In a few days, winter begins.
How do you feel about that?
Many see it as a season to endure … too dark, too cold, too bleak. Spring and its burst of warmth, life, and activity cannot come early enough.
What if, this year, you do more than simply endure winter? What if you fully embrace it instead?
Winter asks you to slow down and look inward. It is a time to do less – so you can rest, heal, and restore your strength.
It is a time for reflection, dreaming, meditation and prayer – so you can nurture your inner life and your spiritual self.
It is a time for quiet and stillness – so you can reconnect to the peace and calm that lies underneath all of life’s noise and activity.
It is a time for simplicity – so you can remember what is really important and deserving of your time and energy.
And, it is a time for planning and gathering your resources – so you can be grounded, focused, and prepared when spring does arrive.
Winter offers the gift of being able to engage in life from a place of rest, wisdom, stability, and gratitude. It is a gift worth receiving.
How will your life be changed if you embrace winter this year?
Wayne Mylin is a Shiatsu therapist at Abramson Cancer Center at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. He has been providing Shiatsu sessions and Chinese Medicine based self-care workshops to patients and their caregivers since 2001. Wayne is also the managing director of his national professional association, the American Organization for Bodywork Therapies of Asia (AOBTA).