Reflective Practices For The Holidays
What is trying to emerge in your life or work?
For those of you interested in starting coaching with me in early 2024 or, indeed, those who have taken a break and want to return to coaching, I have opened some slots in my diary on the 2nd, 3rd of January and the following week, the 9th and 10th. Anyone who wishes to have an initial chat to discuss what is bringing you to (or back to) coaching and how we can work together, please feel free to book in via this link: Fiona English Appointment Calendar
At 03.28 this morning GMT, the Winter Solstice was exact in the northern hemisphere. This is my favourite day of the year. I love what the day represents; in the darkest of moments, the light is being reborn. It is a day full of hope. This year, with everything that is occurring in the world, we need a reminder of that hope more than ever. The promise that the light always returns.
I always try to put myself out to ‘fallow’ a couple of times a year, a term I heard the poet David Whyte use a few years ago. The idea really resonates with me; that to be our most productive means some times we must also allow periods of ‘inaction’. Nothing seems to signal the time for inaction more than the shortest day of the year. For the last week, I can feel myself wanting to emulate the light as it shrinks down and goes inside. An inner rebirth waiting to happen. The shortest day of the year is not one to be busy on despite what your life or work may appear to demand. It is a reminder to rest. To trust that it is safe to stop.
Being more in tune with the rhythms of nature like this serves me. I like to have pockets of ‘dreamtime’ in life where I inject space and see what has been waiting to surface and emerge. For me, a natural part of goal-setting and planning for a new year is to first create space and stillness to see what is waiting to bubble to the surface.
If this resonates and you also want to create some space or find an hour for reflection to close off 2023 and plant the seeds of 2024, I have included some suggested practices and journalling questions below to help uncover what is waiting to surface for you.
Happy Holidays,
Fiona x