Coping with the Dark Days

How do we meet the shadow times, in a way that doesn’t lead us into hopelessness and despair? What can we glean from ancient wisdom about balanced living during the season in which darkness prevails?

Winter is the time of going within. Everything lays fallow and we take stock of what is here. We sit with the fear that is here. We don’t deny or turn away from it. We recognize that soft tender body of fear within us, calming it, creating some space around it. So that we can hold the fear, rather than be the fear.

The days approaching solstice - the shortest day of the year - are dark times. Many people are feeling an increased sense of darkness this year. The emotion of the winter, ruled by the Kidney organ, is fear. The benefic aspect of Kidney energy - when mindfully worked with and transformed - is wisdom.

How do we meet the shadow times, in a way that doesn’t lead us into hopelessness and despair? What can we glean from ancient wisdom about balanced living during the season in which darkness prevails?

Winter is the time of going within. Everything lays fallow and we take stock of what is here. We sit with the fear that is here. We don’t deny or turn away from it. We recognize that soft tender body of fear within us, calming it, creating some space around it. So that we can hold the fear, rather than be the fear.

We conserve our energy, rest, and heal, so that we can be available to take appropriate action when the time is right. Self care is not optional right now. If you find yourself in denial, shock, confusion, fear, anger, helplessness - all parts of stages of grief (it is not a linear process) - give your body the space to process that.

When my teachers, Thich Nhat Hanh and Sister Chan Khong, talk about their tireless work to stop the Vietnam war, watching their friends being killed and other horrors - they speak of the need to go back to what nourishes them in order to continue forward. They speak a lot about gardening and putting their hands in the earth.

What will sustain and support you in the days, months, years ahead, so you can be available for what is called and needed from you? How do you stay healthy, solid, grounded, and centered?

We gather with others during the dark days, and create our own light, our own warmth, together. We hold our loved ones close. Love and connection are the best motivators in doing what needs to be done in the world. To meet the darkness and bring light into it.

We remember that we grow that which we put energy into, so we invest our energy: our time, our resources, our words and conversations, mindfully.

We remember that it is always darkest before the light. And that the Earth always renews itself.

We need to be available for what is needed from us. Right and effective action comes from a place of grounding, centeredness, and clarity: not from a reactive state. The body needs to settle. The mind needs to settle. We need to be able to inhabit the middle ground between an overstimulated nervous system and shutting down/ disengagement.

In these dark days, may we nurture and nourish ourselves so that we are able to offer ourselves as needed. May we feel the power of love and community fueling our wise action, individually and collectively.

Join Prajna for Wisdom Teachings for The Polycrisis, next gathering on January 26.

 Prajna Choudhury, L.Ac. Primary Care, OB/Gyn, Dermatology and Cosmetic Services
“My purpose as a Chinese Medicine practitioner, as well as a mindfulness teacher in the tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, is to help my patients navigate the challenges and opportunities of being alive: caring for and easing suffering, while connecting with joy and healing”
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