There are many different wisdom traditions that talk about winter and the New Year. Some honor the changing of the sun and the bringing of light with the Winter Solstice, some are more focused on starting new things and resolutions for the (Gregorian Solar) New Year, while (Indian) Ayurveda says winter is a good time to look inside…
According to Ayurveda, winter is a time of going back to the foundation, back to the roots and the trunk and the bare branches. Of noticing what is here, what is supportive and what is weighting us down.
It’s a time to get quiet and notice what you’ve cultivated over the past year… What of that do you want to keep and nourish? What of that do you want to prune away?
So if you’re “in,” grab your practice, a cup of warm tea and open into your roots.
I know, for most of us the idea that we’re not our thoughts, emotions and sensations sounds ludicrous at best.
Someone telling you that is either insane or trying to sell you something. Or maybe trying to get you to join something (which is the same thing really).
I mean, for most of us we are our thoughts! That is completely our experience. And saying it’s not is irrational – it’s denying reality!
It’s nuts!
Except that it’s crazy-making, all this stuff in your head, and you want out. Maybe they know something you don’t?
But how can that be?! You’re in the same reality that they are, how can you be missing something so fundamental?
Well, it’s not that you’re missing anything, exactly… It’s just that you’re so busy paying attention to your thoughts and feelings that you’re not noticing the rest of you. You’re just missing the larger picture because you’re busy focusing on a small part of it, and you’ve done it so well and for so long (most of your life!) that you’ve actually forgotten that you can do anything else!
You’re literally out of the habit of exercising the other parts of you. It’s like if you only used one of your two healthy arms. If you did that long enough, if you focused exclusively on the one arm that you used, you’d likely completely forget that the other arm existed. Now who’s crazy? :)
So, you don’t believe that huge parts of you are here because you’re not using them. Because you’re using your mind and feelings exclusively. Of course you don’t know what people are talking about when they tell you to use your other arm! It makes sense. Your other arm, your bigger self, isn’t part of your experience (anymore).
The good news, is that if this makes sense to you and you want to play with it, you can get it back. In fact it hasn’t gone anywhere! Just like your arm, it’s still a part of you. You just need to stop focusing exclusively on your thoughts and feelings and notice the rest of you.
