By Leo Babauta
We’re getting into the final month of the yr, and for many people, it’s a darker and quieter season.
It’s the proper time for reflection.
I like to make use of December to deepen into reflection, and in my Fearless Residing Academy, we do a yearly ritual that I name “Sacred Bow” (as in “bow in reverence to your previous yr”). On this ritual, we:
- Spend a while reflecting on what we achieved, went via, and discovered for the previous yr
- Get clear on what targets and initiatives we fell quick on, and what we are able to be taught from that
- Envision our coming yr, with targets and intentions
- Create construction to make these intentions a actuality
I invite you to be a part of us in Fearless Residing Academy and be part of this Sacred Bow course of!
On this article, I’ll share some extra methods I prefer to deepen into reflection in December …
Replicate on Life & Which means
Life rushes by so quick. Day-to-day, it seems like a dashing river and I barely have time to note the water passing by earlier than it’s gone.
Taking a while in quiet and stillness implies that I can decelerate and mirror on life. On my life, on human life. On what it means, or what I need it to imply.
What have I discovered in recent times that provides to the which means of life for me?
What I’ve been discovering right here recently is a way of sacredness and depth to every second that I usually don’t discover, as a result of I’m so centered on getting stuff carried out or coping with the state of affairs in entrance of me or letting myself be distracted. After I decelerate into stillness, that depth and sacredness turns into extra accessible to me.
Replicate on My Apply & Progress
I discover the tip of the yr an essential time to mirror on what I’ve been working towards with in my life. Have I been deepening into mindfulness, working towards with uncertainty and worry, studying to grow to be extra conscious of my patterns as they present up?
That is an ongoing journey of progress, and it’s immensely essential that I take time to mirror on it frequently.
What have you ever been working towards recently? What are you studying from that follow? What progress have you ever been noticing?
Replicate on Darkness, Stillness & Dying
December is a wonderful month to decelerate and mirror on three issues:
- Darkness: The place I dwell now (northern California), December is the darkest month of the yr. I discovered that miserable after we moved right here from Guam, and that continued for years after we moved … till latest years, after I determined to begin to study my relationship to darkness. It’s a profound reflection for me, and I’m beginning to open to the sweetness and surprise of darkness, each exterior of me and inside.
- Stillness: It’s additionally a month when issues really feel frozen and nonetheless, and I’m studying to embrace that as effectively. I’m somebody who likes to maneuver shortly, however there’s a lot knowledge in stillness. I’ve to follow in opposition to my default tendency. Sitting exterior in stillness, and noticing what exhibits up in that stillness, is a follow I resist and love.
- Dying: As a society, we are likely to worry dying. That’s comprehensible. However winter is a dying that opens house for brand spanking new life, and I embrace it as an affirmation of life. I mirror on the family members I’ve misplaced, and the way a lot they nonetheless imply to me. I mirror by myself dying, and discover a point of acceptance of that.
Do any of those subjects resonate with you?
I encourage you to carve out a while for reflection because the yr involves a detailed.
And as soon as once more, when you’d prefer to be part of the Sacred Bow ritual, I invite you to be a part of us in Fearless Residing Academy!
