Sometimes in our life we can feel sad,
Down or low in energy and find it difficult to motivate or inspire ourselves.
In the Northern Hemisphere particularly is a disorder called SAD,
S-A-D,
Which stands for seasonal effect disorder,
Where in wintertime people can be inclined to feel depressed and they can very often be self judgments around this or any time that we may feel down.
I think it's good to touch on something here.
When we consider the natural world the process of winter means energy is going down into the ground,
Leaves are falling,
There's a sense of letting go and everything dropping.
It's a very natural movement of things,
Moving down into a place that is deeper,
Darker and moist and then in the spring there's a return.
I think there's great value in honoring the natural process of life.
For there to be summer,
For flowers to blossom and seeds to disperse,
There needs to be winter,
For things to drop down into the ground and re-nourish and rest.
I think it's too easy for us in this world today to feel like we always have to be lively and full of energy and positive,
But then at those times where we feel like our energy is dropping we can start to judge ourselves for it and actually in the natural world winter energy is about everything descending into the ground,
Everything gathering and dropping down and going quiet so that there is a time to rest and re-nourish.
So why wouldn't our energy follow that?
Maybe it does naturally but I don't think we always let ourselves follow it in a positive way and we can resist or fight it or not particularly like some of the qualities of how it feels.
A lot of the time we tell ourselves that we should be active and energetic and positive all the time because that's what modern society tells us we should be.
So I think perhaps there's something in honoring the process of descent whether it be seasonal or any other time and this doesn't mean that whenever you're feeling down you should just give up but it may be that this is the time that you need to go inward more,
A kind of time of retreating or reflecting and quietening down rather than out there doing lots of busy things.
There may be a world that we need to allow ourselves to be however we are.
If we are feeling down to see if we can allow ourselves to be like that without more self judgments and to see if we can have the courage to stay with it allowing it to move through us and be liberated naturally without force.
I think it's really good to honor how you may be feeling and create a supportive and safe environment within that nurtures your growth and happiness instead of layering more judgments on top of it.
For example in my own life growing up as a kid and into my adulthood I always had an extremely physical positive and forward-moving lifestyle.
I was always dreaming,
Always traveling,
Always succeeding but then when I was involved in an accident and almost everything in my life was stripped away as I lay for many months in hospital I found that there was a way in which I needed to be deepening and looking inward.
I never tried to force myself to make too many life decisions or changes.
I could feel somehow that this was a time that I needed to quieten down and be within my inner world to process everything that's going on,
To reflect and to just be with how I was feeling and just allow myself to be like that no matter how that was.
Somehow this gradually filled me with feelings of acceptance and trust and I found that natural positivity and blossoming could grow out of that nourished ground to fill my new life with love and enjoyment.
So the next time you're feeling down or sad it may be that this is just a time that you need to descend and look inward and notice what is there.
It's time to just allow things to be as they are without putting any more judgments on yourself.
If you'd like to explore healthier and more nourishing ways of being with your feelings and emotions and getting support around it you can take a look at my course called Journey of Self-Discovery and Self-Healing.
It gives you very meaningful ways of being with your inner world in a way that really cultivates self-acceptance,
Compassion and love.
