Winter: A Time for Reflection and Renewal
At the most physical and evident level, during winter the sunlight decreases and nature sheds everything external, leaves and flowers, to enter a seemingly dead phase. The truth is that while there is aridity outside, energy continues to flow inside the earth, in potential preparation of seeds and roots for their development in spring.
Honoring the cycles of nature has been a common practice in all cultures, with the sun being the central protagonist of these celebrations, due to its greater or lesser presence in terrestrial space and its influence on crops.
For the Celts, in the winter period, nature sleeps, waiting for the moment of rebirth. Translated to everyday life, winter is a time of pause, silence, stillness and reflection to lay the foundations for what is to come.
Winter is then associated with darkness, with the deep and internal, as explained by Adharayoga.com, it is a lunar season as solar light decreases in potency.
According to the Chinese medical system, for example, the power of winter is deep and yin, feminine; its element is water, and its organs are the kidneys and bladder.
And being water its element, winter is related to emotions in general, although fear is the specific poison it is associated with, and it can harm these organs.
"It is a time to conserve energy, and the qualities of compassion, understanding, and responsiveness to the needs and feelings of others are considered feminine and maternal qualities, which are also characteristics of the water element."
WINTER YOGA
According to the Yin-Yang Yoga system, during winter sessions, asanas that specifically benefit the energetic channels of the Kidney and Bladder are performed, effortlessly maintaining and flowing with gravity, holding the postures for 30 breaths or 3 to 5 minutes.
This time of inactivity and rest in breathing, explains teacher Ana Fernández, allows us to experience the yin qualities of openness, receptivity, surrender, stillness, silence, and emptiness.
"Winter asanas are postures that promote the activation of Chi or vital energy, in these channels, opening the joints and gently and passively stretching the major muscle groups associated with them, with deep and slow breathing.
"These postures are generally performed seated, bending the trunk forward over the legs, or lying down, raising the legs over the torso, although there are also some backward postures.
After each posture, rest in Savasana, the Corpse pose. Forward bending postures are more Yin because they place the head at heart level, making it easier to pump blood to the brain. The heart muscle is relaxed and blood pressure is reduced. Forward bending postures harmonize the flow of Chi in the meridians of the back and have a calming, sedating effect."