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I grew up in Southern California where there is hardly anything you could call a winter season. A lot of people there like to pretend that there are no seasons, and it’s go go go all the time. Moving to Iowa many moons ago, a place with four distinct seasons, changed my perspective on winter.
When I first moved to Iowa, I thought “wouldn’t it be great to just skip winter?” “Who needs it?”
Now, I have a different perspective on it. Winter is a beautiful time, a quiet time, a time of repose and contemplation. A time to regenerate. A time to sleep, perchance to dream.
Spring will come soon enough, the snow in my yard will melt, and I will be busy busy busy, doing rather than being. But in winter I am forced to slow down, and the resultant time spent in quiet reflection can be life-changing.
So winter is a built-in retreat or a kind of Monastery that we visit every year. A time when renewal of body, mind, and spirit is possible. A time to get to know yourself. A time for meditation, prayer, peaceful reflection, daydreaming, and a time for us to contemplate the big questions: who am I? Where am I going? What do I want? What are my goals? What is it all about? Where has my life taken me? Is this who I want to be? What is my place in the universe? Do I have a mission on earth? Am I connected to spiritual guidance? What is good? What is God? … And on and on, right?
These are some of the questions that have intrigued and plagued humankind for millennia. I am not trying to bring that plague upon you, but when in your busy daily life during the rest of the year do you have time to think about these questions?
Winter, with its quiet beauty, its long dark nights, and starry skies…
Its candlelight indoors and soft blankets and fires in the fireplace – gives us a chance to still our mind and become inspired.
Now for some people, contemplation of any of these things is probably to be avoided at all costs, I am sure. And, of course, too much contemplation without practice might be distressing to some. Moderation in all things is recommended, including contemplation! Robert, the main character of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, became obsessed with contemplating the question “What is Quality?” and it drove him a little crazy. So I’m not advocating such obsession!
But I am advocating seeking the things that bring you peace and contentment, and joy - rather than stress. Our daily lives are often full of stress. In addition to periods of rest, we need good sleep at night to de-stress, to bring ourselves into a healthy equilibrium. Winter plays the same role on a seasonal basis as nighttime does on a daily basis.
In Winter we can slow down, and connect with the simpler aspects and pleasures of life. We can pay more attention to each thing we are doing and each thought we are having here and now, because less is planned for the next moment to anticipate, and less has happened in the last moment to worry about. This is the Zen of Winter.
In more northerly climes, like Minnesota, some folks are so into winter, they may not want spring to come! We certainly know people who, when they finally get some good sleep, don’t want to get out of bed in the morning. They just want that bliss to continue! Why couldn’t the Zen of Winter be just like that?
So how would we go about achieving that Zen of Winter? Well, first just slow down. Way down. What are you in a hurry for? What do you REALLY have to get done today?
Enjoy a walk in the woods, notice the beauty of the season, enjoy time with your pet, or linger over coffee with a friend.
After you have freed yourself of all your lower priority activities, you might find you have created time to do things that you never had time for before: How about baking bread?
Or volunteering at a food pantry?
Second, once you know what you want to accomplish, be present every moment while you are doing it. Do everything with intention. This is the Zen part. Working in the kitchen? Washing dishes? Cooking? Enjoy it! Feel the satisfaction of doing the job unrushed. It is said that how we do anything is how we do everything.
Third, try to find joy in everything. What do you have to lose? Sing! Whistle while you work. You might actually feel happier than you ever have!
And share your joy. Play a game with someone. Gather your friends, or just call an old friend, a relative, someone you feel drawn to connect to. Brighten someone’s day!
Fourth, take time to create your reality. Take a good look at yourself. What do you need to be at your best? A healthier diet or workout program? This is a good time to get started on that!
This is also a good time to plan your garden for spring, or plan a vacation you’ll take in the summer. Savor the anticipation. What is it they say? If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Winter is a great time for planning!
Fifth, be aware of the presence of spirit in everything. Once we get out of our monkey minds that are busy distracting us with doing doing doing, and we start to allow “just being” into our lives, we open our awareness to how everything is connected.
