HAPPY SOLSTICE

 

 

“Right now your heart is beating in utter darkness inside your chest. You were conceived in the dark of your mother’s womb. Everything that is happening aboveground is because of what’s happening below, in the shadows. We have to descend into the dark, yet we are continually trying to climb out of it. In The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Blake said we have to go to heaven for form and to hell for energy, and marry the two. There is vitality in that move. I notice a kind of anemia in a certain sort of New Age spirituality. There’s not much blood in it. It lacks the black earth of what in Spanish is called duende: the erotic, juicy energy that makes things shimmer. Blake knew that much of that energy is cut off from our lives and relegated to hell. So we have to go into the shadows and bring it back out. Our hyperpositive tendencies want us to do a spiritual bypass around the mess of it all, but it’s there in that mess that we are most human.” – from ‘The Geography of Sorrow: Francis Weller on Navigating Our Losses’ , The Sun Magazine (Oct 2015 Issue 478)

Happy Winter Solstice. May the ever-slowly waxing of the light be enough to show the way in being with what lies in the dark. Shadows, solitude, sorrow, big feelings, the fear and sweetness of slowing down… welcome whatever comes. Life is richer for it. As grief and sorrow specialist Francis Weller says in his exquisite interview in ‘The Sun Magazine’ (read it!) it makes us more human.

It’s true that the nights technically get shorter from here on in, but for a spell the diurnal light hovers roughly at the same length of time. If you’re like me – someone for whom sunlight easily propels into over-activity – winter is a deeply restorative time of year. Embrace these short days and tuck in to the quiet, rest, and contemplation this time of year invites.

INTENTION

Contemplation at this time of year seems to go hand-in-hand with recapping the year past and resetting for the next. Whatever or whenever your version of a new year or phase is, having a little more time (a.k.a. the holidays) plus all sorts of people around us talking about new year’s ‘resolutions’ can make us think we have to sum it all up and set all sorts of lofty goals. New Year’s Resolutions-aversive that I am, last year when I read my favourite blogging biomechanist’s reflections of her year in health, I was moved to answer the same questions she asks herself. And in so doing, I found myself sneaking in some very worthwhile intention setting. For great questions to get you thinking about your past health triumphs, and how to create health in the coming months, check out Katy Bowman’s 2014 Health Recap. And watch for her upcoming – and undoubtedly amusing – 2015 recap.

I wish you and yours blessings, safety, and shelter in all ways for these days, however you spend them.

PRACTICE NEWS

I am on holidays and will be back in the studio January 6, 2016.

ROLLING PRICE INCREASE UPDATE! All sessions booked up until the end of January, 2016 will be at the current rate, as well as anyone currently doing a Ten Series (I know, I changed it, because upping my rates right after the season of consumption felt a little too harsh). The new rate of $155/session (includes gst) will be as of February 1, 2016. Book Valentine’s sessions for your sweethearts now!

Thank you for a wonderful 2015.