.....winter's clarity

Yogis,

Thursday morning was 18 degrees with that piercing bright sunlight that you only get when it sits low in the sky. The type of weather which creates crystal clear air where you could swear that your eyesight has improved. This type of weather shouts the word ‘clarity’ to me. 

Visiting the creek, the water glistens. As you approach it appears like glass providing a clear view of what lies beneath. Nothing murky or clouded. No wondering or guessing. No leaf cover on the trees to cloud my vision of the eagle that takes flight above my head. 

My trusty dog and I hike the trail and it too is clear. As she sails through the trees I can still see her lifted tail off in the distance, before she stops on a dime and arrives back so quickly you would swear she was flying. Only a few lone people, also with their trusty dogs, cross our path. Time for listening. Time for seeing. Time for hearing my breath.

Days like these also offer up a much clearer schedule than the hustle and bustle that accompanies warmth.  The colder the days……the less there seems to be to do. Time to be.

I mentally add all of these to my list.

Several years ago at this time of year I set the intention to see what I was grateful for in the winter season. For too many years I mumbled all the things I disliked about the season. It’s easy to find fault. To think it, share it, dwell on it. It takes more awareness to find the hidden gems in those things that most challenge us. Winter had always been my challenge. So, I started a list. 

The magnificent work of art that trees become when they shed their leaves. How the sky suddenly becomes so much bigger. The way I can see the full moon rising out my window through the bare branches. Making a pot of soup and having it on the stove for several meals. Being able to head up to bed to read at 8:00 with no guilt.  A warm cup of tea in my hands. The sensation of dropping down into the hot tub.  How most of my classes are done by candlelight.  The indescribable coral color of the sunrise as I meditate each morning….it takes my breath away….and the way the light reflects off the trees on its way down each afternoon. 

The start of a New Year is a time to set intention. As you begin to uncover the change you want to create, I offer the possibility of not removing something or even creating something new, but perhaps finding the gifts that lie within what is already here. The practice of gratitude for what is has the power to change your relationship with the life around you. I know it has for me and my new friend, winter.

Happy New Year!

I just need better gloves,
SARAH

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