Keeping your Energy Up during Fall & Winter
As we progress further into Fall and Winter and the days are growing ever shorter and colder, it's natural to feel our energy levels shift. Which can set off panic and worry, as our brains spin with worst case scenarios. Am I sick? Am I depressed? Should I get tested?
But as I said, this shift in energy is actually natural. Though we may not always act like it, we Humans are part of Nature. We are part of the Grand Design! So as the seasons change, so will we. And the key is learning to go with the flow, instead of resisting it, and growing our awareness of what makes the energy of each season distinct so we can align with that energy and allow it to enhance our experience of life.
During the Spring and Summer months, with longer, hotter days, we experience more energy to expand out into the world.
Think of the eruption of green following the Winter. It's a great time to travel and be outdoors, to work on new projects, to network and build relationships with others, and to make use of longer days to highlight creativity and productivity - to be active! We can feel invigorated and bursting forth with vitality.
This is not the energy of Fall and Winter.
Quite the contrary, during the final months of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, just like Nature around us, we begin to retreat inwards and slow down.
Spending more time indoors, letting new ideas incubate, self-reflecting and self-examining, and making use of the waning daylight to rest and enjoy a slower pace and be less active. We can feel more sedate and inclined to silence and stillness and expending less energy outwards and more energy inwards.
And so feeling less inclined to being active, packing our schedules, and burning the midnight oil is not necessarily a sign that something's wrong. Contrary to the instituted frenzy that the Holidays can bring, we are meant to balance the busy-ness of the first half of the year with stillness in the second half. And so learning to align with this shift of Nature’s energy can be key in keeping your positive energy high during this transition, and learning to embrace and discern how this positive energy manifests differently with each season to enrich your experience of life.
To serve yourself in doing this, here are a few simple tips:
Reduce your To-Do List. What if your to-do list was only 3 tasks long? While this may sound preposterous and like a recipe for everything falling apart, it's a wonderful antidote to our conditioned response to perceiving a state of distress and burning out as "normal." And from my own experience of applying this tip, I can assure you that everything doesn’t fall apart. After getting past the initial fear and anxiety, I find that everything that needs to be done gets done and I feel significantly more joyful and free while doing it. It actually brings my experience of balancing work and play together in harmony. But as always, don’t take my word for it - try it and see for yourself.
Prioritize Self-Care. Sometimes self-care gets blurry and out of focus. We may reason that taking care of others is our self-care or indulging our vices is caring to the self. But that is not self-care. Self-care is tending to our own needs as a precursor to tending to the needs of others and having clarity to discern what is actually a need and what is actually a want. Your needs are essential for your physical existence - without them, you will cease to exist physically. So making sure you're eating and hydrating well and sufficiently. Remembering to breathe deeply. Recharging through sleep and restful activities. Making time to laugh, to love, and have FUN! When we make fulfilling our needs a priority and steer clear of replacing our essential needs with non-essential wants, we can pour out from an overflowing cup and everything else will follow more smoothly and with more ease.
Eliminate Distraction & Increase Reflection. We can squander a lot of energy through distraction, can’t we? Social media, streaming services, and most of our apps depend upon this fact! So during Fall and Winter, when the energy in the World is dipping into a slower state, cherish and protect your energy through unplugging more often and slipping into quiet reflection. Meditation, reading, relaxing in a warm bath, taking slow, long walks in Nature, snuggling with a loved one in silence, taking impromptu naps, listening to classical music...allow these types of activities to enhance your energy and help you make the most of the opportunity to rejuvenate and fuel yourself from within so you’ll be ready to go when Spring and the lighter, warmer seasons arrive.
Have questions about these tips? Seeking further guidance to break free from cycles of stress and overwhelm so you can bring further balance, stillness, and fulfillment to your life?
I am here to Serve, so please reach out and let me know! Fall into Winter is my favorite time of the year and a time of great healing and inner growth. And I'm happy to pay the gifts of joy and deeper wholeness forward. :)
