My blogs of 9 November and 7 December 2015 mentioned that lack of sunlight has a negative impact on our mood (serotonin) and on our activity level (melatonin). Apart from that I also feel a spike in my dream world. And my dreams are pretty exhaustive as they are long and strong. So far my winter dreams have been rather weird but neither scary nor early warnings.
It took me a while to find relevant info about the relationship between dreaming and wintertime. Actually, winter dreams is the title of a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a song by Kelly Clarkson, a song by Accept, a song by Haze, a 1973 movie, a ballet by Kenneth MacMillan, and a symphony by Tchaikovsky. I don’t believe in coincidences: winter dreams must be deeply ingrained in mankind.
On 22 December 2012, Ryan Hurd wrote: “The longest night of the year may be behind us, but there’s plenty of winter ahead. Don’t despair, these short days and long nights have something for us that has been forgotten: the gift of rest and renewal. Winter is a natural time to withdrawal, move inward, and ruminate. These dark days are meant for sleeping in and dreaming strong”. Ryan Hurd also gives his “9 tips for better sleep and vivid dreams over the holidays“.
I also like this statement by Laura Kilty: “In winter, the days are short and the nights are long. This is nature’s way of showing us to get more sleep. To use this opportunity to dream up what we want for the future. To reflect on what has happened throughout the past year, let go of what we don’t need, inform ourselves what we want for the coming year and imagine how to achieve those goals”. source
The winter cycle is your body-mind-spirit’s restart button. With it, according to Eastern traditions, you flow into that part of your mind that houses profound insights as you prepare to “reboot” into the new spring ahead and begin nature’s cycles all over again. According to Eastern traditions, the idea is to use nature’s “falling energy cycle” to help you “chill out,” to mindfully step back – if you will – and look closely, introspectively as well as outwardly, and objectively as well as subjectively, at where you have been, where you are at the moment, and where you want to be in the future. (PT)
The idea is to mindfully shut down distractions as well as minimize the attention you are giving to those things that are, in fact, draining you, and as a result keeping you from reaping the full benefits of life’s joys (especially with the oncoming holidays and all of their exhilaration). This is important. In fact, one of the most important concepts in holistic arts is that we need to be fully present to life’s natural joys so that we can absorb them. This is because we need them, as they have the capacity to restore us from the drains of our daily efforts and all our daily energy output. (PT)
We only have so much energy and once we use it, we have to restore it. You balance energy output with energy input. Unfortunately, many of us go the other way, especially during the declining energy seasons of autumn and winter. And staying at the “grinding wheel” for too long, without restoration, can have a wide range of harmful effects on your health. To this end, holistic arts suggest that winter is mostly a time for calm creativity. (PsychologyToday – PT)
AFTER A STILL winter night I awoke with the impression that some question had been put to me, which I had been endeavoring in vain to answer in my sleep, as what — how — when — where? But there was dawning Nature, in whom all creatures live, looking in at my broad windows with serene and satisfied face, and no question on her lips. I awoke to an answered question, to Nature and daylight. Henry David Thoreau, Walden (or Life in the Woods), chapter 16: The Pond in Winter
Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 1 – “Winter Dreams”
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