Winter And the Magic of Water - Reborn

Come with me

to the fluid

corners of tomorrow

WINTER -- the season of WATER. Water has an inner readiness to resonate. To vibrate sympathetically. To reflect what is true. To evoke some deep universal inner knowing. To whisper the secrets of birth & death. To shepherd the seeds of life in its womb. To promise renewal in the midst of seemingly impenetrable darkness. To patiently gestate pearls of wisdom in an ocean whose tide of creation & destruction swells eternally.

To flow with tenacity & grace. To find the path of least resistance. To shape shift as it sees fit. To travel widely the curves of Earth & sky, all the while remembering the Source to which it will inevitably return. To cleanse. To hydrate. Penetrate. Saturate. Nourish. Transform.

Wintertime reveals a magic that hibernates within us all. The magic of death and birth, darkness and light, wisdom and transformation.

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It's normal for feelings of fear to begin to stir when we enter the depths of Winter, the depths of our being, & of our collective (un)consciousness. It is in the darkness that we must confront our spiritual pain.

There's nothing inherently "bad" or "evil" about the dark, but when we neglect it, deny it, & resent it, it festers like a wound in need of healing. That wound can serve as a profound opportunity for discovery, transformation, and healing, but it can only provide such gifts when it is acknowledged & met with light, love, compassion, and care. This can take time, require patience, a trusting spirit, & a willingness to sit with the pain until its purpose has been fully served.

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“Winter teaches us that the only way to fully enjoy the powers of the season is to surrender to it and learn from what it has to offer us. In winter the earth lies fallow; nature appears frozen and dead. In this deep stillness of nature, winter calls us to look into our depths, to reconnect to our inner being, to befriend the darkness within us and around us" (Jason Elias).

In facing & embodying your fear directly, drinking it freely, feeling the weight of it drop down into your core as it swirls down your throat, the intelligence of your body can absorb the raw materials for the courage, wisdom & awe that are created out of fear, whilst graciously excreting the toxic components which might otherwise muddy your internal landscape. As the brilliant Alexander Shaia so beautifully puts it: “When we go to the deepest dark, that’s where the grace of fresh radiance will come forth in us by our courage to walk to the place of the deepest dark.”

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It is my hope (as always) that we can find solace & wisdom in the cycles of nature happening around & within us, even when that wisdom contradicts the edicts of our cultural systems (i.e., If you are to be a respectable citizen, you MUST be PRODUCTIVE and engaged at ALL times, because afterall, the holy bottom line depends on it. Sorry, capitalism, Nature has other plans.). The word Solstice literally means "sun stands still," for this is the most Yin day of the year, "when the forces of contraction strike a still point and give birth to Yang, barely glimmering with its promise of light and expansion.” Traditionally, in many temperate regions, the Winter Solstice is seen as the middle of winter, but today in some countries and calendars, it is seen as the beginning of winter. To me, the former (traditional) perspective makes the most sense, with the solstice marking the height, or in Winter’s case, the depth of the season. In this way, Winter’s trajectory begins with a descent into darkness, peaks in its surrender to the stillness of the darkest dark, before finally and courageously birthing back into the light. Decay, vulnerability, death, discovery, courage, rebirth - this is the magic of Winter.

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When considering the holidays that are celebrated this time of year, one can see how they align with the patterns of death and birth, rest and renewal, dark and light, that are playing out on both a macro- and microcosmic plane: The many Winter Solstice celebrations that exist across cultures & history "speak to the life-giving power of light, and its symbolism of goodness, wisdom, and life itself for all people" (Andrea Thompson McCall). And as Belsebuub writes in The Path of the Spiritual Sun: “They speak to us of a mysterious and universal understanding of spiritual transformation … The rising of the sun on the winter solstice, out of the darkest day of the year, echoes the birth of light from the dark void” within each of us.

