Embodying the Seasons to Deepen Focus and Heart Work

Embodying the Seasons to Deepen Focus and Heart Work

Last winter, 2019, I wrote a piece titled, “Winter Medicine for Rooting Down and Healing Burn Out.” This piece discussed the importance of honoring the season of rest in order to heal burn out from movement work and to re-center from all the output that we do as organizers and “activists” throughout the year. The piece also featured the voices of two Pueblo people, Eryn Wise and Julia Bernal, who shared practices and tools for grounding and re-centering during the winter months. A quote below from that previous work:

“Recently I read an article in Broadly, titled “When Dismantling Power Dismantles You Instead,” which takes a look at the existence of “burn out” within movements and activism. “Burn out”, a term coined by Herbert J. Freudenberger, is defined as a “state of mental and physical exhaustion caused by one’s professional life.” My decolonized version of that is, when one has lost intimacy with that which nourishes and replenishes them. And when we have given everything into our passion, our fire, our ego, and lost touch with our gentleness, our body, our spirit, our roots, and our magic.”

The spring/winter season before this, in 2018, I also wrote a piece called, “Embodying Spring Time”, which shared five land and body based practices for connecting with and preparing for Spring. 

“Now we have the opportunity, thanks to the energy of spring, to cleanse and renew our minds, bodies, and spirits. Not only that, but by basing our springtime practices in the land, we can find grounding, inspiration, and be reminded of why we fight to protect these elements and entities.”

The pattern of these two articles is clear: there is a connection between land, the seasons, our bodies, our minds, and our spirits. Taking that one step further, I believe that when we are in a strong relationship with the land, and the seasons, our intentionality and focus in our work enhances - especially if we are doing work that is related to environmental or climate justice. That might sound obvious but in an age when our work requires so much online activity and now, cancel or call out culture on the internet, it’s easy to forget to check in with that which we are protecting: the land and our bodies. 

So for Spring 2020, here are some of the tips and strategies from past articles and also some new ones, considering that we’ve survived yet another year under a facist administration: 

Cleansing and honoring winter.

So first things first: in order for there to be growth, there needs to be a cleansing, transformation or moving of what is dead and stagnant. In our lives, we must clear certain patterns, behaviors, relationships, and feelings, such as grief, resentment, disappointment, etc., in order to bring forth the new. Whether you have a traditional practice or not, it is so important to find a way to honor the winter season and our shadows, and cleanse the darkness, the death, and the hibernation and internal energy that winter brings, so that there is space for renewal and rebirth.

Connect with water.

This is a part of the cleansing process. Go to water to wash away the stagnant energy of winter. Visualize becoming more fluid and unfrozen. Make an offering to show gratitude towards the water for providing life to everything around us. One way to offer gratitude and respect towards this entity, is learning how we can better conserve water. 

Attend a seed exchange and start seeds. 

Right about now and into the next few weeks, there will be community seed exchanges happening across Turtle Island. Find one in your community and begin starting your seeds! While you plant your seeds, think about your intentions for the year and beyond. What do you want to have happen in the next month, 3 months, 6 months, and so on? As you gently place seeds into the soil imagine what you want to see blossom in your life. 

Spring cleaning as self-care.

There are so many ways to practice self-care that do not look like baths and massages, even though those are great practices and rituals to incorporate into your life. Self-care can be cutting ties with a person who gas-lights you or taking a step back from work that you love but also drains you emotionally and mentally. Another form of self-care that I have been practicing more and more is organization and simplifying. For instance, in the past couple years, as an artist and creative, I’ve developed strategies to better organize my work expenses and documents, so when tax season comes around there is clarity and less stress around getting my paperwork together. Where in your life could there be more order and simplification so that you are less worried and stressed? 

Strengthen Intuition.

If you spent winter like I did, moving slow, hibernating, reflecting, going “in”, you probably learned some stuff. For me, I got to reflect on my decisions throughout the year: did my choices and or decisions get me to a place that feels in alignment with my values and integrity? Did my choices help me evolve spiritually or was I just pleasing ego? Ultimately, the big question is, was I listening to intuition, to my truest self? But how do we know what intuition is saying? For me, it’s taken a lot of stillness and quietness. Calming down all the chatter in my head and all the sensations that are connected to that chatter. One way, I am able to quiet everything down is by being still in the natural world. And through that practice I am able to get really clear about who I am and what I really desire and need, not from a societal or success perspective but from a very foundational and rooted place of knowing. Now that it is warming up and we may be outside more, I encourage you to cultivate a practice of quieting down to build a relationship with your inner knowing.