Connecting With The Spirit Of Winter // Winter Wellness Series
We cannot outsmart Nature. As much as we have been disconnected from her rhythms for millennia,
she always prevails.
The dark days of Winter are ruled by Saturn, planet of contraction, responsibility, and karma. Whether we purposefully align with the cycles of nature or not, one way or another we will be forced to reckon with the truth that what is happening externally is also happening within us. We get snowed in, burnt out, or even a global pandemic.
The recent Full Wolf Moon in Cancer showed us this: our outer world is a reflection of our inner world.
In a culture that moves at breakneck speed, most of us don't even know that we have an inner world.
But when we allow ourselves to go into our bones, hearts, and dark matter, we learn what we need to
let die and what we want to cultivate + nurture.
For many of us these days protection is at the forefront of our mind. There are several ways we cultivate
a sense of protection:
physical boundaries // isolating ourselves
deflection or concealment // masks + shields
connection // to Self + others, the plants + elements, ancestors, and the divine
By now, we can feel it in our bones that connection is how we'll make it through these times. So,
community is what we’re focusing on cultivating at Glowing Heart Center. We can increase our capacity
for connection when we come together without losing ourselves. When we are so full of our own unique
essence, we become a container that is less porous to external influence on all levels. We develop
embodied boundaries.
There are a plethora of plants + practices to share around this but for now I want to focus on Echinacea
because she has been showing up strongly as an ally for many clients this year.
The Immune System holds powerful embodiment codes. At is core, immunity is the differentiation
between self and non-self—our own tissue vs. pathogenic invasion. This function is carried out by the
thymus gland, which sits right on top of the heart, the seat of our true Self. Suppressing the process with
synthetic drugs can fracture our capacity to come into our fullness.
Echinacea is a plant protector that teaches us we don’t need walls to maintain boundaries, we just need
to be embodied in our true essence. In the same way that Echinacea stimulates the immune system to
better recognize a pathogen, it teaches us how to differentiate our own thoughts and feelings from
those we pick up from others. This is especially healing for permeable boundaries caused by trauma.
Nature provides this time for us to go within and reclaim our true Selves. Instead of struggling against
Winter and seeing it as a burden, we can surrender to and align with this journey through the fertile
darkness to nourish ourselves and fortifying our immune system, our sacred boundary protector. The
depths of our nourishment in the winter determines the heights of our vitality in the summer.
To connect more deeply with the Spirit of Winter,
join me on February 8th at 7:15 pm for a virtual herbal medicine circle focused on Winter Wellness. We will perform a sacred boundary ritual and explore plant allies, healing foods, and aligning our lifestyle with the energy of the season to promote the potential for deep hidden growth.
Diana Leahy
Diana Leahy is an Evolutionary Herbalist, Integrative Health Coach, and Shamanic Reiki Practitioner.