I'm a 4:30am, get up and go, kinda girl. Well, in summer I'm that, but this winter I was more like a wake up and snuggle with the cats until the birds let me know it's warm enough to get out of bed. Amazingly, I still wake up before 5am through the whole of winter and every day, I begged myself to get up and do some gym or sit down and write a bit before the world caught up and woke with me.
It's my time and I love it, but it took nearly the whole of winter for me to stop the nasty voice in my head, yelling "lazy ass", because I couldn't coax myself out of bed.
I actually noticed I was getting it all wrong when I had a meltdown about the cozy food I was craving on the cold, winter, nights. It took me a while to cut myself some slack and start making stews, soups and big plates of roasted veggies, because my body was definitely craving the heavier dinner. I still think we are meant to get a bit fattened up in winter, because it's the body's extra warmth.
I'm not saying eat loaves of bread and stuff our faces with winter comfort food (which I did for way more than half my life), but rather, fill ourselves up and don't worry about the extra weight that may creep on from a hearty stew over a zero calorie salad. I haven't even bothered Googling, because my instinct says ... humans should totally change our behaviour in winter, because we can (and maybe should) hibernate!
Let's hibernate!
It's the first morning since winter crept in, that I am sitting at my desk and writing before sunrise. It's definitely warming up and I'm thrilled about that, but I also cut myself slack halfway through winter and let myself go ... into hibernation.
I'm not as enthusiastic in the morning and I don't think I'm meant to be. Let me rephrase that ... I don't want to be. Everything is cold and my body and soul has loved the nurturing of snuggling into the blankets, with warm cat bodies. It's like it's meant to be.
I've compensated though and made sure that I drink loads of hot water, with lemon or sage or ginger or orange (wait, I think I need a blog post dedicated to my flavours of water). I've made sure my food is hearty, but not starch heavy. I have kept up my weekend walk, where I can get out at around 8am and take in the winter sun, but for the most part, I have hibernated.
It's now, that I am consciously healthy, that I can appreciate my cycles of the body and I'm excited for the awareness that I plan to carry with me through the spring and summer, so that I can truly prep from my next winter, from the autumn days and then love and appreciate every moment my body needs to do what's natural in winter ... slow down, rest up, chill out!!!
I think it's important that we listen to our bodies, and that we obey the rules of the seasons. I honestly think there' a reason we crave comfort foods and warmth and that we need a bit of extra cushioning those winter months. It's so nice to read this now that it's like a million degrees in NJ and my hair is reaching epic proportions of frizz, LOL. But yes, back to the point of this post: I'm happy to indulge in hibernation. My favorite time of the year, actually.
XOXO and hope all is well with you, Jodene!