The Advent of Yin Day 2: Contraction

Day two of my Advent of Yin has me thinking about the contracting quality of yin. While yang represents all things expansive in nature, yin is a more concentrated, inward energy. At this time of year we have a natural desire to hibernate, to go indoors and to reduce our social activity. Contraction can also be seen in our families as they come together for the holidays after being apart for much of the year.

For many, gathering together to celebrate with family and friends is truly the best part of December. However, over extending ourselves socially is also pretty common and to some degree goes against the natural flow of the yin nature of the season.

For some people, the constant activity at this time of the year is positive and it helps to energize the yin of the winter months. For others, the pressure to go against the natural order of things creates serious imbalances and creates undue stress at this time of the year. Paying attention is the answer.

If you find that you become stressed out at this time of the year, see if you can allow yourself the luxury of relaxation. Scale back your social commitments, reduce your compulsion to over decorate, over shop and over eat. Take the time to be alone, to meditate perhaps, or soak in a hot bath.

If you love the constant activity that has been created around this yin time, go for it! Enjoy the parties, soak up the lights, and celebrate the season.

"Winter is the time of promise because there is so little to do - or because you can now and then permit yourself the luxury of thinking so."
-Stanely Crawford

What do you think? Does the extra social activity at this time of the year invigorate or drain you?

The Advent of Yin

As we end the first week of the month we are approaching the winter solstice which falls on the 21st of December. This is the most yin time of the year.

I always find it interesting that when teaching about the qualities of yin and yang there is a subtle undercurrent of favor for all things yang. In many ways this is inevitable as we live in a Patriarchal world where masculine qualities have been favored over the feminine for thousands of years. We are a culture addicted to growth, expansion and competition over others, all yang qualities. However what must be remembered is that without the opposite of these qualities, the yang fails to exist at all. Without the dark, there can be no light.

So I think that I will start a sort of advent calendar of yin. For the next 17 days, ( I wish I would have thought of this 4 days ago for the entire 21) I will write a blog posting on the positive qualities of yin.

Here goes; Yin is dark. Anyone familiar with the yin/yang or Tai-Chi symbol recognizes that the black half of this symbol is the yin side. It is a good place to begin to explore. In general we are afraid of the dark, but could we learn to embrace the dark? These are 4 qualities that I love about the dark;

• The dark encourages us to go inward, to explore the unseen worlds of the mind. 
• Darkness asks us to be still, to suspend our constant movement and to rest.
• Darkness absorbs all color, it is inclusive. 
• The darkness allows us to view the stars and wonder about life's mysteries, to feel vastness and to see ourselves as a very small part of a larger picture. 

 "Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it"
-Terry Pratchett

Any thoughts? I would love to see you add to my list!