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In Chinese Medicine, Winter correlates with the element of Water, and the organ systems of the Kidneys & Urinary Bladder. “Water is the most feminine of the five elements and therefore is considered very yin … Water is the most powerful element for it can move around any obstacle in its path without losing its essential nature. Water can, in time, dissolve the hardest mountains…Although water is a very yin element, it can exist in either a yang or a yin state … Water qualities are creativity, sensitivity, reflection, persuasion, effectiveness, and desire for life and sex. Water types value family and social contacts and possess the ability to attract (being receptive, water can attract, rather than pursue). The emotion associated with water is fear (which, when met honestly, allows for the birth of courage). Other water emotions are indecisiveness, vacillation, and uncertainty. Those born in a water year succeed by not allowing fear to block the fullest expression of creativity” (Susan Levitt).

As a human with a strong Watery-Earth elemental constitution, I often find myself pondering the nature of existence. I sense the unseen magic & intensity brewing beneath the surface, and I open myself up to the workings of spirit. When I rest my attention on water, or better yet, rest my body within it, I feel held. Weightless & saturated simultaneously. Curious. Introspective. Imaginative. Impregnated with possibility. Humbled and awed by the mystery of the deep unknown. Cleansed. United. Reborn. Revitalized.

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What follows is a compilation of inspiring & useful content related to the physical, psycho-emotional, & spiritual nature of Winter and the element of Water. As we journey through the remainder of Winter, may you honor & embrace the darkness within as a womb from which new light will slowly gestate & inevitably burst forth. Happy Winter, my friends!

Favorite books:

• Messages From Water & The Universe - Masaru Emoto

  • If you want a sneak peak into Emoto’s discovery of how water is deeply connected to our individual and collective consciousness, go check out this video

• The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself - Michael A. Singer

  • I first read this book around the time it was published 10 years ago. I was fresh out of undergrad, and my beloved aunt & dearest friend, Marlow gifted me with a weekend massage workshop at Esalen in Big Sur, CA (aka heaven on Earth). She also gifted me with this book that weekend, and both gifts had a profound immediate & eternal impact on the trajectory of my life journey & the unfolding of my consciousness. Michael Singer encourages us to explore the internal landscape of our minds, & illuminates the truth of who we really are. The untethered soul is the soul who lives from the seat of the subject, the listener, the witness, the one who is aware of, yet free from the limits of one's thoughts & emotions.

  • I've gifted this book to people more than any other book I that I love. It's that good. Trust me on this one - find a way to get your hands on this book asap. And in the meantime, go download 13 free audio files with over 20 minutes of truly inspirational excerpts from the book in celebration of its 10 year anniversary here!

• The Surrender Experiment: My Journey Into Life’s Perfection - Michael A. Singer

  • Okay okay, I know. There are endless other authors to choose from, and here I am recommending two books by the same damn dude. Take it as a testament to how impactful his words have been in my life, and to the utter perfection of the timing of the Universe. In a season of surrender - across the Northern hemisphere, but also very potently within my personal journey - this book practically dropped itself in my lap. You’d think I would have sought it out immediately upon its release YEARS ago, given the praise I just lavished upon his former title, but for whatever reason it hadn’t called upon me until now - a time in which my footsteps have been guided by the mantra, “I surrender and wait patiently to receive.”

  • In dedicating himself to an experiment with surrender, Singer learned that “the more I was willing to let go of the inner noise created by my personal likes and dislikes, the more I could see the subtle synchronicities in what was unfolding around me. These unexpected concurrences of events were like messages from life gently nudging me in the direction she was going.”

Favorite articles:

• Winter Solstice Ritual ideas from Mystic Mamma

• One unusual practice in entering into the darkness of your demons involves “feeding” them...

  • Oh hey, I just so happen to be co-leading our next installation of Embracing Your Demons, a workshop combining this very practice with some gentle alchemical acupuncture in January 2020 at Yoga Soup in Santa Barbara, CA!

Favorite Quotes:

• “The deepest dark is not the place where grace goes to die, but the deepest dark is the place where grace goes to be reborn.” - Alexander Shaia

• “There is a well-known story of the Sufi wise man Mulla Nasruddin, who one night was combing through the dirt under a street lamp in front of his house. A passerby asked, ‘Mulla, what are you looking for?’ ‘The keys to my house,’ Mulla replied. So the two got on their hands and knees searching for the keys, and after another hour, the passerby asked, ‘Are you sure you dropped the keys here?’ ‘Oh no,’ said Mulla, ‘I dropped the keys inside my house.’ Astonished, the passerby asked, ‘So why are we looking out here?’ ‘Because the light is shining out here,’ replied Mulla.”

