The days are short and dark, the nights are long and cold. Many of my life coaching and bodywork clients are feeling sluggish, gloomy, and not up to the holiday push. Our dominant culture is fighting against our primal instincts. While nature is curling up and going internal for the long dark, we are pressured to be busier than ever.

What can winter solstice teach us right now? For peoples who live closer to nature and practice nature-based spirituality it has always been a time of reflection. We can slow down and look back over the past year, the seeds we planted last spring, the adventures of the summer, the harvest of early fall. What grew? What did we learn? What was difficult and painful?

Photo by Shan Sheehan, shared via Flickr

As the sun returns after solstice we can start to imagine what we might grow next year. But don’t rush to that phase of planning before you’ve allowed yourself to dream so that you have clarity about what you really desire. Your inner voice grows stronger when you sit in the darkness and listen carefully.

Happy Solstice dear ones! Watch this a lovely video celebrating the Deer Mother, one of the sacred beings of this time. Let us dream the more beautiful world we know is possible.