By Barb Parcells
January 2017 | ElementsForAHealthierLife.com | 41
As soon as the last decoration is put away, the last of the Christmas cookies have been eaten, and the last of the egg nog consumed, I get ready for my very favorite winter activity … hibernation! No, I don’t curl up in a cave to sleep the season away. I follow the path of my indigenous ancestors, who took their guidance from the wisdom of Brother Bear, and take this very special time to go within and spend some quality time in introspection and self-awareness.
Native Americans call this time of the year the Dream Time, or entering the Dream Lodge. Here they digest the experiences of the previous year and set goals for the year ahead. They attune themselves to the energies of the Great Mother and seek solutions and answers on how they can live in harmony with all who live and dwell on the earth, as well as seek guidance for the path they are to walk going forward.
Bear Medicine, as it is called, is associated with female receptive energy. It is the place of visionaries, mystics and prophecy. If we are to be like Bear and receive her teachings and guidance, we must be open to the belief that for every question or problem, there is a solution, and that those questions, as well as the answers, lie within all of us. I hate to be the one to tell Einstein that he is wrong, but you can solve the problem with the same mind that created it. All you have to do is enter the stillness and silence of your mind and listen … and know that the answer is there. It is there for each and every one of us.
Over the years I have adopted several ways that I channel the energy of bear during the long, grey days of winter. Here are a few:
1. I keep a separate journal for my Dream Time. Every day I ask for guidance for a problem
or decision that I need to make. Then I sit and meditate for 10 minutes, being open to
whatever comes up. At the end of 10 minutes, I write what came to me. If nothing comes,
I write about that, too.
2. I find something that I always wanted to know more about and spend time in study and
research. It can be anything you’ve always wanted to try, or an area where you want more
clarity. My topics have ranged from understanding quantum physics to learning how to knit socks (this year’s challenge)! Feed your mind!
3. Keep plenty of warm, nourishing foods stocked to feed your body as well as your mind.
I like to make sure there is always a pot of soup on the stove, a cupboard full of my favorite teas, and plenty of popcorn!
4. Meditate, meditate, meditate. The whole idea of hibernation is to go within. The more time you can devote to getting still and opening to the Universal Mind, the more room there is for inspiration, imagination and solutions to surface.
5. Get plenty of sleep. Shut off the gadgets, curl up with a good book, and let the worries and stress of the past dissolve into the winter darkness. Here within the womb of your Dream Lodge you will find the answers that you seek.
Here in the Dream Lodge, all is well, you are safe, and just as the earth awakens in the spring to bring forth new life, so, too, can Bear help you to awaken to new ideas, goals, dreams and inspiration.
Let The
Hibernation Begin!