From Loathing to Joy in Winter

From Loathing to Joy in Winter I used to hate winter. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a summer girl. A weird Minnesotan who revels in the humid 90 degree days. But I’ve learned to enjoy and embody winter. I give credit to my consistent sitting meditation practice as a factor.

Meditation is moment to moment awareness. It involves focusing or anchoring your attention on one single thing at a time without judgement. The soothing power of repetition is at the heart of meditation. I like to anchor my attention on the breath. The goal of meditation isn’t to exclude thoughts but to train the mind to notice and come back to your anchor. In focusing your attention, your mind will still wander. If you’re expecting instant peace with meditation, forget it! Your mind is naturally undisciplined and there will be all kinds of stuff tumbling around in your head including worries and fears. But in continually re-focusing your attention, you’ll begin to recognize thought patterns and repeat stories. With practice, thoughts lose their stickiness; getting pulled into your stories starts to lessen. The intention to go inward creates a space for you to become more of a witness to observe the world around you and step back rather than get caught up in it.

Years ago, I vividly remember walking outside in the middle of winter with a sudden realization. Winter is just winter, it’s my mind that perceives it as “horrible”. The problem is the thought itself, not reality. After all, I have a son who’s a snowboarder and can’t get enough of winter. For some unexplained reason, I knew this change in perspective was tied to my meditation practice. It suddenly came together. We all tell ourselves stories. Meditation helps us to be able to step back from these stories, to be able to notice, label and watch it rather than getting wrapped up in it. My practice allowed me to finally be outside of my own internal story of “I hate winter.” Do I know exactly how this happens? No and these words still don’t fully convey it.

My meditation practice has taught me to slow down, pay attention in the moment without judgement. It gives me joy and new perspective. It’s January, the afternoon following a snowstorm. No longer do I say, ughhh, January, its cold. I don’t like it. Instead, I embrace it and go for a walk. Snow forms a tent-like angle on the tree branches, a gentle breeze blows it off making it appear as if it’s lightly snowing under the midst of a clear blue sky. Cheerfulness enters my being and a smile forms. There’s an endless, pristine clear blue sky and the sun forms small sparkles of god-like glitter on the fresh white snow. I breathe in and embody the beauty. I fall in love with winter – for a few minutes anyway!

There’s a plethora of benefits and scientific studies on meditation. This blog is not scientific – just my own story and experience. Try it on for yourself! Be kind and patient. Know it’s a practice.

Meditation practice with breath as the anchor

· The most stable posture for meditation is to sit cross legged on a cushion /blanket or in a chair. Use the back of the chair or sit against a wall if you need back support

· Sit up straight and tall; let the shoulders relax. Balance the head over the neck and shoulders with chin level

· Place your attention on your breath- sense and feel your breath and know you are breathing in and breathing out

· As your mind wanders, bring it back to the breath

· Our breathing is the link between our body and mind. Sometimes our mind is thinking of one thing and our body is doing another and mind and body are not unified. By concentrating on our breathing in and out we bring body and mind back together to be in the present moment

· Begin with 3-5 minutes

In my own practice, as I begin focusing on the sensation of grounding, allowing space and following my breath a settling occurs. My mind slows and there’s a sense of peace. Fullness, emptiness, acceptance, oneness. :)