The Two Energies of Winter
Dec 14, 2025
We are half-way through December. Wow!
Here in Floyd, VA we have had our first good snowfall, the Solstice is coming up in a week, and holiday happenings abound.
My friend Rachel recently wrote this in an email and I just LOVED it. She speaks so beautifully to the challenges we all face in early Winter:
This time of year, I feel my hibernating-bear-self at odds with my celebration-loving, outgoing self. There are so many fun and cheery things to DO, but the early darkness each day calls me to BE, and especially to BE alone with myself. The cold distills the starlight into potent little drops of heavenly medicine. My bed is a quilted castle of long dreaming. The newly revealed swath of rhododendron slick hillside flexes leaves outward in the sun, then folds leaves down to point to the earth as if to say, "It's cold, cold and now go down and in and deep to the storage place within." Rachel Troyer
How are you navigating these two parts of you; seemingly opposing, each with valid needs to fulfill?
This time of winter is governed by Vata (Air and Space elements) which means we will be more susceptible to getting overstimulated, cold, overwhelmed, and dried out (especially if we are going through menopause). We will benefit from having a simple, consistent structure to each day with some spaces to pause and be quiet, staying warm, eating warm food, drinking warm liquids, and oiling our bodies. Focusing on these practices will allow us to enjoy the social times and flow with more ease through the holidays.
Tonight marks the first night of Hanukkah, a holiday celebrating the miracle of light.
As we light the candles at sundown today, adding another candle each night until the Solstice, we honor the growing light within and around us, I’m moved to share this poem — a timeless reminder of the radiance that lives in each of us, even at the darkest of times.
May the light of your soul guide you.
May the light of your soul bless the work
You do with the secret love and warmth of your heart.
May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul.
May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light and renewal
to those who work with you and to those who see and receive your work.
May your work never weary you.
May it release within you wellsprings of refreshment, inspiration and excitement.
May you be present in what you do.
May you never become lost in the bland absences.
May the day never burden you.
May dawn find you awake and alert, approaching your new day with dreams,
possibilities and promises.
May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.
May you go into the night blessed, sheltered and protected.
May your soul calm, console and renew you.
John O’Donohue
May your light shine bright this season and beyond. Thank you for being in this world at this time to contribute to the light.
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