Part 1: "Rediscovering Winter: A Journey Back to Nature's Embrace"

You made it! Congratulations on joining the Winter 7 Series! Today we will share with you Blog 1 and you will receive blog 2 of the Winter 7 series Next Tuesday. Let's dive in👇

Greetings, VivaRays community! Today, we embark on a 7 parts blog series, an enlightening exploration, one that delves into the heart of winter—a season that's been misunderstood, underestimated and fled from by most people in our modern lives. 

Whether you're a health seeker yearning for vitality and harmony with the seasons, or someone eager to explore beyond conventional health paths of strict diets and complex biohacking tools, this blog is for you.

If you're open to learning about creating a biophysical environment aligned with nature's rhythms, desiring to harness winter's power for better health and vitality, or aiming to transform winter from a season of emotional, mental, and physical challenges into a time of healing, rejuvenation, and emotional reset, you're in the right place.

This series is tailored for those who seek to maintain healthy balanced weight, and hormones during winter, overcome seasonal blues, and convert winter fatigue into dynamic energy and mental clarity for productivity. 

Welcome to a journey of discovery and transformation!

Introduction to Our Forgotten Winter Wisdom

In our busy, technology-driven world, we've drifted away from nature's wisdom and rhythms, and nowhere is this more evident than in our relationship with the winter season. My intention with this blog series is to help you view winter through a new lens, one that transcends and transforms the colors of your past struggles.

I will consider this exploration a success if, by the end of this series, I have helped you deconstruct your resistance to winter.

My goal is to unravel your old narrative of feeling low on energy, tired, and dispirited, and to help you reconstruct a new paradigm. In this new perspective, you will know exactly what to do in order to harness the power of the winter season, accessing the natural healing and rejuvenation that nature intended for us to experience during these months.

-"Knowledge is power." - Sir Francis Bacon-

It’s my profound desire to transmit to you the knowledge that I learned from my own deep suffering (which I will delve into in the next section) and help you overcome all the suffering that you may be causing to yourself without knowing by constantly breaking the laws of nature.

If you are holding your breath tight, feeling a sense of dread,  thinking, OMG! ‘’  Why am I the only one constantly struggling against these laws? Why don't I know more?’’  rest assured, you're not alone. A significant number of people dread winter, experiencing diminished energy, focus, and mood during the cold, shorter days. Take a deep breath, relax, and open your heart and mind. What I'm about to share is unconventional, something you've likely never been taught before. So, get ready for a journey of discovery and transformation.

The agenda:

1. I will first share a personal chapter of my life, a time when winter was a season of deep suffering for me.

2. Following this, in blog#2,  I'll lead us to ponder a captivating question: ‘’Why do animals, in contrast to humans, thrive effortlessly through the winter's chill? What secret wisdom do they possess that we've overlooked or forgotten? ‘’

3.Then, I will introduce you to the five physical forces of nature that are pivotal in shaping our life, energy, and vitality during the colder months. 

Each subsequent blog in this series will delve deeply into one of these forces. I will guide you through recognizing if a force is disrupted in your life and provide step by step actions you can take to realign with these forces.

Our goal is to restore harmony and balance, allowing these natural forces to work with us in creating optimal health and equilibrium during the winter season.  

Personal Winter Tale👇

Picture this: ‘’ It's a chilly morning in Beirut, the kind that wraps the city in a subtle, biting cold.

I'm standing by my window, looking out at the rain-soaked streets, feeling a familiar dread creeping in. Winter in Beirut isn't the harshest, but to me, it used to be a season of deep struggle—a battle with the dropping temperature, the rain, and the sun hiding behind clouds. At the time, I was already down at the floor level with my health, and the winter seemed to take me deep underneath the ground.

During that time in my life, picture me as the embodiment of a night owl, completely out of sync with nature's rhythm. A creature of the night, my mind buzzing with a thousand thoughts when the world sleeps, feeling wired, stimulated and staying up until late at night.  But when the sun rises, I'm left exhausted, completely useless ,weighed down by a cloud of fatigue and a sense of disorientation. 

On the morning of my 25th birthday, I find myself hitting rock bottom. I've just lost my job as an engineer, and I'm laying down in bed, feeling completely paralyzed with sadness and fatigue, unable to get up or even find a compelling reason to do so. I'm there, aimlessly staring into the mirror, searching for a glimmer of hope, a reason to continue amidst the gloom.

"I can't keep living like this," I say aloud to my reflection. "I need to feel alive again, to find a light in this darkness." That's when the idea hits me—I need to travel, to break free from everything familiar.

And where better to challenge myself than Canada, a land known for its cold and dark winters—everything that I fear and have been running away from. The very thought sends a shiver down my spine. As I pack my bags, my mind races with doubts. "Am I crazy to choose Canada, with its freezing winters? What if this only makes things worse?" but there's a part of me that knows this is exactly what I need.

In a twist of destiny, just 2 weeks before my journey, I cross paths with a friend who introduces me to his ice bath practice and to his mentor, Wim Hoff, known as the IceMan. My friend utters: ‘’Roudy, what perfect timing. Wim is hosting a cold immersion retreat in Poland. It is exactly what you need to prepare for the cold winter of Canada," 

As we sit in a cozy café, sipping warm coffee, he talks about the power of embracing the cold, how it can invigorate the soul.. 

I sign up, feeling a flicker of hope.

Here I am. Poland's winter greets me. The moment my feet touch the snowy ground, a wave of nervousness washes over me. I'm standing here, snowflakes gently falling around me, and a thought echoes in my mind, "What am I doing here? This isn't for me." The freezing cold is something I've never truly experienced before, and it feels overwhelming.

As I shuffle through the snow, I can't shake the feeling that everyone else must be more accustomed to this harsh winter. But then, I overhear a conversation that catches me off guard. Two locals, bundled up in heavy winter gear, are chatting nearby.

"I hate the winter" one of them says, his breath forming a misty cloud.

"I know, right? You'd think we'd be used to it by now, but it gets me every time," the other replies, shivering slightly.

I inch closer, my curiosity piqued. "Excuse me," I interject politely, "I couldn't help but overhear. Do you really find the winter challenging too?"

They both turn to me, a bit surprised at first, but then their faces soften into friendly smiles. "Absolutely," the first one responds. "Just because we're from the north doesn't mean we're immune to the cold. It's tough for everyone."

I stand there, a mix of relief and surprise flooding through me. 

Puzzled, I ask myself, "Why do folks from northern countries also feel a lot of unease with the cold and the winter?"  Could it be that the winter time is designed by nature as a time of suffering? 

This question lingers in my mind…

As I embark on an eight-year journey of studying and realigning with nature, the answer to this intriguing question gradually reveals itself.

This blog series is deducted to answer this question, stay tuned. Keep in eye on your inbox, you will receive the next part on Tuesday. See you then