Where's the Light?

​How are you doing with the end of daylight savings time last Sunday?  I know, as I teach in the studio during the evening, it is very noticeably dark.  And we had 3 snow storms in October!

As I am currently sitting in Whitefish, Montana (here to teach a 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training weekend at sister studio Yoga Hive Montana) it is dark and cold.

Not that long ago, it was extremely difficult for our ancestors to get through the winter.  Winter was survival time!  So we, the resourceful humans, started to create rituals with light.  Leaves off the trees?  No problem, we will string them with lights.  Time for holiday celebration?  Lights on the house, candles in each window.  Winter holiday time?  Bake!  Have friends over for meals and parties.  Everyone gathers in the kitchen, the heart of the home, for warm food and love.  These rituals offered hope and light in the middle of the darkest season.

As I stare out into the darkness, I light a candle (yes, I bring a candle when I travel as part of my daily meditation ritual) and that brings me to my top tips to get through the darker, colder months.  One of my favorite Anne Frank quotes:

Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.

1. Candles!  One or many.  Bring candles into your daily routine and you will feel warmer.  I have a friend who does a once a week “brownout” with her family.  One night a week, they use the absolute minimum possible electricity.  Candles, storytelling, being together as a family, even reading by headlamp.  No TVs, devices, or running dishwasher, just the family spending time together. 
2. Watch the sunrise and the sunset.  Take a moment, quiet the mind, pause and simply breathe.  The sun is the force of life, and sun gazing as it sits next to the earth brings life energy within you.
3. Breathwork.  There are many techniques to stoke the inner fire.  Several long deep breaths through the right nostril brings warm sun-energy.  One of my favorite breathing techniques I learned in India is called Prakasha, or Breath of Light.  It is a more meditative breath practice that builds energy.  Sitting tall, close your eyes and bring your awareness to light in and around you.  Inhale in seven short parts through the nose to create one full inhalation.  Direct the breath and light up to your third eye.  Hold the breath in as long as comfortable and exhale gently through the nose in one part.