Unexpected Opportunities in Shorter, Darker Days

I sometimes lament, alongside my clients, the lack of time in everyday life and just how busy life can be. If there’s one thing I’m honestly fairly adverse to, it’s being busy. My favorite kind of weekend/rest-time is mostly spontaneous, unplanned space. 

And, yet, I’ve been reminded lately about how we can use the boundaries, the edges, even the limitations, to encourage creativity in how we act and live. 

As we move towards winter, the turning of the seasons slows, and it’s true that everything takes a little more planning and thought. 

I’ve still been waking up early enough to exercise and meditate but sleep is a priority, both in Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, for maintaining rhythms and repair. And in both systems of thought, we need a bit more sleep and rest in both fall and winter, so I’m expecting my days to slow and compress even more as we move towards these seasons of contraction. 

In my everyday life and rhythms, I’m still very much exploring how to pattern-in my weight-lifting and other exercise/movement practices to keep my body happy but also challenged. I started lifting weights not too long ago and I also do some cardio dance videos to train my heart. 

I’ve been doing these activities distinctly at separate times but I recently realized that I could hold weights WHILE doing the dance videos and get the benefits of both an elevated heart-rate and strength training in one. 

Adding load (or weight) to any exercise is one way to make it harder and thereby is an opportunity to get progressively stronger. Do the same thing over and over again and your body will simply adapt. 

It’s the unexpected that helps us grow in more strength, and yet, mentally, the unexpected and the difficult can just seem like too much. 

Autumn, with its erratic weather, busy Western holiday schedule, and back-to-school vibes, is a season that requires us to be a bit more thoughtful in how to operate. Autumn itself is a boundary of sorts, a threshold towards the contraction of winter, a season associated with death and decline. 

This season of compression forces us to think about what we value and how we want to live. It can challenge us to lovingly reassess our routines, to find new rhythms that will sustain us through the end of this calendar year or this current cycle of the seasons. 

Where are you noticing that more load, more weight, has been added into your routine? Where does the strain feel like a healthy challenge, and where does it feel like it’s approaching collapse? This will help you assess where you might need to lift less or let go. 

And where  can you find creative ways to hold what you’ve been given and to move with the challenges or compression? Where can you even add, on purpose, a little more pressure, a little more load, to help yourself grow? 

My next in-person restorative yoga workshop at Studio 34 Yoga will explore these themes with an embodied practice designed to help you create space in your body, mind, and heart to let go a little more deeply. 

There’s still space available in this event: Restorative Yoga for Grief and Loss, on Friday October 23rd at 7pm at Studio 34 Yoga. I would love to see you there. Register here. (Early bird pricing available through TOMORROW 10/13! Check it out today if you have time.)

If you’re a practice-at-home person and you’ve never taken a restorative yoga class with me, I would love to have you join me on Thursday November 5th on zoom. Details on my website.  

And, of course, if you’re overwhelmed by anxiety, grief, loss, or ongoing health issues, consider coming in for acupuncture. Working with a ragged nervous system to smooth your body and your breath is one of my specialities (alongside women’s health, GI disorders, and people who know they should feel better than they do, but aren’t sure how to get there.)

Reach out to me to learn more or check out the start here page of my website if you’re interested in learning more about who I help and how I help them.

If you’re a current client, consider forwarding this post to a friend who might benefit from connecting with me. Jumping onto my newsletter list is a great way to start exploring if I might be a good fit to help them heal.

PS: As a side-note, this post was partially inspired by a fantastic youtube video about Japanese homes and how the limitations of square footage force tranquility and closeness.) Check it out here.