It’s halfway through January and you may already be losing momentum for the things you jumped into on New Year’s Day. You are not alone. When my ambitious to-do list sends me spiraling into overwhelm, I’ve found that reconnecting to the energy of Yule Season and the intentions I set on the Winter Solstice brings me back to center. My theme for Yule Season is “restoration.” Here are four things that bring restoration into the beginning of the year’s busy-ness.
Prioritize quiet introspection.#
I have a half hour blocked out on my calendar every day for my sit spot. Sometimes I must shift the time to accommodate other appointments, but I never delete it. If my day is so packed I would have to skip it to squeeze in something else, then there is no time for that something else and it will have to wait. And I don’t push meditation time to the end of the day because I know I can’t sit then without falling asleep. Figure out what works for you but make time for quiet introspection.
Move gently.#
After two years of trying and failing to jump back into running, I admitted to myself that I had lost significant fitness and needed to be a beginner again. I chose a long Couch-to-5K plan with more walking than running during the early weeks. I appreciate feeling a bit sore so I know I’ve done something but not so much that I feel too exhausted and grumpy to do anything else. I’m also keeping my yoga practice gentle, so my Yule Season movement feels restorative, not taxing.
Write it down now, do it later.#
I am one of those “let’s do this new shiny thing” people and easily get distracted from work I had already committed to. Then I sacrifice sleep and other needs to get everything done. This Yule Season, I am watching for when I start adding more to my planned tasks for the day or doing something that isn’t on the list just because it seems like a good idea now. Instead, I grab my journal, set a timer for ten minutes, and write down everything I can about the new idea before the timer goes off. If I happen to find myself with a block of free time and want to revisit the idea, I can give more consideration to what would really be involved to manifest it and when would be the appropriate time to work on it.
Sleep.#
To meet the needs of the beings I serve, human and more-than-human, my schedule includes early mornings and late nights. To feel restored in the morning, my body needs more sleep than I can give it some nights. During this Yule Season, when it’s dark longer anyway, I am giving myself permission to sleep longer on mornings when I don’t have early commitments and, inspired by my pre-K grandson, to take a short nap on days when I have to stay up late or when I feel like my energy is waning.
These are the four things that are working for me as I move through Yule Season. Maybe you need something else to make this month feel restorative. The magic of this quiet season is natural introspection, so listen for your body and spirit to guide you into Yule Season restoration.