than the left-brain rational side for awhile. It's jazzed up right now. Work it!
15. And finally ... drum roll, please ... An Opening! You can try it out, below. It's quick and easy! :-)

An Opening

To help welcome the morning of your year, I want to share an "opening" ritual that I enjoy almost every morning. (And please feel free to share it with your friends!)

It's a conscious way to open yourself and your senses to all the gifts and insights this day (or year, in this case) will bring -- as well as those you have to offer.

It's introduced in a post I've already published which you can access here:

A Two-Minute Opening to Inspiration and Guidance

You'll see that it includes the "opening" as text and also as an enjoyable, downloadable audio. :-)

I offer it with many blessings, and I hope you'll find it helps you be more aware in general, and more in synch with your magnificent life.

Enjoy!

And if you try it out, please come back and tell us how it was for you!

Or maybe you have some morning rituals or practices you'd like to add to the list for others to see (I know there are more). If so, please share!

Thank you so much for reading, and thanks especially to Jill Marie and Michelle for sharing this beautiful and sacred space. May you harmonize beautifully with this remarkable season and all that it offers.

Namasté.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Patti Foy is a natural catalyst and has been facilitating positive and transformational change for "the best clients in the world" since 1997. She gets down-to-earth, practical results by working at the level of energy and consciousness -- and then blogs about it at Lightspirited Being so you can, too!

Visit her site to join the conversation and to access her empowering services (Holographic Emergence™, Vedic astrology, Channeling, and Animal Communication). While you're there, be sure to get your free download packet: Emergence Primer + Tune-Up Session.