Do you feel like crawling back into bed with something warm – a cup of tea or a cat? Holiday bedazzlement getting to you? Well you are normal. You are experiencing the yin of winter, and tomorrow (December 22, 2011) marks the most yin day of the year, the Winter Solstice. Yin is slow, feminine, and quiet. Look how well nature does yin, resting for a new beginning in spring.
Don’t despair this is time for celebration! The Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year and the longest night. But now the glorious sun will begin to return day by day. This time of the year celebrated throughout history and across cultures, is time for quiet contemplation and renewal.
Painting is a great yin activity. In Chinese culture on the Winter Solstice, families would hang an unfinished painting of a plum tree and 81 uncolored flowers. Each day one flower is painted, and once the indoor blooms are complete the early buds appear outside.
Art Prescription: Find a yin activity that brings you peace. Get quiet and warm.
To celebrate Winter Solstice I am painting a tree a day – holiday countdown. And maybe I’ll start a plum tree with 81 blossoms!!
art prescription 