Now that the Christmas festivities are over, and winter comes full blast for those of us in the Northern hemisphere, I would like to reflect a little about the importance of reflection time. I’m not familiar with the year-end festivities in the many different zones in the world, but I am sure that all have this space to rest, to reflect on the past year’s accomplishments (or not) and prepare for the new year.
Every tradition holds this space, which also has to do with the astronomic phenomenon of the winter solstice which happens around the 21st of December for those of us in the North and around the 21st of June for those in the South. As of this “longest” night of the year, the Sun is reborn and there is a little more of light every day until we reach the zenith in the corresponding Summer solstice.
Isn’t it wonderful? How Nature works in perfect patterns. It opens to the light and closes to the shadow, allowing for all its processes to flow in the time that is needed. A time to accelerate and a time to slow down, never stop because life is always in the move.
The need to reflect as a tradition
I’ve made it a personal tradition to spend some slow-down time before the Winter solstice to reflect and be grateful for all that has happened in the year that is about to end and then spend some more time setting the intention and writing my list of wishes for the coming year. In Venezuela, we call this “El Espíritu de la Navidad” or the Spirit of Christmas, and we celebrate it in different ways. I enjoy using the Medicine Wheel Tool® to do it as well as the Deep Essence Tool as we use it in the Individual Health and Balance Workshop.
The Deep Essence Tool helps me focus on my true and greatest intention for the year, what is it that I truly want for myself, and for all the people and projects I’m related to. And then, I go through the different quadrants of the Medicine Wheel Tool® to truly set the work in motion in the most holistic and meaningful way. From here emerges a list of intentions and projects that are aligned with my highest intention for the year.
After this comes the slowing down, the time to reflect. The simmering. And surely in these first days of the year that start to bubble, I will go through this list again and set clear priorities.
The need to reflect in our daily lives
Thinking about this I’ve been wondering already for a few days, before writing this blog, about the importance of reflection. Most of us live hectic lives, filled with appointments, things to do, people to see, and matters to be taken care of. And I’m sure many take the time to reflect every day… meditation, mindfulness, my first cup of coffee in the morning! Taking care of the last hours of our day to make sure we rest the best we can. And all this is necessary to make sure we have the energy to be the best version of ourselves during the day.
The need to reflect for our business
And what about business? It’s my experience that this is the most difficult area to reflect. Here, most of us want to please our clients and in doing so, we forget to reflect and really feel the power of the work we’re about to embark on. It’s also important to reflect, to go slow to go quick (as we’ve heard and read many times). Going quickly without the time to reflect leads to rash decisions, tiredness, burnout, mistakes. So, we can turn around all this stress we have in trying to make the best for our clients truly, by making sure we are alright, making sure we’ve taken the time to make sound decisions, making sure we are happy with the work we are to embark on. This is the best gift we can give our clients, our own wellbeing and health.
There is definitively a need to reflect to make sure we are healthy and balanced in our individual as well as our professional life.
Hmmm, and I can see how I want to take care of this for myself and my own business. I can see myself in reflection…
How about you?
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