I’m feeling it now – the urge to go within and be quiet. Peaceful as the snow falls while I walk in the woods by myself. There are movements and small noises around me with the tumbling of the snowflakes and the slight sighing breeze through the treetops. The tree trunks stand tall and comforting, staying close, almost like a vertical blanket keeping me protected. I can ruminate to my heart’s content out here in nature, almost like being in a trance state.
In my inner eye, I see another scene. It’s still winter but the climate is not cold. The waves call to me from a Pacific Ocean beach as I search the surface of the water for dolphins. This time the breeze is stronger and cools the sweat off my skin as I breathe deeply and let my body relax after running along the water’s edge for miles. The sun’s rays are strong, the water is a deep blue, and I hear the seagulls above my head. My heart beat slows and I feel my consciousness drift.
A new vision emerges. There is dappled light coming through the jungle of trees that surrounds the nondescript hole in the ground. The limestone entrance leads underground to high vaulted chambers. As I descend the ladder, I notice my skin’s slight shiver as the temperature becomes somewhat cooler than the noontime high above ground. The water glimmers invitingly so I slip gently into it and begin to follow the slight current through the ancient cenote. There are sparkles of fish scales and I follow, feeling like I am in the waters of the earth’s womb.
Another winter and I’m by the side of a river dangling my snowshoed feet towards the water as I sit on the snow covered bank. My jacket is off because the heat from the sun is melting all the frozen water around me. I watch as tiny ice particles drip into the semi-flowing water creating paisley-like designs. I’m mesmerized and stay patiently in place as I view the changing microscopic world around me. I look up to the sky and see the clouds are mirroring the patterns that the minute particles of water on the riverbank are creating.
What do all of the above memories share? All took place in the winter season, outdoors in nature, and brought me to a meditative state. I went inward and found myself being part of the eternal beauty of nature. I realized that my physical body and all beyond it were made of the same stuff – elements, atoms, biochemicals, and the spark of universal life. I felt at peace and at one with the rest of the universe. It was mystical, mysterious, and renewing.
Winter is a season of going within, of reflection, of assessing and learning so that energies can be gathered together to become stronger and wiser. This inner reflection generates new thoughts and ideas, and new ways to grow for the coming spring season when innovation can come to life.
Sometimes I am impatient for spring to come especially in the last stages of February. I’m ready to burst out of my shell like a seed waiting to sprout in the nourishing dark earth. So I take myself outside once again and reconnect with the beauty around me. Nature reminds me that this is the time for meditation, dreaming, and just being in my essence. Quiet, still, breathing, listening.
© 2017 by Sheila Peters. All rights reserved.
Sheila Peters is a certified Eden Energy Medicine Practitioner, Reiki Practitioner, and wingWave©Coach. She also teaches Stretch/Energy Body Tune-up and Jazz Dance classes and workshops. For more information email Sheila at: sheilapetersdance@gmail.com, call 781-354-0725, or visit Sheila’s website at: www.energymedicineanddance.com.