The time around the winter solstice is the time of the year that calls us to go inward, to sit quietly in contemplation, to feel into the body’s needs and to look back at what has been accomplished.
If you haven’t heard of the holy nights – the 12 nights between Christmas and January 6 – you might be in for a treat. This is a great time to contemplate the months of the year ahead, just as well as finding peace with the happenings of bygone months. Daily rituals for the holy nights are offered by people like Richard Rudd (Gene Keys) or Alana Blusol (BlueSol Shamanism) – try it out if it calls to you.
But even without long winter night rituals, taking stock and checking in to see if your life is still meaningful is a worthwhile pastime during the long nights at the end of the calendar year.
Here’s what I do: Using a printout of my workbook, I recap the old year in all its facets – the good, the bad, and the ugly – and bid it farewell. Then I envision the year ahead from as many angles as I can with exercises like ‘time travel’ (where I envision myself in December of that year and write down what comes to mind), Tarot card dowsing, and by coloring a mandala. It’s fun, it’s lighthearted and I don’t take it too seriously.
Next I take a big sheet of paper (display size), write the year on top, put the colored mandala below, and write around it what I would like to focus on that year. On the bottom part of that sheet goes my wish list, available tools, and my accomplishments. These I complete throughout the year – which is a good reminder that helps me stay on track. This paper goes on my wall where I see it daily.
If you are into more traditional vision boards, this would be a good time to get some old magazines and get yourself comfortable on the couch with a pair of scissors. I have done that in the past and found it helpful. As visual creatures, we can often manifest much better with a clear picture in front of us.
Or here is a vision board artist I have found really helpful: Colette Baron-Reid’s New Way to Vision Board. She is teaching a deeper creative process that actually works.. Her free live event is on January 6 – I know I will be there!
Stay warm, stay hopeful, have a wonderfully peaceful time between the holidays!
Karen