Have the Winter Blues Started Already?

It seems every Autumn my mood takes a downfall. This year isn't much different. I've been finding myself in a state of confusion, unsure about myself or the next step I should take. I've learned to be grateful for these moments because they always lead to better times ahead. Rather than resisting, I have decided to go with the flow of events and emotions as they come. Grounding work and tapping into my creative side are proving to be great motivators for me to stay present in the moment and help me focus on the things that are most meaningful in my life.

"Eastern cultures believe that people experience better health when living in harmony with the natural cycles of their environment. Winter is at it greatest Yin in nature this time of year expressing its inactive, cold, and damp nature. Emotionally, it is best to remain introspective, restful, and consolidate your energy.
In winter, the cold and darkness urges us to slow down. At this time of year we are encouraged to reflect on our health, replenish our energy, and conserve our strength. Winter is ruled by the water element (the greatest body of our emotions and is expressed in nature as well as in the body. Fear and depression tend to become the dominant emotion this time of year often because of the lack of light the eyes receive. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) also called winter depression describe a form of depression that occurs in the winter months. Women are affected more often than men, and the prominent symptoms are low mood, starting in autumn or winter, lack of energy, irritability, overeating, weight gain, a craving for carbohydrates, lack of interest in socializing and increased sleep and daytime sleepiness. In Winter, people should stabilize their emotions and cultivate their mind."

I found some wonderful suggestions for having a healthy winter, you can check them out at: Peaceful Mind

Are you being tested?

When we are more dependable, stable, and consistent, we begin to eliminate the moments of shame, judgment, blame, ridicule, and embarrassment.

"Focus on yourself. Become stronger within and your patient, resilient, creative self will step up to walk alongside your children leading them in a co-operative childhood towards a respectful adulthood." Alice Hanscam, author of Parenting Inspired

What ways can we focus on ourselves when in power struggles with our children? Are you able to take a moment to get centered within so you can respond in a loving way, rather than react on your impulses?

 

 

Plant Seeds of Love Within You

I love the following quote by OSHO. It comes from chapter 5 in The Path of Meditation. It really shows us how connecting from within through nature gives us the opportunity to fill up with pure love. 

"First of all, send love to nature. To give pure love to a person could be a little difficult. The anahat chakra, the heart center can flow more easily towards nature because nature is not wounding you. If you want the seed of love inside you to sprout, the very first thing is to send a message of love to nature. But you are such strange people: the moon will be in the sky the whole night and you will be sitting and playing cards, and you will be calculating how much you have won or lost. The moon will be up there and a beautiful opportunity for love will be lost for nothing. The moon could have awakened that center of love within you.
If you could sit with the moon for a few enchanted moments and convey a message of love, its rays could move something inside you, some essence, and you would be filled with love."