• “As in all forms of acupuncture and energy work, we begin alchemical work by ‘turning the light around’ to look within at our own selves and around us at the cycles of nature. The Five Spirits offer us a map of the finest, most ephemeral aspect of our being - the shen or spirit - sometimes also referred to as the ling.

Favorite Acupuncture Points:

Kidney 25 - Shen Cang or Storehouse of the Spirit (especially potent when used during the first half of Winter)

• “The name of the point combines the character shen 神 spirit with the character cang 藏 to store, conceal, or hide. Cang implies not only the storing away of what is valuable for later use but also the idea of hibernation, of going inward, of passing through the lean months of winter by dropping into a deep state of rest.

• The minister who resides at the center of this point cradles the shen like a restless bird safely beneath her silken robes. There, in the dark, the wounded wings of the light can heal.

• In current times, our world often seems too painful to bear, but this point reminds us that gradually radiance will return to the Earth. Deep in the Storehouse, the seeds wait until it is once again appropriate to grow. This waiting is not the same as doing nothing. Rather, it is like winnowing, separating the precious from the worthless, breathing in what truly inspires us and breathing out what we no longer need. In this way, in a time of darkness, we veil our light and yet continue to shine.” - the brilliant Alchemical Acupuncturist, Lorie Dechar, LAc

• You can activate the power of this point by applying pressure to your chest in an area about 2 inches lateral to either side of your sternum, in the 2nd intercostal space.

Kidney 7 – Fu Liu or Returning Current (most potent when used during the second half of Winter)

• “When we open this point, it is as if we have cleared away a blockage in a stream. Without force or effort, the current once again begins to flow. This Water point brings vitality back to our being. On the spirit level, it is a point of rebirth. It restores our faith in our own resiliency and re-awakens our desires, drives, and will to live.

• The character liu, meaning stream or current, has embedded in its ancient etymology a picture of a newborn baby upside down with four strands of hair hanging down from its head. This character tells us that this point is related to the moment of crowning during a birth. It brings us the gift of faith in the renewal of life, the awesome thundering of the soul that comes when the baby’s head first emerges from the mysterious darkness of the birth canal.

• Consider this point when a person is disheartened, exhausted, or has completely lost touch with the river of their Tao. Consider it when there is a need for someone or something to be reborn. Consider it when action proceeds without the stabilizing influence of wisdom and when the light of faith no longer illuminates the darkness of the world.

• Through this point, the yin’s tendency towards entropy is reversed. We can once again dare to stand against the forces of disintegration and death. The streams, rivers, and oceans of life begin again to flow. As we read in Hexagram 24 of the I Ching, ‘The transformation of the old becomes easy. The old is discarded and the new is introduced.’” - Lorie Dechar, LAc

• You can activate the power of this point by applying pressure to the depression about 2 inches above the medial malleolus (ankle bone) on the anterior border of the achilles tendon. Try applying juniper essential oil to further warm and stimulate Kidney Yang. Juniper is known to “strengthens the will and our capacity to stand strong and upright in the face of adversity. It drives out negativity and relieves the fear of failure. Applied to Kidney 7, this oil activates the forces of life and brings vitality back to the soul.” - Lorie Dechar, LAc

Favorite Podcast episode: Robcast Episode 176 w/Alexander Shaia on the Mythic Power of Christmas

• This is full of spiritual, philosophical, creative deliciousness that will surely nourish the Watery philosopher within you.

Favorite Random Inspirational YouTube vids:

• Bruce Lee: Be Water My Friend

• Jim Carrey: What really exists

Favorite Herb: Cordyceps (Dong Chong Xia Cao)

• Among many other healing abilities, “Cordyceps Mycelium is very widely used for the purposes of strengthening the primal Kidney functions, which include sexual functions, brain power, structural integrity and healing ability of otherwise normal, healthy people. It is a very powerful Yang tonic.”

