undergo Leo Babauta
We’re coming into the final month of the 12 months, a darker, quieter season for many people.
That is the right time to mirror.
I like to make use of December as a time for deeper reflection, and in my Fearless Residing Academy we do a ritual yearly that I name the Sacred Bow (as in, a “salute to the previous 12 months”). On this ceremony we:
- Take a while to mirror on our achievements, experiences and learnings over the previous 12 months
- Establish which objectives and initiatives we fell in need of and what we are able to be taught from them
- Waiting for our objectives and intentions for the approaching 12 months
- Create buildings to make these intentions a actuality
I invite you to hitch us on the Fearless Residing Academy and be part of this Sacred Bow course of!
On this put up, I’ll share another methods I prefer to deepen my reflection in December…
Replicate on life and which means
Life goes by so quick. Day after day, it felt like a dashing river, and I barely had time to note the water flowing by earlier than it was gone.
Taking a while to be quiet means I can decelerate and mirror on life. About my life, about human life. About what it means, or what I need it to imply.
What have I realized lately that makes my life extra significant?
What I’ve found right here recently is a way of sacredness and depth that I usually do not discover as a result of I am too centered on getting work carried out or coping with the scenario at hand or distracting myself. Once I decelerate and enter stillness, that sense of depth and sacredness turns into extra accessible.
Reflecting on my observe and development
I discover that the tip of the 12 months is a vital time to mirror on what I’ve been training in my life. Have I been deepening my mindfulness, training with uncertainty and concern, studying to be extra conscious of patterns as they come up?
That is an ongoing journey of development and it’s necessary that I take the time to mirror on this usually.
What have you ever been training recently? What did you be taught from this observe? What development have you ever observed?
Reflections on darkness, silence and loss of life
December is a good month to decelerate and mirror on three issues:
- darkish: The place I reside now (Northern California), December is the darkest month of the 12 months. I found this melancholy once we moved right here from Guam, and it continued for a number of years after our transfer… till the previous few years, once I determined to begin analyzing my relationship with darkness. This was a profound reflection for me and I started to open myself as much as the wonder and marvel of darkness inside and with out.
- silence: That is additionally a month the place the whole lot feels frozen and nonetheless, and I’m studying to embrace that as properly. I’m an individual who likes to maneuver rapidly, however there’s a number of knowledge in stillness. I’ve to observe going in opposition to my default tendencies. Sitting outdoors quietly and noticing what emerges from the silence is one thing I resist and love.
- die: As a society, we are usually afraid of loss of life. That is comprehensible. However winter is a sort of loss of life that opens up area for brand new life, and I see it as life-affirming. I mirror on the family members I’ve misplaced and the way a lot they nonetheless imply to me. I mirrored by myself mortality and got here to phrases with it to a point.
Do these themes resonate with you?
I encourage you to take a while to mirror because the 12 months involves an in depth.
As soon as once more, if you want to be part of the Sacred Bow Ceremony, I invite you to hitch us on the Fearless Residing Academy!
