January Blog - The Power of Contraction

January Blog - The Power of Contraction

As I’ve noticed how many people seem to be apologising for going a little slower in winter time, even though it is a natural instinct, I wanted to offer a few insights which have come to me on the benefits of contraction. Having been born a sun-loving Leo in the middle of a drought, these are gleaned from many a year struggling with the deep, dark teachings of wintery times. It still doesn’t come easy, but the invitation to go inward often yields buried treasure.

Contracting spiral in a water spout, NOAA Photo Library

Many spiritual traditions involve a big midwinter meltdown to get through the dark times and celebrate the turning of the year towards spring at the winter solstice. Feasting with friends and family around fires and trees is now combined in western society with a crazed cranking up of the commercial machine. To feel a little skint, hungover, apathetic, relieved, anti-social, party-pooped, dazed and contracted in the aftermath is understandable.

In Western Society productivity and success is measured by the acquisition of money, possessions and the ability to broadcast yourself on as many multimedia devices as possible. Expansion is valued above quietness and inwardness and this can lead us to feel very much at odds with our desire to retreat and reflect when it arises.

I believe that millions of people would be spared depression and anxiety if the energy of contraction was fully understood and valued in western society. We are constantly bombarded with imagery that encourages addiction to the uppers and avoidance of the downers in life. The general message is that we need to be functioning at full voltage all the time and that various hairsprays, drugs and vacuum cleaners will have everything looking and feeling just fine. It’s an instant recipe for insanity, because the downers will always come after the uppers - the higher the up, the deeper the down - and there are few vacuum nozzles that will stretch that far.

In Eastern thought, yin - contraction - represents the inward flow into the deep, dark, swirling waters of unknown, unmoving silence whilst yang - expansion - is the outward flow towards active, energetic, vibrant, loud and lively expression. It is understood that one cannot exist without the other and that both are engaged in an eternal, swirling, interdependent dance.

Cycles of expansion and contraction, death and rebirth are part of every natural process within us. Just like the contractions of the womb before birth, times of inwardness are rhythmic counterparts to expansive phases. We need to stop, breathe and go inward to take stock sometimes, so as to avoid inner and outer depletion. This happens for most people when they experience an illness which propels them off the hamster wheel and into the time out zone so they can retreat and rebalance. Illness viewed in this light becomes a regenerating experience, rather than an inconvenience to be battled through with as many chemical suppressants as possible.

Welcoming contraction allows us to be liberated from a whole pile of guilt. Guilt about not doing or being good enough, not being a productive cog in the machine. Creative retreat allows us to be more than little mechanised units in space. It gives us permission to say no to getting swept along in the general throng and yes to following our own flow. It honours our wholeness.

Embracing the emotions, thoughts and sensations that arise in quiet times can be confronting initially. Sometimes it’s easier to switch on the internet, ipod, TV or radio than to face difficult feelings. Yet, if we view contraction as actually a time to tune into Inner Me Radio, we can discover a wealth of great tunes waiting there for us. All that is required is to tune out the I’m too busy for myself’ song so that we can really listen. When we take time to dance to our own tune anything can happen - tangles untangle, creative projects come to life, solutions surface, surprises arise - not least the surprise of discovering we’ve actually got some really great grooves going on, right here, right now.

Contraction is a medicine urgently needed to restore balance within our current social-economics. Recession comes from the word recede, which means to go back, withdraw, retreat. To curb some of the excessive plundering of environmental resources and to reverse a trend of living on monopoly money requires a collective retreat on every level. Contraction allows us to draw back and reassess our use of resources and our values - to choose quality over quantity for ourselves.

For contraction brings focus. It takes our scattered gaze away from all the loud lights in the circus and pinpoints it on the richness of what is going on right under our noses. We can rediscover the abundant, limitless beauty contained in every moment when we become available to it. We can see the beauty of our lover’s smile as if for the first time, or hear the breath of the breeze in our ears. We can see colours in their true vibrancy and savour all of life’s flavours when we take time to enjoy them.

As a dear friend once said to me, our pain is our soil. Sometimes the wintery times can feel intensely painful, but they are an opportunity to turn over the soil of our being and find all the richness within it, waiting to produce flowers in the spring.

Wishing you a cosy time of creative contraction
Please feel free to leave a comment!

Love Katiex


If you would like to share in some medicinal winter music please join me at the following events:
* January 18th - The Garden of Roses - Petals of Truth with Suzy Condrad & Sally Garrozzo at Inspiral Lounge, 250 Camden High Street, Camden Lock N1 - www.inspiralled.net
* January 29th - Light Emerging - Kirtan at Triyoga 6.30-7.45pm, £12 - www.triyoga.co.uk
For full details please visit the Events Page on my Website - www.therosewindow.org