I began writing yesterday morning. I was hopeful to publish because I love the first day of a new month.

Below is yesterday, followed by a continued reflection from today.

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It’s March 1.

21ish days left of the Winter season.

Because of the yoga teacher training I participated in from August-November 2024, I added to my algorithm of content that shows up in my Instagram feed.

One of the new awarenesses that appeared was the beauty of Winter.

Not the aesthetic beauty of winter. Rather, nature’s purpose.

It was the posts that celebrated the Winter Solstice that got me curious.

I went to Jordan Smiley’s Yoga class on December 21. The only thing I was connecting the solstice dates to was 108 sun salutations. I had never understood the ‘why’ behind it. I wish I could remember what Jordan had shared that day. We didn’t do the 108. He facilitated a practice that invited in the season. It was beautiful and filled me with inspiration and a new curiosity about the season, rather than preparation for the dormancy of what was to come.

The Commune app I use, and continually increase my appreciation of, also shared various ‘new-to-me’ considerations for the season.

As I recall, I discovered a new awareness of less being a theme tied to the nature of Winter. The connection to a sense of hibernation, and a curiosity about the why behind what could simply seem to be a cute metaphor congruent with the longer nights and barren landscape.

The hibernation evoking a more intentional relationship to the quiet and stillness that can come alongside the cold and snow.

What happens when one pushes against the cycles of the seasons? What happens when one separates oneself from the nature of one’s being, of one’s natural place within nature’s intelligent whole?

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This morning I again feel the embodied pulse of possibility.

With my new awareness of the nature of Winter, I am curious if what I am feeling is the cyclical experience of what is on the way, the new birth of the seeds sown during the doldrums of the last few months.

Of course, because of the doldrums, the new feeling is even lighter and more welcomed and appreciated by contrast.

The patterns are familiar, yet the awareness of the something more creates a different context and understanding.

The intelligence of nature. The intelligence of the nature within me. My nature lovingly moves me in the direction of a new paradigm. The new paradigm being the natural result of the old paradigm. The new reality reflecting in supportive opposition to that which did not work, or does not work any longer.

There’s me and my experience.

There’s us, and our experience.

Is the new paradigm emerging and available through awareness and desire for something more, alongside an intuitive belief in possibility?

Nature loves us. We are nature’s inhabitants. Could nature cultivate us if we allow it? What would that look like? feel like? sound like? Would it feel more aligned? More holistically radiating a peaceful consideration of what it means to live in day with one another?

Do we make things more difficult than necessary?

As for podcasts this past week, I do not have any to share and comment on…yet. I am committed to listen at least twice prior to an intentional share.

Two new podcasts I am attracted to and have only just begun to listen to are the neurodiversity podcast the the telepathy tapes.

I am aware that Ellen Langer is making an appearance on some podcasts. The two I am aware of and will listen to (twice) are Rich Roll and Andrew Huberman.

In short, Ellen is not associated with a Buddhist belief system and began studying mindlessness prior to mindfulness. She is ‘widely referred to’ as the mother of mindfulness. She was introduced by RR to have the most popular Psychology course at Harvard University.