Find Your Light Within: CultureRISE Collection – February

Greetings friends,

There’s a lot of darkness out there lately, both figuratively and literally. This winter is turning out to be one of the bleakest Europe has seen in years. There were less than six minutes of sunshine in some places on the continent during the entire month of December.

My little corner of Switzerland has not been spared the winter gray. In December and January we were blanketed by an endless field of cloud, with only the briefest glimpses of sun.

I hadn’t realized how much this absence of light was affecting me until one afternoon in late January. After weeks of gray, suddenly the sun broke through the cloud cover. I immediately jumped out from behind my desk, sprinted over to the window, and plastered myself against the glass to drink in this marvellous sight, much to the amusement of my neighboring colleagues (though, I might add, it wasn’t long before they themselves were Instagramming this miraculous appearance of Mr. Sun).

Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the light was subsumed once again behind a veil of darkness.

In that moment, with another month or two to go before we see the first green shoots of spring, I knew that I’d better find a way to survive the weeks ahead. The standard mohair blanket, Netflix and Doritos solution was not doing the trick. Neither was my go-to exercise routine. And while following my cats’ extended afternoon nap ritual was the most tempting option, it wasn’t exactly realistic in view of work commitments.

Instead, I have turned my attention to the most immediately accessible means of coping with this dismal winter — finding the light within.

I know this sounds like an unbearably generic cliché. (And, no doubt, the name of a 1990s New Age self-help book…). But when the sun disappears on the outside — and you have no means of escaping to the mountains or a sun-filled destination — the best available option is to turn inwards.

Maybe, for you, this means hunkering down with that pile of books you’ve been saving for a rainy (or snowy) day. Or, if you’re more of an extrovert, you might throw an indoor picnic dinner with close friends on a frigid Friday night.

Whatever your coping mechanism for the dark times you face — be they environmental, social, personal or otherwise — this month’s inspiration collection contains a few nuggets to help you find that inner light and keep on shining through the darkness, no matter what comes your way in the days and weeks ahead.

With love (and light),

Aimée

This Month’s Inspiration Collection

Reflect

When all else fails, remember that “the most important thing happening to you right now is life itself,” says Indian yogi and mystic, Sadhguru. In this short excerpt from one of his talks, Sadhguru touches on the powerful life force inside us all, and its imperative to thrive no matter what our outer circumstances.

Look

If you’re an Instagram fan and haven’t yet discovered the work of Pascal Campion, feast your eyes on his magical expressions of pure love for a quick infusion of daily light.

Breathe

Need a break to redirect your energies inward and find your light? Join Mars, yoga instructor and light seeker, as she guides you through a one-day retreat of yoga, meditation, self-exploration and wholesome food. (Geneva, Switzerland)

Read

This Guardian list on how to beat the winter blues includes the standard “take care of yourself” stuff we all know we should be doing: healthy eating, exercise, meditation and vitamins. But tip no. 2 is a good reminder that it all starts in the mind.

From the CultureRISE Archives

If all else fails, a daily gratitude practice can go a long way to finding more light. Maybe it’s time to revive the 100 Happy Days challenge?

#LOOKUP

Finding beauty and light on a gray, rainy day in London (@aimeedubrule)

What doesn’t transmit light creates its own darkness.”

Marcus Aurelius