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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 right 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 by means of, and discovered for the previous yr
Get clear on what objectives and tasks we fell quick on, and what we will be taught from that
Envision our coming yr, with objectives and intentions
Create construction to make these intentions a actuality
I invite you to be part of us in Fearless Residing Academy and be part of this Sacred Bow course of!
On this article, I’ll share some further methods I prefer to deepen into reflection in December …
Replicate on Life & That means
Life rushes by so quick. Day-to-day, it looks 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 replicate on life. On my life, on human life. On what it means, or what I would like it to imply.
What have I discovered lately that provides to the that 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 typically don’t discover, as a result of I’m so centered on getting stuff performed 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 & Development
I discover the tip of the yr an necessary time to replicate 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 turn into extra conscious of my patterns as they present up?
That is an ongoing journey of development, and it’s immensely necessary that I take time to replicate on it frequently.
What have you ever been working towards recently? What are you studying from that observe? What development have you ever been noticing?
Replicate on Darkness, Stillness & Dying
December is a fantastic month to decelerate and replicate on three issues:
Darkness: The place I dwell now (northern California), December is the darkest month of the yr. I discovered that miserable once we moved right here from Guam, and that continued for years after we moved … till current 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 marvel 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 rapidly, however there’s a lot knowledge in stillness. I’ve to observe in opposition to my default tendency. Sitting exterior in stillness, and noticing what exhibits up in that stillness, is a observe I resist and love.
Dying: As a society, we are likely to worry demise. That’s comprehensible. However winter is a demise that opens area for brand new life, and I embrace it as an affirmation of life. I replicate on the family members I’ve misplaced, and the way a lot they nonetheless imply to me. I replicate by myself demise, and discover some extent 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, in case you’d prefer to be part of the Sacred Bow ritual, I invite you to be part of us in Fearless Residing Academy!
