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Winter in the Northern Hemisphere brings us colder and shorter days – although the daylight gets longer each day. We often have a natural tendency to want to slow down, stay inside, gather in the home with close friends and family or be alone more. If this is your experience, I invite you to go with it. Winter is a great time for reading, reflecting, discussing and dawdling.
The winter months, especially January, may be needed as respite from the holidays. Whether the holidays were eventful or lonely, merry or fraught, they are often experienced as stressful. The natural rhythm of winter can be a good time for regrouping and centering. This may look like focusing inward or on things close to us.
January is often thought of as a time for resolutions, new plans and new beginnings. I like to take the approach that the best laid plans or goals are done after some contemplation. All of those goals needn’t be decided by January 1st. The relative stillness of the winter months can be a time to reflect on what kind of change we most want to bring forth.
In alignment with new beginnings and centering is the increasingly popular idea of Dry January or some other kind if January cleanse. Diets, cleansing and drinking habits are best discussed with your health care provider, but all of it speaks to the idea of bringing back balance and focusing on what is essential. Intentionally moderating food, drink or even media is a way to meditate on what is most basic. These practices often present a new perspective.
We’re often looking for balance in our lives. I like to think of the slower, cozier pace of winter in balance with the long, sunny, activity-filled days of summer. I appreciate winter as a more contemplative time where my excitement and energy builds for the New Year to come.
Claire is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a background in body-oriented psychotherapy. Working for Anthem, she helps people find the right mental health treatment, and consults with employers around risk, safety and mental health issues.