Beautiful Yoga in the Winter

The beginning of February. Not the time of year most people list as their favorite. But let's look at it for a moment. We have two cute holidays - Groundhog Day and Valentine's Day - about nature and love, respectively - a lot less pressure than the powerhouse holidays of the fall and early winter. It's interesting that those major holidays happen before winter really settles in - or does it just seem that winter really settles in after New Year's? I don't know...But you know how in the summer and fall, we have no time on our hands? We want to do everything; and there's so much to do. The longer sunlight makes for being more productive and still having time left over to have fun. As wonderful as it is, it can frazzle us a bit because balance is thrown off - we become voracious in our doing. At the beginning of February, though, one thing we have is time. There's no need for extreme shopping, no need to fly home from work to grab the kids and get to the lake. There's time to do the things you want to do when there's no time - meditate, take care of yourself, cuddle with those kids, make soup. As usual, the yoga practice reflects life and provides a structure for life. In the summer, we use yoga to balance that extra energy. In the fall, we use it to refocus. In the winter, we use it to warm and awaken the quiet body; and through reflective practices, we are able to become more present, which brightens the mind and makes life sweeter. And in spring, we will use yoga to come out of the cocoon and flutter. For now, we live the yoga of winter.