HIBERNATION PREP
Daylight savings just hit here two weekends ago in Jersey (and wherever else still subscribes to the clocks changing). This means it gets brighter earlier and darker earlier. Sunlight is vital for our health. Research repeatedly shows the importance and benefits of sunlight on our vitamin D levels, our physical health (lower BP, good bone health, and disease prevention), and our mental wellbeing. Seasonal depression increases during this time of the year. This, by the way, is based on my own experiences of friends, clients, and students as opposed to me looking up research on Google Scholar. I’ll bookmark this for myself…
For myself, I enjoy the darker months. Let me be clear, I don’t enjoy the darker months more than I enjoy the brighter months or vice versa. I simply accept each season for what it is and what it provides. These darker months provide the time and space for hibernation and introspection.
We are naturally called to stay inside and cuddle. There is less time to be outdoors and in the sunlight. Rooftop bars are not as prevalent, people are generally not staying on the beach until 9PM, and eating inside as opposed to outside becomes favored.
For some, this creates a stir crazy feeling. For some, the feelings of the dark create a much more pronounced feeling…one that I actually cannot viscerally relate to. While I can empathize with it, the disdain for the darker months simply does not align with my overall perspective of life. That perspective includes one of equanimity regardless of external circumstances and this has led to a deep sense of peace and acceptance through all seasons.
The question then becomes how do we embrace the longer days? This sounds easier said than done, but here are some things you can try to incorporate into your life as we get ready for our hibernation:
1) Begin or lean into your meditation practice.
Meditation is a proven practice for nervous system regulation. The benefits are endless and when you give yourself the space and time to settle into and give to your practice, the practice gives back in tenfold. If you are thinking about starting a meditation practice, now is the perfect time. You can do it in the morning or at night, but try to pick a time and make it consistent. You can of course meditate in the middle of the day, but it might be hard to maintain due to the daily happenings of life. If you already have a meditation practice, you might explore ways in which to deepen your practice and step even further into yourself. This could include different types of “journeys,” different instructors, or longer meditations.
2) Create a nightly routine.
A nightly routine can be supportive for your overall system in prepping yourself to rest for the evening. I’m not saying this has to be a 10 step routine that you must stick to every single night, but it could be helpful to identify some things which are calming for you. This could include lighting your favorite candle or incense, playing your favorite mellow music, drawing, journaling, or cuddling with your partner and/or pet. It’s likely you already have a sense of the things that calm you down, now it’s making the conscious choice to be intentional about bringing these things into your evenings. This also requires making the conscious choice to be fully present in these things/activities (meditation supports this practice of intentional awareness).
3) Plan your social calendar with intention.
Just because it gets darker earlier and we are going into “hibernation” does not mean that our social lives dissolve! Here in the NYC area, the holidays are an absolutely beautiful and wonderful time to be out and about. So you bet I am not cancelling all of social plans. However, I am intentional about my social plans. If I have a busy Saturday, I will try to create space on my Sunday. If I have a packed weekend, the next weekend I will try to take it easy. Of course, some things are out of our control like birthdays, weddings, and the like. In the event of this happening, I’ll do my best to create free time (me-time) during the week. For me, this could look like subbing out a class, taking an evening to cook with reality TV or music, or extra time to cuddle with my pup with my pumpkin candle going. And when I do have my free weekends, I am intentional about how I spend them.
4) Make your sacred space cozy AF.
Because the days seem shorter and they are certainly colder, it’s likely that you’ll be spending more time at home. So make your home a home you truly love. Make your home somewhere you want to spend your time. Set your space up with intention to make it your true sacred space. Some ideas are to keep it clean and tidy, to bring in things that make you feel relaxed, peaceful, and joyful. This could be artwork, sun catchers, a disco ball (I love anything that reflects light), favorite photos, plants, organic fragrances, etc. Set up your external environment to support your internal environment.
5) Know and acknowledge this is a time for rest and reflection.
Sometimes simply acknowledging something and becoming aware of something is enough to alter our perspective and therefore affect how we show up moment by moment. If you are feeling tired, you might lend yourself a little more compassion to rest. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you might make the decision to take a day off and be okay with it. There are cycles every day, every month, and in every season of life itself, not just every calendar/weather/yearly (I’m unsure what the right term is) season. So I would encourage anyone to honor the cycles of birth (spring), growth (summer), death (fall), and reflection (winter) more frequently than just through the yearly seasons, but the seasons do create the external environment to support this type of reflective work. it’s our choice whether or not we want to lean into it.