Spring Into the New Year?
We Have it all Wrong
AUTHOR NOTE: I also posting this on my other blog, Love Through the Darkness. If you subscribe to both, thank you. With my mounting responsibilities, I am considering combining the two. Feel free to express your opinions, as you are the second reason I write (first is myself).
January 1, 2025
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It’s that time in my life cycle when I usually gear up to produce. The Hustle Machine gets switched to overdrive. The goals are set, along with their subgoals and timelines, and I set a schedule for each of them. I was like a madman, possessed to “get it done”. In the past, I would define myself by how much I could get done; how many things I could accomplish in the shortest time frame imaginable.
But this year is different. “New Year” has a different meaning for me these days.
In our recent past, the New Year traditionally began in March. Some say March 1; others say March 25. But the idea of starting on January 1st officially began as late as 1582 when Pope Gregory adopted the “Gregorian Calendar”. It quickly spread throughout Catholicism worldwide then later in the Protestant community. In fact, Julius Caesar declared that the New Year begin in January in 45 BCE. He changed it from the traditional date in March so he could align the elections of the Consulate (and collect taxes).
The previous four years found me in the southern Mexican jungle and the central Mexican highlands. The seasons are different there. There is more sunlight, warmer days, and the growing season is much longer. There is a different rhythm. Before that, I lived in San Diego, where it is perpetually summer. Returning to my first winter in nearly 15 years, I am confronted by this apparent season of rest, recharging, relaxing, rejuvenating or “parasympathetic” cycle of the region. You wouldn’t know it because people are still hustling and bustling as if the season hasn’t changed.
Where are we today? Besides the fabricated reverie and celebratory actions the “new”year holds, is it normal or natural to expand and and grow at this time? I am a Chiropractor. We are different. We follow the Natural Order or at least make an effort to. How do you feel in January? Do you feel like expanding, blossoming, starting something new? Do you feel the bubbling Life Energy in your bodies? Do you feel like being outside or do you feel like being on your couch, curled up with a book? Did you know the that toughest time to lose weight is in the winter months? The worst time to cleanse is the winter months? Our bodies naturally want to hold on to our fat stores. Makes sense. Our circadian rhythm tells us to s l o w down and move by degrees, not by leaps and bounds.
“During Winter, deciduous trees go into dormancy in order to survive. Before shedding their leaves and going into energy conservation, a supply of the most essential nutrients are sent to the roots for storage. Their cyclical nature relies on a period of rest in order to thrive when spring arrives, much like animals that hibernate.” - Zach Bush, MD
When does Nature explode? When do the birds hatch? The bears, toads and insects awaken from hibernation? When do the crocuses, the earliest of flowers, pop out of the ground? When do the bluebirds swoop and sing? When do the does birth their fawn? When does the Earth turn green. Even the name of the season alerts us. “Spring!”
What have we have thrown our natural inclinations to the wind? “It’s January 1st! I’m hitting the gym at 5 am every day!’ “I’m picking up a new sport!” I’ll clean up my diet - no bread or rice for me!” Or something like that.
I get it. I like starting new things, achievements and ticking things off my To Do List. But not only do I have a “Stop Doing” List, but I have prioritized my year by what results I want to achieve. I no longer make up things to do to say I did them (“I want to read 30 books this year”) I ask, “Why?” I ask, Who do I want to be?” Much more potent a question, I believe.
Across cultures, winter is critical for us to reflect, contemplate and go within. It can be difficult and even uncomfortable. Some ways are meditating, journaling, having periods of silence, reading, baking, periods of disconnection from all the distractions of the world (anything electronic) and moving towards art, mindfulness, Breathwork, or simply noticing the slowness of nature.
What are some ways you pull back, retract, condense, concentrate, or reflect? I would love to know what you’re doing (or want to). Inspire and be inspired below.
Dr. Danny