Winter is here and for the first time since a kid, I'm in a cheerful spirit. And though I am manifesting life in the tropics or off the coast of sunny California, I have learned to appreciate the beauty of Winter for what it is. Nature goes into dormancy, certain plants cease growing and certain animals hibernate completely until the budding warmth of Spring. For me, I finally see the rigid aura of Winter as a time of intimate reflection, immense gratitude, and what feels like criminal rest. A time to reflect and embrace all that nature and my body has provided me with and carried me through this year. A time to allow my body, mind and spirit to recalibrate and let rest and intimate time with God, self and loved ones be the foundation for the abundance to come in the upcoming Spring.
We're taught to choose sides or one over the other, however the true power lies in the balance of embracing duality. Choosing to acknowledge the harshness of the annoyingly cold temperatures while following nature’s call to stillness and rest, has given me a new perspective of my least favorite season. This new perspective has simultaneously given me major points in the seasonal wellness bucket. That’s the power of duality.
Nature is a basket full of duality; being both powerful and fragile. Dark as night and light as day. As loud as the roaring seas and as silent as the deep ocean zones. Understanding the duality of nature has helped me understand the dualities that are all around me and also in me. It so simply revealed the power of being a woman of divine duality. I am a powerful creator with the ability to both calm the waves or fan the flames with just my presence alone. I'm rough around the edges yet soft around the curves. I require around the clock intention and attention, but enough space and time to recharge in solitude. The world teaches me to be one or the other, to choose between the sometimes contradicting characteristics I possess, but true power doesn’t choose to only reveal the traits that are easily digestible; it challenges me to accept the blurred lines, the hidden deeps, and the duality that lies within. Fully embracing my feminine duality allows me to live in balance with the cyclical nature of both my body and the earth. Allowing me to give both my body and spirit the nourishment this world so desperately seeks to take from me, simply for being a woman.
I've come to understand that the disconnect the world has created between women and nature has fully translated to the disconnect such a vast majority of us feel from our own bodies. Not understanding the vast complexities and duality that nature presents us with has caused us to misunderstand our very own nature. It is nature and its seasons that show up boldly without an invitation or permission, that helped me reclaim what it means to be a woman in this world; to possess both the power of life and death, and the choice of which one to bring forth. Reclaiming my feminine birthright and living as a truly balanced woman didn’t come from a soft life or thorough skincare routine; it came from embracing what comes alive in the shadows as much as I embrace the impact of my light.
Much like the cyclical seasons call for a different way of living and focus, our body's call for the same. Your mental checklist and capacity will need slight adjustments in the winter than in the summer. Winter taught me that there's space for the parts of me that want to continue to go into hibernation. The parts of me that thrive in the hidden shadows of the dead of night. The part's that are cold to the touch and uncomfortable to the bone. Winter taught me that growth often resembles death, still, quiet and cold. Only to be presented with the gift of rebirth in the right light, soil and timing. That the cyclical shedding of old things is absolutely necessary — dead skin cells and dead-end patterns alike. Winter taught me discomfort and growth party at the same intersection; and that without the uncomfortable, bone chilling change in temperature, you wouldn't be able to experience the unique beauty of a snowflake.