Pre Solstice Winter’24

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On December 15, I gathered my annual Pre Solstice Winter retreat, and the first hour was free. Afterwards it struck me that I could make that first free hour available to more people by posting the recording on my blog. (The rest of these workshops are very interactive, so I can’t share them with those who were not there.)

These seasonal retreats are substantially different every year, as I try to make them responsive to the issues that are most drastically impacting the health of the population around me. This year, there is a lot of fear, and a lot of… waiting. 

When we wait like a puppet on someone else’s strings, it leads to either Kidney Yin Deficient Disempowerment Syndrome, which is restless, frantic, and prone to panic or frustration; or Kidney Yang Deficient Disempowerment Syndrome, which is a nightmarish sinking dread (and it is definitely possible to have both). In either case, we spray (yin def) or spill (yang def) what sense of power we do have, and are left with no sense of power on the inside. 

In this hour, we talk about the importance of cutting the puppet strings, and empowering ourselves in the winter’s darkness, with specific orientations and practices.