What goes up must come down, and after the holiday push it's quite common for people to dip into a depression in January. Regardless of how joyous, exhausting, anxiety-provoking, or neutral the holidays were for you, it's normal to breathe a sigh of relief when they're over. We expend so much energy toward the holiday season — either positively anticipating or negatively dreading — and then it's just done. Back to regular life.
What we find when we jolt back to regular life is the consequence of spending a few weeks ignoring our own needs. The excess is over — you may have drunk, ate, spent, and socialized too much — and in the aftermath it's normal to feel a hangover of body and soul. The psyche then responds with a pull toward the underworld of bed, where you find temporary comfort beneath your comforter, but we can also read this impulse as an invitation to connect to the interior realm.
Depression is often our psyche's way of communicating that it's time to turn inward. Instead of seeing this as a negative, we can reframe depression as an opportunity to connect more deeply with our inner wellsprings during this quieter, slower, darker time of year. When we align with the natural energy of the season of Winter we can allow ourselves to be gently guided inward.
Honor the slower rhythm of Winter so that you can connect with your true self. But keep in mind that the most important shift to make is to give yourself permission to slow down and even do nothing. In our extroverted culture, many people feel guilty for pulling back from the push to "do" and listen to their natural desire to be - ring a bell?
In addition to a sense of guilt because they "should" be doing something, many people also have a difficult time slowing down into the realm of nothingness as that's when every difficult emotion or memory that they've pushed down comes bubbling up to the surface, so they try to keep going full steam ahead until the body slows them down in the form of illness, or the psyche does in the form of depression. It's so much more productive to choose your own descent inward then to wait until you're dragged down by sickness or depression.
We fear nothingness, but when we move toward it with curiosity we realize that we have nothing to fear. Moving toward nothingness means making room for discomfort, and when you choose to turn inward with compassion you learn that you can handle it.
Diffuse Serenity Blue, roll Serenity Blue on inside of wrists and over heart.
During these darker days (in the Northern hemisphere), the natural rhythm will guide you toward earlier nights, if you let them. You may have burned the candle at both ends in December, but now is the time to recalibrate and move toward more hours of sleep.
Massage Dreamy Sleep Salve on bottoms of feet before bed or diffuse Dreamy Sleep Blend.
The luminescence of candles invites reflection, and sometimes just the act of lighting a candle can help you drop out of your head and into your body, which means into what is real and true in the present moment.
Journaling is usually a beneficial and self-loving action, and journaling by candlelight can help you connect more readily to your core self — the part of you that lives beneath the running commentary of self-doubt and criticism that may normally populate your thoughts.
Apply Wise Ones essential oil blend to the back of neck and over heart to connect with mind, body and spirit or diffuse.
Tea and everything surrounding it — the making, the steeping, the drinking — inspires a slowed-down, mindful state, and is a way to nourish both body and mind during this slower month.
The cold weather may inhibit you from getting outdoors, but there are few things as nourishing as connecting to your body in nature. If you can push past the habitual feeling to avoid what may be initially uncomfortable, you will feel rewarded for your efforts. This is one of those times when listening to your feelings doesn't serve your bigger purpose of feeling better inside.
Open airways to the fresh, cold air outside and protect delicate nasal tissue, gently swab nasal passages with Airway Respiratory Salve.
Hot water, like candles, helps people drop into their bodies and breathe more deeply. Epsom salt baths are always delicious and soothing, but never so much as when contrasted with the dark and cold of winter.
Moisturize with Rose Cream after a hot bath for a beautiful ending to a peaceful soak.
If you're like most people, you probably overate and over-drank these past few weeks. Instead of feeling shame and guilt — which don't serve you in any positive way — now is the time to reconnect to your intention to eat well and take the extra time required to plan, shop for, and cook healthy foods.
If December is a yes month — yes to people, parties, and events — January is a no month. Yes and no are both essential words and actions to wield, for too much yes results in exhaustion and too much no is a cold, lonely place. To counterbalance the excess of yes last month, see if saying no feels supportive now.
Strengthen resolve and restore balance by applying Equilibrium Blend behind both ears over the mastoid bone. Diffuse and sink into the quiet.
We push away what's dark and difficult during the lights and shimmer of December, but it's a law of emotions that we can't push away the shadow forever. If you decide to stop, be prepared for a wave of sadness or loneliness or vulnerability to wash over you. That's OK. In fact, the more you allow it instead of trying to distract through food, social media, or work, the more quickly the difficult feelings will move through and you'll be able to connect to the archetypal energy of January: the invitation for deep rest.
Apply Jeddys Blend over your heart as needed, diffuse to brighten your space.
In a quiet, meditative state, open your eyes that see beneath the surface of things to receive an image that can help you recalibrate and remain grounded during this liminal month. We can heal at the level of the mind, but sustaining healing often takes place at the level of the unconscious, which is where imagery resides.
Apply to wrists and over heart as needed, massage Align Salve on bottoms of feet at bedtime for sustained calm and to open your heart.
With more hours of darkness and hopefully more time to sleep, this month is often an active time for dreaming. Dreams can be confusing, and it's important not to take them at face value, but if you have a dream practice this is the time to delve more deeply into it, and if you don't have one this is wonderful time to start.
Keep an EO Journal on your nightstand to record your dreams at night, be sure to journal the essential oils used before sleep.
