In winter we should be receptive not active…
Winter is the ultimate of yin; yin dominates, yang is sleeping. The light is receding, our days are shorter, our nights are longer. The sun is lower in the sky and the cold permeates everything. The life force of all living things goes down, deep into the root. The sap runs deep into the roots of trees, the animals burrow into the earth, the earth’s forces go deep within. Our actions in this season should correspond this principle. We too must join all living things and respond to the demands of winter.
Winter is the time of the year for rest,caution and introspection. In winter heaven and earth are no longer in communication. The fields lie fallow, the energy of life lies deep within. This is a precarious time, a time for caution. The emotion associated with winter is fear, further emphasizing the precariousness of this season. The principle is containment and storing. We should be storing the qi we have gathered in the summer and late summer.
…inward not outward.
Resist the temptations to be busy. Rather than starting new projects, build reserves for projects that will come alive in the spring when all things burst forth. Try not to spend your energy needlessly. The power of winter is emphasis. Whatever is going on in our lives will be emphasized in this season. The process begun in fall is completed in winter. Now the facts lie bare. We are driven deep into our root self. This emphasis will bring stark awareness to our inner life, allowing us to reflect and deepen.
Winter is one of the five phases of the yearly cycle. Late summer was the beginning of the change to the yin principle,
fall was the call to balance, and now we are here in the depths of yin. At last it’s time to rest. All depends on this season, for without rest and containment our spring will not have the force it needs to begin life anew.
The three months of winter
Are called closing
and storing.Water freezes, earth cracks.
No more influence from the yang.One goes to bed early,
one gets up late.
Everything must be done according to
the light
of the sun,Exerting the will
As if buried, as if hidden
Taking care only of oneself,
As if fixed on oneself, in possession of
oneself.One must avoid the cold
And seek the heat.
Not let anything escape
through the layers of skin,
For fear of losing all the qi.This corresponds
with the winter qi.
It is the way
that maintains the
storing of life.– The Neijing