There are so many reasons that winter is my favorite season–not the least of which is its discomfort, its cold, its challenge to your own capacity for restlessness and creativity. But perhaps winter’s most challenging aspect is its ability to throw into sharp relief everything that’s been eating you (or choking you) since last season(s).

The light is so very uncompromised in winter, which means shadows are sharper, harder to ignore. Winter generously offers us the opportunity to root through the overgrowth in our own lives because it is so very obvious, and so very brittle thanks to cold air, dry heat, and long nights.

Here in January, we sit at the fulcrum of winter–a perfect time to gather our post-holiday slump up into our arms and knead it into some sort of motivation, some sort of drive to turn a cold, clear eye onto our own lives, then get to work. Spend quiet hours, not distracting yourself, but rediscovering yourself, using that model from your childhood–the person you felt you’d grow into before someone, somewhere scared you otherwise.

There is so much opportunity here–no should, only could–*could* I drop this? Pick up that? Could I wake up just this side of thrilled every morning? Well. We’ve plenty of space, plenty of dark nights spent dreaming to find out. • #winterdreaming #clarity #peace #hellojanuary #natureonthepage #satyaoftheday #quietearthyoga

I don’t have an answer for how or when to anticipate a shift in landscape, in circumstance. Maybe we’re not meant to know, or we’d spend all our time hibernating until the thaw. Not that such a life would be all bad, really, when we’re up against it, exhausted by the view from our own windy perch.

But we’re not so lucky as to live in caves, sleep under layers of fat and fur, dreaming of fish and berries and purloined bird feeders. No, we have to, are programmed to, get up, go on, and I wonder, is that part of the problem? That programming bit? No doubt we’ve both done it and allowed it to be done to ourselves, and I don’t see how we can give it up now–all that technology, even for those of us who try to shut it off, shut it down two days a week or so–we’re embedded.

So maybe that’s what we do–sleep when we can until, one morning, we wake to sun, shrug off a long winter’s pallor to ramble off in search of wild things like berries and fish and meandering bears. • #natureonthepage #hellojanuary #anxiety #quietearthyoga #satyaoftheday #peace

CHAIR POSE

Relax your shoulders and draw them away from your ears. 

Lengthen your spine.

Engage your core.

Keep your torso at a right angle with the tops of your thighs.

Press your shinbones back.

Keep your weight on your heels. 

There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul. -Ella Wheeler Wilcox

There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul. -Ella Wheeler Wilcox

“You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.” -Zig Ziglar #quotes

Live freely and kind.

Get Inspired. Get Motivated www.oursweetinspirations.com

1. Let go of anyone that doesn’t make you feel happy and cut the ties, no matter how good of a friend that person was. If they no longer make you feel good, if they no longer make an effort to stay in contact, make sure to distance yourself. Maybe things will relax in time, maybe they won’t. But don’t waste your time on someone who doesn’t care. 2. Don’t try to run from pain. Don’t shut it out. Face it, cry, scream, throw a pillow at the wall - do whatever makes you feel better, then try to find closure and start over. You can’t outrun pain, it will catch up to you sooner or later. 3. Take care of yourself. You are important. Don’t neglect your own needs because you’re so focused on putting the people you love first. 4. Accept your flaws, your scars and the mistakes you made. Embrace them. They make you who you are. 5. Tell people how you feel about them. I have a hard time taking my own advice, but I know what it’s like to regret not opening up to someone only to be confronted with the situation that you no longer can. There is so much to gain, nothing to lose. 6. Don’t be scared to dream. If there is something you want to do with your life, don’t let someone else’s opinion stop you. 7. Be patient. If I have learned anything this year, it’s that everything moves at its own pace, whether it’s the amount of time your heart needs to heal or the weeks or months or years you need to move on. Small steps, always. 8. Forgive others - and forgive yourself. Forgiving doesn’t equal forgetting, it doesn’t mean that you should accept destructive and abusive behaviour from someone else (or yourself, for that matter). Forgiving sets your soul free. You’ll feel lighter and better. 9. Read more. Books are magical. There is no easier way to escape your own thoughts for a couple of hours than reading. 10. Make time for people you love. Distance means nothing if you keep them close to you in your heart. Talk to them, text them, ask them how they are and what they’ve been up to and also: listen to them. It’s so important to listen.

10 things to keep in mind for 2017 n.j. (via ninasdrafts)

Get Inspired. Get Motivated www.oursweetinspirations.com

It’s lit 🌝🕯✌🏼️☮️🔮