  • In the wise words of Master Herbalist Ron Teeguarden: “It’s a fundamental principle of life cultivation philosophy to live in harmony with the seasons, and to take advantage of the seasons to boost our health and well-being. Winter is the best time to build your Kidney Energy. The Kidneys are the “Seat of Jing.” In other words, the Kidneys store much of the Jing in your body. Winter is the best time to take Jing tonics. Jing is the most primal of the Three Treasures of life. Jing is like your battery, and it determines the power of your life and even how long you may live. Jing is depleted by stress, by challenges, by “overdoing” whatever we do – or just by living a full life, taking care of kids and business, etc. Jing must be replenished.”

• I like Dragon Herbs Cultured Cordyceps and Sun Potions powdered Cordyceps, both of which can be found & purchased at the Friespirit Magic Nook (aka my treatment room)! But if you just can’t contain your excitement long enough to get your hands on my supply (or you live in a faraway land, then head on over to my online store and grab a bottle or two of Cordyceps there. You'll see my favorites in the Revitalize Protocol.

Favorite healing tools/gear:

• Gorgeous & empowering activeware by Santa Barbara-based Ghost Flower designed by (the most amazing) women to help you incorporate the power of Chinese Medicine & the 5 Elements into your movement practices. I'm honored to be a friend & ambassador to this company, & to share the goodness with all of you! So use code HANNAHFRIES25 to get 25% off some beautiful gear.

• Tuning fork and/or simple acupressure for deep stimulation of acupuncture points

  • Try it on some Kidney or Urinary Bladder points, i.e., Kidney 25 or Kidney 7! Or apply one drop of Atlas Cedar oil on your thumb and hold in place for a few minutes on Kidney 1, Bubbling Spring, to calm the spirit and replenish the essence and vitality. “As a fortifier of the will, [atlas cedar] can be used to bring someone into connection with her/his own wisdom and inspire strength and fortitude in negative or threatening situations”.

    • Kidney 1 is found near the center of the sole of the foot, “in the depression in the heart of the sole, as felt when the leg is stretched, the foot bent and the toes curled.”

    • You might also place the palm of your hand over the sole of your foot, in a way that connects Kidney 1 with the Pericardium and Heart meridians on your hand. This can support the activation of what’s known as the Kidney-Heart axis: an interface of water and fire energy, important in many qigong practices.

• My journal and The Magic of I. Astrological Planner

• Acupuncture & Integrative Body Psychotherapy for a guided exploration & honoring of the darkness

Favorite Winter activities:

• Journaling

• Meditation:

  • Join my aunt, Suzanne Marlow MFT, and I for our juicy Embracing Your Demons workshop at Yoga Soup in Santa Barbara.

• Surfing (don't forget your wetsuit, unless you wanna brave it Wim Hof style)

• Balneotherapy, which is just a fancy word for hot springs soak.

  • Not a fan of freezing your buns off in ze ocean? Locate your local springs and cozy up with all those minerals. Pro tip - grab a few handfuls of mud from the springs and apply it all over your skin for a little extra healing self-massage (this also has a surprisingly fun name: fangotherapy).

• Morning Tea Ritual. Observe the steam. Feel the warmth. Ponder the wondrous qualities and abilities of water.

  • For the very best, give yourself the gift of a Silent Tea Ceremony with the sweetest of humans, Lizzie Smith, at Yoga Soup (once a month on Friday mornings)!

• Steam inhalation. Add 2-4 drops of your favorite essential oil into a basin of hot water, then form a tent with a towel and inhale. Eucalyptus, peppermint, rosemary, and tea tree are lovely oils for this.

• Magnesium Salt baths (the householder’s version of natural hot springs…) w/essential oils

  • 5-10 drops of essential oil can be emulsified with milk or honey, or dispersed into salt. In this way, it will diffuse evenly into the bath water and be safe for the skin.

For more on how the Water Element plays itself out in your body, & the best ways to support your Water Element, come visit me at The Santa Barbara Yoga Center for a guided immersion into your depths and revitalization of your light through the magic of acupuncture. And hang out with me on Instagram @friespirit where I occasionally drop a pearl or two into the sea of frenzy that is social media! Until then, keep growing that light within the dark, my dearest humans. I am here for you & so, so honored to be sharing this journey with you!

In health & happiness,

Hannah