Winter as an opportunity to purify the mind, body, and spirit

“What good is the warmth of summer,

without the cold of winter

to give it sweetness?”

-John Steinbeck

I have a love- hate relationship with February, kind of like going to see my dentist. I love her, she is a very nice person, but experience a great deal of anxiety not really knowing what she is doing inside my mouth. February is like that. Externally, I look forward to celebrating my sister’s birthday and telling people I love how much I appreciate them on Valentine’s Day. The rub comes from the isolation I feel during the month of February. It’s like the month offers an invitation to look inward and I am a little afraid of what I might find.

February is a precarious month. It is an unusually short month and technically the last month of winter. December is generally a busy time for most of us as we run around preparing for and participating in the holidays, while January offers time to regroup and settle back into our normal routines after the holidays. February feels like a big drop off for me and usually finds me a little anxious and depressed. The cold and unpredictable weather keeps me inside and if I don’t make a concerted effort to socialize, keeps me home alone. I can very easily collapse into the energy of a sloth, not wanting to go out, spend time with friends or even exercise. I feel a profound longing for spring that pulls me out of the present moment. In the end though, this longing pulls me away from the opportunities that February brings for me to be introspective.

This year I am going to reframe my relationship with February and see it as a time to be still, and sit with myself; even if that stillness makes me feel a little uncomfortable. I want to see it as a time to go inward and feel gratitude for the opportunity to be creative with my time and get to explore my inner self with few external distractions.

The word February is born from the Latin word februare, meaning to “purify”. February is named after the purification ritual, Februa, which was a sort of early Roman spring cleaning festival. In ancient Rome, Februarius was the “Month of Purification” and great festivities were held to reestablish the empire’s focus on righteous living. I love the idea of making February a time for purification, both in my home and my body, and sharing that intention with my friends and family.

Winter invites us to quiet the mind, still the soul and examine our inner selves. Bathed in white and bleakness, we are free of the busy distractions of the other seasons. As spiritual beings, wintertime is a time of contemplation and reflection, in which we look back over the events and experiences of the past year and take time to understand how they all fit into the greater order of our lives. There is an unique sensory experience to be had in winter–the intricate beauty of the snowflakes, the patterns of frost on your windows, the tang of smoke from fires and the refreshing briskness of the air. When we take a moment to consider, winter can actually be very invigorating.

Most life on this planet would not thrive were it not for the time of dormancy winter offers to set their biological clocks ticking. We would not have the beauty of springtime without it. Nature’s example can inspire us to use this season to reflect and cleanse our external as well as internal workings. Shedding the physical, emotional and spiritual detritus like flora shedding lifeless foliage so that we, too, may emerge from winter refreshed and renewed, ready for bustling activity of springtime.

If you, too are looking to reframe your view of winter, I would encourage you to spend some time this month journaling about your inner experiences. Perhaps reflect on 2017 and consider what you want to create in 2018. Also spend some time on your physical environment, cleaning out closets, deep cleaning your home and eliminating items that have run their course in your life. Make a great sweep to clean out the cobwebs, all that is old and no longer needed, to create space for the bounty of spring which is coming.

Lara Kain, PA-C, MPAS

TORCH Center for Wellness