Winter has arrived.

There’s snow outside. It’s cold. It’s dark.

The sun rose in Anchorage today at 9:33 am and will set at 4:01 pm. Every day until Solstice we’ll continue to lose light. Unless you’re in the polar regions where it’s already polar night (and the sun doesn’t rise).

What do you think about that?

Awful?

Depressing?

Awfully depressing?

I know a lot of Alaskans think so.

What if it could be the opposite?

What if the energy and characteristics of winter could be celebrated?

Each season brings balance to our lives in different ways. The heat of summer balances the cool wetness of spring just as the cold of winter balances the heat of summer.

Winter’s job is to help us recover from the summer and build our energy stores so that we can be ready to begin another vibrant cycle of life in the spring.

We aren’t meant to maintain the same level of productivity as in the summer.

We aren’t meant to eat the same foods.

We aren’t meant to do the same things.

Just look at the animal world. What they eat and do changes with the seasons. This is how their bodies and minds are programmed. There is no forcing. There is no judging.

Imagine telling a bear she has to stay awake all winter long and “be productive”. The sheer energy that it would require for her to go against her natural rhythm would be exhausting. And I bet she’d be pretty darn grumpy. And depressed.

By living in harmony with the seasons, you put less stress on your body, mind and emotions.

This means everything works better. Your digestion, your organ systems, your immune system, your emotional processing. Everything.

So, what does it mean to live in harmony with winter?

It means giving yourself permission to:

• Prioritize deep rest over exhausting physical activities.
• Decrease your productivity so that you have more time to connect with yourself and others (NOT with your TV).
• Eat warmer, richer well-cooked foods. Stay away from dry and raw foods.
• Go to bed earlier so you have more time to sleep.

These sound simple, but they can have a profound effect on your well-being, which, in turn, effects your work, your relationships and your ability to live your life to the fullest.

It begins with the basics!

Take a moment and ask yourself:

“How can I live in greater harmony with winter TODAY?”.

Have an amazing holiday week,

Heidi