How Does The Winter Solstice Affect You and Your Mood?
Winter solstice represents the darkest day of the year. The sun moves south to its lowest position in the sky on the 21st of December. For 3 consecutive days, the sun will maintain its lowest position in the sky, and this symbolizes the ‘’death of the sun’’. The sun will rise back up after 3 days, on the 24th of December, moving up north and bringing with it more light and longer days.
Throughout history, many cultures celebrated the light during the darkest day of the year! In Mexico, they would all take sticks and contribute to a central fire where they get rid of all the old things, all the impurities from the previous cycle of the sun in order to make space for the celebration of the new cycle of light!
In this blog, we will talk about why the winter, which once was a very sacred time for healing, cleansing and rejuvenating, has become a season of depression, anxiety, and sadness.
Your Pineal Gland - The Key to Optimize Your Winter, Overcome Depression and Sadness
Described as the seat of the soul by Rene Descartes and as the third eye by Indian mystics and yogic practitioners, this master gland in the brain acts as the body’s light meter.
Now, what does a light meter mean?
It means that the pineal gland receives light information from the eye-brain connection and measures the length of the day. It then uses this information to regulate sleep, mood and orchestrates different internal functions.
During the winter, the pineal gland registers the change in the length of the day and in the magnetic field of the earth and transmits messages to every part of our body in order to make the necessary physiological adaptations and be prepared for colder and shorter days.
An example can be clearly observed by the thickening of an animal’s coat before the winter. A wolf for instance will not wait for the first snowfall to be reminded to put on its coat.
Now how does the wolf know and prepare itself?
The wolf's pineal gland measures the light information and informs it about the time of the season. Can you imagine what would happen if the light environment of this wolf is messed up?
What do you think will happen if you make a wolf wear rubber soled shoes that disconnects it from the earth’s field, put it in artificial blue lights, and it them wear sunglasses when outdoors? The wolf will literally suffer and potentially die because of his inability to adapt appropriately to the change in its environment.
See? The slightest lack of harmony between the animals and their environment and failure to respond to the light signals is absolutely catastrophic and will lead to tragic results.
But how does the lack of harmony with nature’s light affect humans?
Could it be that many of the catastrophes in our modern world from depression, to anxiety to emotional turmoil, are caused by the lack of harmony between our modern lives and nature?
We know that the pineal gland is regulated by environmental light changes, and today, we are ARTIFICIALLY MANIPULATING IT’S FUNCTION, much of the time by the widespread use of artificial lighting.
This artificial light is causing the pineal to send the wrong information and our bodies are being tricked that it is summertime all year long.
Can you see that the majority of people living up north are frightened of the winter? They resist it. They hate it. Many people experience a condition called SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder, a general lowering of mood and enthusiasm.
Depression and SAD is then blamed on the winter.
But Is it really the winter that is causing this SADness?!
To cope with this, many people are being guided to use light boxes that emit 10, 000 Lux. Are those light boxes that trick the brain into thinking it’s spring the real solution? Is SAD truly a medical condition or could it be a symptom of living out of synch with the natural light and the seasons?
What the Rhythm of Nature Can Teach Us About Ourselves
Cyclic and rhythmic patterns are essential parts that are coded in all creation. Every dynamic system in this universe follows a rhythm that is affected and interconnected to the rhythm of other dynamic systems.
The cosmic rhythm affects our solar system which then affects the earth, which then affects us down to the smallest particles within every atom.
What Can the Cycles of Nature Teach Us About Our Own Rhythm, Patterns and Evolution?
We are one with the universe and to live a truly vibrant life, we must be synchronized with nature’s rhythm.
We have a daily rhythm that follows a 24 cycle. This rhythm is reset every day by the rise and the fall of the sun. To live in rhythm is to live a healthy and vibrant life. However, not any rhythm will do. It must synchronize with the rhythm of the rise and the fall of the sun.
We also have seasonal rhythms. Seasonal change comes with an emotional and physiological change.
How does nature do it and what can we learn from its wisdom?
Plants and animals awaken in the spring of the year, they develop and mature in the summer, slow down in the fall, and rest in the winter.
This technology is 4.7 billion years old.
Why on earth do we humans insist on living all our life in the summer phase of continuous thriving? Can’t we see that we are literally destroying ourselves by escaping all the other stages that nature has designed us to go through?
The Wisdom of the Seasons
There is great wisdom conveyed to us through the seasons. Spring and summer are more masculine, and they are about thriving, discovering and externalizing. It’s time for growth and movement.
Fall and winter are more feminine. It is time to go inside, internalize, slow down, introspect and rest.
Nature has a master plan for us to spend part of our lives exploring outside and parts of our lives exploring inside.
