20 Essential Winter Questions for the Soul
photo credit: mis-destiny
What does Winter tell us about our bodies? About our spiritual and emotional lives? I’ve been a student of the ancient, powerful seasonal ways of living for many years.* If we are going to live holistically, then tuning in with our environment, the seasons, and the elements at work in our immediate surroundings is crucial. So, what about Winter... what do we think of?
The first thing we probably think of is sleep! And that couldn’t be more correct. No longer do we live in a society where there is little to do in Winter. But we can still honor this time of year by getting real with our schedules and making some extra time for rest. Usually if we don’t, our bodies force us to - with colds and flus- during these dark, colder months.
Winter also asks us to look deeper for a special, very primordial type of growth. The seed is quietly preparing, asleep but far from lifeless. We, too, can use winter as a time for deep reflection and preparation, for building reserves and reservoirs.
Far from simply a “New Year’s Resolution,” this is really the time to face our fears and begin to manifest the next big opening of our lives. The work done here in Winter, though nearly silent and hard to grasp, is actually some of the most powerful work Nature does. Indeed, sometimes we must spend many seasons in a “winter” time of life. If only we could learn to value such quiet, slow growth!
The emotion associated with Winter is Fear (or the lack thereof), and the element is Water (think colds, flus, snow, sleet, and rain!). Winter is recognized in the darkest days of the year, in the blackness of a deep ocean, in the safe, tender cushion of the womb, the vast unknown, arctic silence, the void. Within us, it’s not so different.
We all have our own frosts and snowmelt, our own depths to be plunged and explored. Our own wisdom and fears, and the seeds for our own survival. In fact, survival in its most raw, ancestral sense is associated with water, Winter, and fear.
Think of phrases like “Fear washed over me,” “I’m drowning in …,” “She’s washed up,” “thirsty for more,” “I’m low on reserves,” “the idea is incubating,” “I froze…” and the most famous antidote for any kind of stagnation, “Go with the flow.” Fear and water are primordially connected. Despite modernity, Winter is still the time we tune in with all aspects of our survival- with what is needed next.
I invite you to bundle up and get out there in the cold, preferably near some water. Observe quietly and contemplate the relationship between water, fear, wisdom and Winter.
Here are 20 powerful questions** you might like to take with you or answer afterwards. Our answers help us not to diagnose ourselves one way or another, but simply to explore personal awareness and connection to the present season and its unique teachings.
Remember that all elements and seasons are contained within each other.
May the seas always rise to meet you!
Winter’s Questions:
1. Is there rest, relaxation, quiet time?
2. Can we slow down at will? Can we stop "doing" and be still?
3. Can we clean up, clarify and cleanse murky, stagnant, or polluted situations or bodily conditions?
4. Are we able to warm up to others?
5. Are we building up our (mental/emotional/physical) reserves, or are we letting ourselves get depleted?
6. Do we have anything stored up for a metaphorical Noreaster or long winter?
7. Do we know what and where are resources are so we can make sound choices on how much or little we can put out there?
8. Do we feel scattered?
9. Do we feel we have access to our energy, wisdom, and emotions?
10. How deep can we go? With friends, intimacy, our own self-reflection?
11. Is there will, purpose, vitality available to us to make things happen when the time is right?
12. Are we thirsty a lot? Dehydrated? Chapped skin? Feeling “dried out.” Or is our nose running? Are we retaining water in some way?
13. What are our deepest fears? What are we unafraid of?
14. Can we listen deeply and actively?
15. Is there connection to our ancestral energy?
16. If you were a body of water (stream, lake, puddle, etc.), what kind would you be right this moment? Why?
17. Can we flow around obstacles, or do we get stuck a lot?
18. Is there something fishy going on in our lives that needs tending?
19. What is our personal definition of courage?
20. How do we feel near or in water? How often do we spend time near or in water?
*My studies of seasonal lore ands earth-based systems has run the gambit across many traditions and epochs, but is grounded in my own, Celtic ancestral traditions and my year-long intensive study of the 5 Element Chinese Medicine Wheel.
**Questions are adapted from a course led by 5-element Chinese Medicine teacher, Marlow Brooks, many years ago at Naropa University.
Which questions did you find most stirring? What are your next best steps?
Join Our Community & Receive Letters from the Wild:
Bi-monthly seasonal wisdom + unique practices to support your creative well-being & soul-journey. You’ll also receive links to join our free Council of the Muse gatherings. Click below for more information!
