The power of rest

Recently, a good chunk of my morning practice has taken place under blankets or a duvet.

I journal, and I meditate, under a duvet.

Some days, that’s all I do.

Other days, I move. Or breathe. Or chant. Or do some more meditation. 

Whatever I do, it tends to be quite gentle. Soft. Mellow.

No sun salutations or strong flows right now.

There was a time when that would have felt like a failure to me.

If only subconsciously, I would have beaten myself up for straying from the self-imposed discipline of a “proper” daily practice.

That was before I started tuning in more deeply to the rhythms of nature. 

The daily rhythms of the sun. The monthly rhythms of the moon. The yearly rhythms of the seasons.

And, in doing so, I became more deeply aware of my own internal rhythms and ever-changing energies.

I was reminded that I am an integral part of the natural world and its rhythms. 

That the rhythms of nature and my internal rhythms are inextricably linked.

Today, as I write this, it is a New Moon. 

Which means that the last few days have been a Dark Moon. In Lunar terms, the Dark Moon is a time of deep rest. Of going inwards and simply being. 

So that we’re then ready, in the New Moon, to gently greet the start of a new monthly cycle, and set our intentions for the month ahead.

So it makes sense to me that, for the past few days, I’ve felt a strong need to rest, and to be rather than do.

Just as it makes sense to me that I’m now starting to feel the stirrings of just a little more energy. A little more readiness to look outwards and forwards.

Being familiar with the phases of the moon isn’t just another version of imposing rules upon myself. 

The Lunar calendar doesn’t tell me what I should do. 

Rather, it helps me make sense of how I feel. 

It offers me a lens through which I am more able to bring awareness to, and then work with - rather than against - the natural flow of ever-changing energies in my body, my mind, my nervous system.

Bringing awareness to the changing of the seasons throughout the year is another way I do this.

Imbolc is the pagan / gaelic festival that falls at the start of February. 

And it’s more than a date in, the calendar. It’s a recognition of this period of time we are still in now - beyond the Winter Solstice, and before the Spring Equinox.

Imbolc is an invitation to tune into the beginnings of transition from Winter to Spring.

Rather like the transition from Dark Moon to New Moon, it is a time of gentle stirring and gradual awakening.

A time of slow thawing and subtle shifts.

It is a time for stillness and space.

Not the full deep rest and hibernation of mid-Winter.

But still a time for looking inwards. 

A time to pay attention to what is starting to move beneath the surface.

A time to draw your energy inwards and nurture your roots.

Your needs. Your dreams. Your desires. 

Your intentions.

Your purpose.

Imbolc teaches us that there is no hurry.

It teaches us that we can trust our deeper intuitive selves to set the pace.

No forcing ourselves to the surface before our intentions are fully nourished, strong, and ready to support our actions.

No languishing beneath the surface either, no holding back the roots that are strong and ready for action - stunting our growth before it’s even begun.

It is - like everything we navigate and experience - a balance trick. 

Imbolc invites us to be patient with ourselves.

And to hold ourselves accountable.

To rest, when we know that’s what serves us.

And to move, to take action, when we know that’s what we need.

To do all of this in service of our clear intentions and purpose.

And to do all of this whilst staying fully present with wherever we’re at right now - not hurrying ourselves towards an end goal.

Like anything that reconnects us to the rhythms of nature,

Imbolc, and today's New Moon, is a nudge to reconnect with ourselves.

It is a reminder to really notice, deep within us, what we are feeling.

It is an invitation to pause, to listen to, and to honour the wisdom of our deeper self: the intuitive part of us that knows what we need.