Over the last number of years I've made an adjustment in my mind of when my "New Year's" begins. As someone who loves any opportunity for fresh starts, setting intentions and celebrating the potential to come, I find that the 1st January feels to me like a false start! Its dark, its cold, the days are short and the energy is low. As the years have passed I’ve come to understand why it is these January intentions often take more than they create when it comes to energy.
In the heart of winter, when we look to nature, it’s a time for rest, reflection, conserving. And in these darkest days before the light begins to return, I feel lucky to have the wisdom to resist the productivity push to get the year off to a flying start! On a 1st February, the first day of Spring, Brigid’s Day, Imbolc I take the opportunity to begin my year. And I do this slowly, gently, paced with what I see and feel around me. It’s still cold, though a little less dark. My energy is still inward but a slow stirring happens when I spot the beginnings of green shoots in the frozen ground around me.
As practitioners working with clients, the work in ongoing, sometimes feeling relentless. When our work is in supporting people, regardless of the modality we use, either physically, mentally or emotionally, the stream of people in need will always be continuous. Without a conscious awareness of the need for ebb and flow in ourselves, in our work, we can very easily find ourselves stuck in the "ON" position, often booking a week or twos break only to get sick when we stop, or at best not feel restored or rejuvenated when we return.
This is why I both practice and teach a practical manner in which to steady our energy and output in a way that creates a sustainable practice. We do this by consciously connecting to the cycles and resources of Nature both around us and inside of us. When we look to the natural world, we can see ebb and flow all around. We can observe and experience the cyclical nature of things and how it is not only self-sustaining but also interdependence at work. Nature exists inside of us as well as outside. We are Nature!
We can find so many fancy, clever, curated systems and philosophies to make us more productive, less prone to burnout, offering best practice standards to our clients. But when we simplify things, when we come back to and remember what we know, innately in ourselves and listen and learn from the Natural world, we have access to the original blueprint. We have resources that will replenish and nourish us and we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
So this Brigid’s Day, I invite you to connect with and harness the energy of Nature, of the season. Take the opportunity to connect yourself, your clients and your work to this flow. There are many ways to do this and benefit from it. And if your new to this concept when it come to your work and your wellbeing, keep an eye out as I will be sharing more about this as the season unfolds.
In the meantime Lá Fhéile Bríde Shona Daoibh!
