The hardest part of moving from autumn to winter is #change in sunlight. As the Sun moves further south with each passing day, I am pulled to hibernate, drawn to the warmth of a hot cup of tea, a book, a hot steamy bath, and my legwarmers. Moving into the busiest part of the year causes great conflict within, waves of uncertainty. To combat this, I use my practices to connect to the #moment, spending even the smallest moment of time outdoors in Sun, tapping into this beautiful affirmation. The familiar warmth reminds me of familiar postures that I return to again and again for grounding, balance, and hope through the pain of season, mental fatigue, and existential crisis. I know that winter will make practices like this impossible for a time and I will miss the sweet familiarity of cold mornings and warm afternoons; the butterflies will migrate or hibernate and leave only dried cocoon upon dying perennial, the Cuban tree frogs will return to warmer haunts, and our neighborhood duck families will swarm our lawns picking grubs and bugs and leaving not-so-beautiful reminders that in Spring we will have new little duck babies. The mornings would be shrill without wonder and curiosity, such as that of our last new moon and Samhain reminding us of the tenuousness but abundance of this moment; creativity through winter seasons sustained and fed by our connection to this.
November’s theme is connection to #moment through practices using visualization, movement in and out of familiar postures, and breathwork using the language of nonviolent communication (#nvc). Today’s LIVE practice on EMY’s Facebook goup is the first of three in a series as we move into the winter months and busy holiday season in the Northern hemisphere.
For my friends in the Southern hemisphere, this practice is equally powerful. As the focus of practicing #nvc is the practice of grounding in the return to our familiar Earth, so, too, is exploring and cultivating #space where all the elements are balanced and nourish and support us. May you be blessed in your #abundance and setting.
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Below are more resources for these practices, which draw upon work of Marshall Rosenberg and his student, David Weinstock (links below), and their exemplars of grounding and mindfulness practices to cultivate and sustain the language of nonviolent communication (NVC).
For more on NVC:
David Weinstein on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-What-…
Classes with David Weinstock (and so much more!)
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More about NVC, Marshall Rosenberg, and the Center for Nonviolent Communication
https://www.cnvc.org/node/243492
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EMY on Youtube