As I’m currently obsessed with all things yin (as in, yin and yang) I’m loving it that we’re approaching the yinnest time of the year – the winter solstice. This Sunday, here at 51 degrees North, the sun will rise at 8.14am and set at 4.02pm, meaning we have 7 hours and 48 minutes of daylight, and conversely 16 hours and 12 minutes of darkness.
Thankfully not being afflicted with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) I really enjoy this time of year as a perfect opportunity to hunker down and snuggle in with friends, a good book, and/or a glass of wine as the occasion demands.
It’s also a good time for reflection, and this year I’ve been going all out on an extra-big end-of-decade review – more of a general life audit, really, looking at the various aspects of my life:
- Intellectual: what books have I read? what did I take away from them? what have I been writing about in my blogs? what have I learned?
- Physical/health: how am I feeling? did I hit my target of average 15,000 steps a day? (yes!) how does my average resting heart rate reflect my health and fitness? (down from 60bpm in the first half of the year to 50bpm in the second!)
- Relationships: family? friends? if I’m the average of the 5 people I spend the most time with, who am I?
- Financial: how do my finances reflect the value I’m bringing? am I holding true to my “right livelihood” principles?
- Home environment: do I feel nourished and safe in my home and its surroundings? is my location supportive of connection with nature? do I find beauty in my place and my space?
- Spiritual: how has life encouraged me to grow this year? what have I learned? what books or courses or teachers might help me expand my understanding?
- Creative: what space do I make for creativity – with words, with sound, with materials? how do I create balance between left brain activities and right brain activities (aka yang and yin)? what creative endeavours bring me joy?
And of course, these aren’t isolated themes – they are all connected. I step back, evaluate as objectively as I can where I am, and design tweaks to my habits to make sure next year is even better.
By “habits” I mean habits of thought as well as more visible habits – because of course what happens inside (yin) is what shows up on the outside (yang). As within, so without. As above, so below.
So I’ll leave you with that thought as I head off to do the yangiest part of my year-end process, which is to get to email Inbox Zero before I relax for the Christmas break.
I will see you in 2020, which I have the feeling is going to be a very interesting year….!