In this mindset, we are not just busy little egos wanting this, deciding that, doing this, saying that. We have a chance to see things from the point of view of our higher self. What a view! And we could ask “What Would Our Higher Self Do?” For those following the path of Jesus, that question is the same as “What Would Jesus Do?”
Winter is a time when we can allow ourselves to begin to process grief. If you have been putting it off during the busy season, winter is a good time to begin the process. Grief cannot be rushed, but it must be begun, not avoided.
Winter is a time for humility, a time for love, a time for second chances, a time to allow ourselves and others to be imperfect, to be human, to make mistakes, and to be forgiven.
It is a time for helping others,
It is a time for enjoying exercise inside or outside
Or just plain winter fun.
And a time to be grateful for our angels and the renewing grace of God. Winter is an opportunity for us to be reminded that we are spiritual beings, that we are loved and helped and given many chances, and we should go and do likewise.
I can remember going to spiritual camp, a week of spiritual retreat where we didn’t have to worry about our usual concerns, like where our next meal was coming from, or how long our commute would be to work, etc. Instead, as a community, we got a chance to slow down, open up our energy centers (or chakras) and be one with the universe. It was blissful. Unfortunately at the end of camp, reality intruded, and we would consciously have to “dial back our chakras” in order to cope with the real world as we drove home, and engaged in our mundane lives.
Winter can be like a spiritual camp. A time when our chakras are open and we feel connected to others and to universal spirit. We can live simply, give ourselves time to recharge, renew, and heal, both physically and psychologically. It is a time to become whole again in every aspect of our body, mind, and spirit. And it is a time to receive inspiration and to be creative!
The cycles of nature that produce winter are like all the other cycles we observe in the universe. The universe is not static, it is constantly moving, cycling, spiraling. And we can learn a lot from the universe.
Deciduous trees lose their leaves in fall, which have become filled with metabolic waste products. In winter, these trees are bare, but they don’t die. They are renewing, from life that continues under the bark and in their roots, deep beneath the earth. Winter is a time for faith, that we too can let go of the toxic parts of our lives, and be renewed.
So winter can contribute as much to a happy, well-balanced life as any of the other seasons. Maybe more! Growing up in California, I didn’t know what I was missing. Now I wouldn’t have it any other way!
And Winter has the best Holidays! Christmas, New Years, Groundhog Day, Mardi Gras, Valentines Day, and St. Patrick’s Day, not to mention the Superbowl, Basketball, and a whole host of winter sports…
And this year the Olympics!
Of course, we don’t want winter to actually make us sick. Be careful on the ice. Get your annual flu shot and what I am sure will become our annual covid shot.
And be mindful of lower Vitamin D production and Seasonal Affective Disorder due to lack of daily light. Winter can be invigorating, but if it threatens your physical or mental health, seek medical help!
When the temperatures descend to sub-zero and the wind comes whistling down the plain, and we can’t go out, we may ask ourselves “what is the lesson?” “What do I need to learn?”
Is this the universe telling you it is time to crack that book you have been meaning to read?
Tackle that project you have been putting off? Start writing your book or a song? Start an art project?
Have a deep conversation with God?
Mend a relationship? Make a friend?
A whole different world can open up when you slow down and take the time to do the little things, and do them with joy. And perhaps that is the lesson!
Meditation
I invite you to close your eyes, get comfortable in your seat, and imagine that you are in a warm, safe place with a large picture window looking out onto a winter wonderland. Inside there is a fire in the fireplace. Outside there is snow on the ground and trees and hills in the distance. Above is the blue sky and the winter afternoon sun. It is peaceful, serene, and pure. There is a cleared path that leads from your door, and with your coat and hat and gloves on, you step outside to walk down the path, breathing in the crystal clear air, enjoying the flick of a woodpecker, immersed in a world that is both beautiful and refreshing. As you walk, your mind clears of all your daily concerns and you allow nature to speak to you in a kind of walking meditation. As we go into the silence, receive the inspiration from the universe in this walking meditation. In the silence…
You find that you have walked in a path that loops back around to the place where you started. Go inside, warm up by the fire, and when you are ready, come back into this space and time, refreshed and renewed, having experienced the Zen of winter.
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