Wintertime soul tending

by Tamika Caston-Miller

Winter is pure Yin. It’s rest, ease, doing the minimum. If il dolce far niente (the joy of doing nothing) were a season, it would be winter.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, winter is associated with the urinary bladder and kidneys, and, as such, their respective energies and functions. The kidneys remove waste and extra fluid, while the bladder stores and releases the urine the kidneys are making. They work together to for filtration and removal of the excess. Off the mat this could look like doing the minimum so that you’re not making your body work harder, nourishing yourself with warm, fluid-strong foods (stews & soups), eating less salt and processed things, and limiting or eliminating alcohol. But during the holidays??? Maybe now we see why we might feel more sluggish during this time! We’re supposed to be doing the minimum and asking our bodies to do the same. And yet, we’re often around family and friends, and attending all the events, which aren’t always super supportive of our nervous systems.

What could rest look like for you for THREE MONTHS?

This doesn’t look like sleeping all the time. Let’s rephrase.

What could pacifying your nervous system look like for a season? What can you radically dream about what’s on the other side of radical rest? Are you willing to find out?

The truth is that I hear a lot of people complain about how tired and overworked they are but don’t exert that same energy working towards change. I get it. Sometimes it can feel like crawling out of the inside of a box. But sometimes it’s not. In those occasions, why do we stay in tiring situations that have no foreseeable end? Maybe there’s something on the other side of them that isn’t too far away, like retirement, but is it worth it if some years of life were lost due to the stress of it all? Real question.

Okay, let’s say you’re in a situation — a stressful one — that you have to stay in for a while or that you’re actively choosing for whatever reason. For me, that’s living in Texas, USA. 👀 It’s also being a business owner and community builder. What is my strategy for nervous system support while doing it? There’s a very simple answer.

Rest.

Please know that I know this is hard. This is incredibly hard for me. And my rest doesn’t look like someone else’s. And yours will look different, too.

Think of rest and non-doing like yoga nidra vs. savasana.

In savasana, you’re literally lying there doing nothing—not yearning to accomplish anything, you’re just receiving the residue of a practice or work prior to that moment. Rest could be active, like yoga nidra, in which you’re being invited into a state of being in which awareness is present and healing could be happening. Neither of these two look like sleep, so we’ll put that to the side.

Rest, therefore, can look like practicing nervous system pacifying styles of yoga, like Gentle, an L1 Flow, a set yoga asana sequence you know like the back of your hand, meditation, yoga nidra, or Restorative Yoga. It could look like Yin Yoga if you don’t push or pull through it. Rest could look like moving your body in a way that offsets sitting. It could look like letting go of decision-making. It be slow tv — watching Bob Ross paint or that Slavic lady on YouTube that forages and prepares a meal outdoors without saying a single word the entire time. It could look like practicing a hobby that you love. It could look like work that nourishes you on a soul level. For me, I adore flower arranging, whether it’s for a client or for myself. I LOVE IT and I get so much pleasure out of it, even if it’s for work! It could be setting up a revolving coffee time with a friend you don’t see all the time, be it by video call or in person. It can also look like set it and forget it meals that allow for the gentle wafting of aromas that create a sense of comfort. Maybe it’s wrapping yourself up in cozy socks and furry blankets while enjoying an audiobook. Essentially, it’s anything that you really enjoy that builds immense joy (soul tending) and/or to which you may remove the attachment of outcome 😮‍💨. And it could also be saying NO when you really want to and saying YES when you really desire it.

All of these activities that allow for you to integrate the activities of the year while allowing space and softness to exist in doing less is amazing for the winter season.

Winter Solstice

December 21st is Winter Solstice, the longest night. It’s dark and cold for many across the Northern Hemisphere. Also called the hibernal solstice, parts of the world see the day as a death and rebirth of the Sun. Others see the day as a descent into darkness, and the subsequent emergence back towards the light. Solstice can represent new chapters, so why not begin a new chapter of more balance, more responsiveness to your needs, more enjoyment of things that give you joy?

If you needed it, here’s your invitation to say more no’s to others and more yes’s to you, drink soup, and kick back. T’is the season for comfort and joy from December 21st until mid-March. Get on your mat, practice what feels good and right, and hibernate energetically.