The Winter Solstice is the Time to Look Deeply Inside and Heal the Heart
Winter was once considered a time to go inside and allow nature to assist us in lighting up those aspects of ourselves that needed attention. Unfortunately, winter has now become a time of depression, SAD and misery, dreaded by most people.
People experiencing SAD during the winter often eat a lot more and they experience a lot of carbs and sugar cravings. Their libido becomes very low, they gain weight, they feel much less productive and much more anxious and they become withdrawn.
But can’t we clearly see that those people are suffering because their bodies are confused about the time of the season and they are not prepared to experience the winter?
During the winter, we are supposed to fast more. Our metabolism switches from needing carbs and sugars to wanting more fats.
This makes perfect sense because carbs and sugary fruits grow only during the summer. During the winter months, our ancestor have heavily relied on consuming animal fats. They fasted for longer hours, slept longer and took that time to deeply heal and rejuvenate.
But what do modern humans do today? They eat bananas and tropical fruits during the winter, live in a 25 degree celsius environment, spend most of their days indoors in dim artificial lighting and all of their evenings in bright artificial light. When they go outdoors, they put on sunglasses and wear thick jackets.
Can you see how we’re completely disconnected form the rhythm of nature?
SAD is not a medical condition. It is literally a symptom of living out of whack with the natural light and the seasons. The wide use of SAD therapy devices is merely treating symptoms rather than causes.
The primary cause is a rhythmic disorder that is a cue to point out to us how out of touch we are with our bodies and with nature in general.
Winter Heals
The natural shifts that occur during the winter are meant for cleansing our emotional and mental bodies. When we don’t cleanse, our feelings are swept under the rug, leading to an emotional and mental breakdown.
We can use light therapy boxes, we trick the body that it is summer time, but sooner or later this chronic repression will manifest itself and re-trigger those feelings resulting in anxiety, depression and emotional upset.
We shall learn to use the development of the lightbulb wisely, in harmony with nature’s laws, and stop taking advantage of mother nature by ignoring her laws.
The wide use of artificial light at night and the unrealistic tendency to escape shorter days has turned into a major exploitation of ourselves and others.
Can’t we see that this is causing us to lose touch with nature, with those around us and ultimately with ourselves?
Conclusion
There are seasons in our life. If we try to bear fruit when it is time to bud, we may never bud or bear fruit. Listen to the song of nature through its seasonal cycles. There is a time for activity and a time for quiet.
There are moments of beginning and moments of ending. Can you see the commonness between you and nature?
Can you see why it’s not wise to expect to bear fruit in the winter when it’s time to empty yourself from all that doesn’t serve you?
Be aware of the day. There are seasons to a day. The dawn is spring, summer is midday, the afternoon is autumn and winter comes at night.
You are meant to experience this cycle every day. You are meant to bud at dawn, bear fruits at noon, start shedding and winding down in the evening and empty yourself fully , rejuvenate and repair to start fresh and anew the following day.
Things We Can Do to Overcome SAD, Depression and Turn This Winter Into a Great Time for Healing and Rejuvenation
1) Spend more time outdoors exposed to natural light. Even if it is cloudy and overcast, taking an hour-long silent walk and connecting with nature will enable you to absorb the photons that you need in order to feel awake and energetic during the winter days.
2) Eat seasonally. Stop eating tropical fruits. Food is light information that is stored in plants. This light information acts as important information for the body, informing it about the environment. This includes the geographical location and the season. As a result, the body intelligently makes the necessary adaptation to help you cope best with your environment! Bananas and mangos will lead your body to think it is summertime in Mexico rather than winter in Canada.
3) Block all artificial lights after the sunset by wearing the VivaRays glasses. Your pineal gland will register the length of the day and inform your body that is is winter. This will lead your body to make all the necessary physiological changes in order to cope with the winter. Your metabolism will switch from carbs to fat and you will stop craving all the carb and sugary food and start asking for more fats. You will naturally start fasting for longer hours and you will start losing weight naturally.
We are the only animal that gains weight in the winter and loses weight in the summer!
4) During the evening, spend time around the fire to absorb all the beneficial infrared light. 49% of sunlight is infrared and during the winter, you can get it from fires, saunas and IR light panels.
5) Practice taking cold showers and slowly start shedding all those layers when you go for a walk. The benefits of cold exposure are countless and this will help your body to know it’s winter time. Also, when your light environment is in harmony with nature’s light and when you start blocking all artificial light at night, your body will naturally develop more resilience to cold.
6) Keep your apartment cool. Experiment with keeping the temperature between 15 and 18 degree celsius. Work your way down slowly as you start implementing those different steps and you will see that this will become natural. In fact, you will start noticing that the 25 degree celsius is suffocating and unnatural.
You'll Discover... How Changing Your LIGHT can completely transform your health - All the Hacks To Sleep Deeper, Wake up Refreshed, Enhance Your Focus, And Boost Your Performance!
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