Video Summary:

I woke up this morning to four inches of snow here in Ashland, Oregon. It was extremely quiet and still. It set the tone for the time of introspection in the north on the Medicine Wheel. This introspective energy peaks on the Winter Solstice around December 21st, but it's busy and festive as we go into the holidays.

But after the holidays pass and we go into early January, it's the time on the Medicine Wheel that I call deep winter. The days are still short and it’s dark outside for more of the day, we cannot see as far. So our awareness is closer to us rather than out in the distance and it’s only natural to look inside of ourselves.

A powerful inquiry question for this time is “What’s going on inside?” It's wondering what it’s like in there. There aren't many distractions this time of year so we are left with ourselves. While we sometimes have resistance to this, it represents a powerful opportunity spiritually and emotionally.

It's a time when conditions are aligned to going inside and going deep so it’s conducive to spirituality. I'm here with the whale because the whale swims deep. I’m sure our spirit guides think it’s awesome because it’s a time of year that’s quiet enough to hear them.

Other inquiry questions include: What is my purpose? Do I like the course that my life is on, or is it time to change course? It's a natural time of reevaluation. It's the time between the past year and the coming year. We can ask ourselves, “Am I happy with my life this past year or do I want to reinvent it this spring?

We have the opportunity to reinvent our lives in the spring so it's a perfect time to ask ourselves what we want in life. What are the new things that are coming to me spiritually? What are my spiritual gifts? What are the possibilities that are presenting themselves to me?

It's a great time to pay attention to our dreams because they’re part of this deep introspection. It’s a natural time to meditate, let it be quiet, and see what emerges. See what bubbles up from the depths.

Deep winter is also a powerful time emotionally as we can feel deeper as well. The deep quiet allows us to feel what's going on inside. When I ask what is going on inside it includes, “What am I feeling inside?”

Perhaps you feel sad, lonely, or joyful. But I recommend getting more specific with the feelings. Imagery, metaphors, and expressions such as, “It just feels like the world's closing in on me.” Or, “It just feels like I'm bursting at the seams.” Or, “It feels like I just lost my last friend.”

These expressions that have little nuances to them are very effective in helping us identify the specific feeling that we're feeling. Life communicates with us in these nuances. If we are lonely, what do we mean by lonely? It's like the Eskimos having eighty words for snow because they're in the snow so much.

Finding the specific feeling allows us to find the energy and essence of the feeling. We can walk it back. What am I sad about? What am I afraid will happen? There's the immediate thing that didn't go my way today, but what's underneath that? An inquiry is a way of walking these feelings back to their source.

When we start feeling uncomfortable feelings there’s a tendency to avoid, distract, or medicate the feeling. But if we embrace the feeling, it actually helps us move through the feeling more quickly and effectively. It's ripping the band-aid off fast. It's embracing the sadness, loss, emptiness, or hollowness.

Let's embrace those things and see what happens. Have you ever had a dream where you are running from the monster or bad guy and you turn around to face it or embrace it? And then it turns into a harmless kitten or something.

Feelings are the same way. If we stop running from the feelings and turn around and say, “Oh, there's some sorrow here, there must be some grief. I wonder what it is. Talk to me, sorrow. What are you sad about? What do you regret? You can tell me.” Then you can listen and allow yourself to feel it.

Often we fear that the feeling won't stop, but this is not true. As we feel it, we start moving through it. Ironically, one of the reasons it feels like it doesn't stop is we never let ourselves feel it. It's always there with us as we hold it away. It can't resolve itself because we need to feel it for it to resolve.

So these are some things to consider at this time of year. Here we are, it's deep winter; it's early January. Spring is still pretty far away. The holidays are gone, and the days are short. We might as well embrace deep winter and reap its value spiritually and emotionally.