Welcoming Winter Solstice

Happy Solstice, friends!

I love this time of year (minus the holiday madness!) as it can offer a time for reflection and release before stepping into the awaiting year ahead.

In the Celtic calendar, Winter Solstice marked the transition into Deep Winter (December 21st - February 1st). It's important to remember that for our ancestors, this time of deep darkness represented fear of the unknown - the uncertainty of surviving through the cold, dark months. Keeping in mind that depending on the harvest, the amount of food available - not everyone would make it through to spring. Of course, nowadays, we have refrigeration, electricity, technology that can support us through these dark months - but our bodies remember generations of cold, dark and the unknown.

The reason I address this is because it's very normal to feel tired during the Deep Winter Season.

This is a time of deep rest. This is a time of dreaming. This is a time of slowing down.

Our cultural norms can make this feel counterintuitive.

But it's important for us to pay attention to how we're feeling and really listen to our bodies.

It can be helpful for us to align with the seasons - respecting our needs - so that I our bodies can align. Moving with the rhythms of nature, like our ancestors. Taking care of ourselves and attending to our physical, mental and emotional needs.

January tends to be a month of goal setting in our culture with a focus on New Year's resolutions.

I am steering away from that this year, as it doesn't feel aligned. Instead, as I move into the final week of the year, I am reflecting on the year that has passed...

Beginning with gratitude, honouring my grief and sorrows over the past year, saying some prayers and setting intentions to guide me into 2024.

I set the intention to honour myself, my own path and align with the rhythms of nature.

Winter Solstice, the conception point of the solar year, allows us to honour all that is brough to light.

If no one has told you yet today, you are deeply loved.

Wishing you a beautiful 2024,

Gillian