'Tis the season to turn inward (and how to do it)

As the year comes to a close, it often feels as if there is a frantic energy in the air—as if our output and productivity must be endless. Our end-of-year to-do lists reach new lengths—filled with gift shopping, balancing family expectations, holiday events and preparing for our 2022 self-improvement projects. We hear a whispering voice inside of us saying, “I’m overwhelmed and I’m tired”—and yet, we don’t feel like we can offer ourselves the time or space to slow down.

Consider this quieter, but present voice, as an invitation from your intuition to turn inward. Taking cues from nature, it is time for a slower pace and self-preservation. If you can't or choose not to go outward, what might it be like to go deeper inward? To give attention to the parts of you that have been neglected this year and need tending?

Turning inward comes with room to reestablish what you value and what you want to leave behind as we enter a near year. Maybe it means having more boundaries around your precious energy or looking at the areas in which you're dissatisfied and having the courage to sit in the shit even if it doesn't feel good.

Sometimes being with what doesn't feel good within us,
helps us come to what is right for us.

Remember, this is not an opportunity to self-criticize or obsess over the things you dislike about your life, but instead to bear witness to how far you've come, how resilient you are, and to hold softness within yourself--to gaze lovingly at all of your beautiful nooks and crannies and offer them compassion may be the first step toward the change you want to experience.

If this feels hard, it may be because this gentler and observant approach is new. Many of us are taught that our value is based in what we do, not who we are. Instead, consider what it is that you value. Note, this may be distinctly different than what you are rewarded for or how you spend most of your time.

"I dive into the well of my body
And end up in another world
Everything I need
Already exists in me
There's no need
To look anywhere else."
-home, Rupi Kaur