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Stillness Speaks
Here in the forest of the Dordogne, stillness reigns supreme in this midwinter season. The fallen leaves that carpet the forest floor are damp and soft, absorbing the sound of my footfall after the noisy crunch of autumn. The birds have turned their volume down from a 10 in spring to a 1 as we approach the darkest day of the year. The air is hushed. Even the wild boar and deer seem to be in hiding.
And yet, the stillness on the surface conceals an abundance of fertile life. What is invisible to the eye right now will reveal itself in spring.
Here at La Girouette (our home), we are in hibernation mode and rarely leave the house other than to wander the forest or gather a few provisions in the local villages. Our days of peaceful simplicity have a sweet, gentle flow. I wake naturally before sunrise, open the shutters, make a mug of warm lemon water and begin with writing, yoga and meditation by candlelight. Evenings end with closing the shutters, lighting the fire and settling in with my beloved.
We can go for days without seeing a soul apart from each other and it often feels as if the rest of the world has disappeared into the winter fog that hangs over the Dordogne Valley. It reminds me of the Gene Kelly movie ‘Brigadoon’ which I loved as a child.
And yet, as in the forest, what appears to be deep stillness in our lives is actually full of new growth. We are inhabiting a womb-like space of peace, darkness and stillness which is also pulsating with new life.
🌱 The Inner Growth Hidden in Winter
On a personal level, this journey into winter is reshaping my relationship with work and also with alcohol. The deep peace of hibernation feels like a complete system reset, a gentle recalibration of who Jenny is and how she moves through life. I feel it as a profound relaxation on every level of my being, made possible by all the letting go that autumn invited.
On a professional level, there is an unhooking from old conditioning that once caused unnecessary stress. Now that I can focus purely on my own Transition Coaching and on midwifing the new evolution of HQ (Holistic Intelligence) with our small team of five founding members, the external pressures have dissolved. There are no deadlines chasing me other than what I have agreed to. Any stress that arises is clearly an inside job, something I can witness and choose to release. It reminds me of balance poses in yoga where the body makes constant micro-adjustments to stay in balance.
Back at the Autumn Equinox (20 September), we mapped out the timeline for launching HQ, and I suggested the Spring Equinox (20 March), at the time it felt far away. Eoin and I are used to manifesting things quickly when we combine our energies. But harnessing the seasons in this way feels natural and deeply right. It gives us time to prepare, test and refine everything with ease and impeccability so that when we open the doors to HQ in Spring, it is grounded, clear and formed enough to share - a little like the seedling which is ready to reveal itself from the earth after winter germination.
From the outside, it may look as if very little is happening here at La Girouette. There is certainly deep peace and spaciousness. But beneath that quiet surface, so much new life is pulsing and taking shape.
🌿 The Invitation of Midwinter
Midwinter invites this. And yet so much of the western world chooses the opposite. Many speed up, get swept into mindless consumerism and the pressure to create the ‘perfect Christmas’. They burn the candle at both ends, then stumble into the new year tired, depleted and empty. My childhood and societal conditioning meant that I did this for decades but it is the complete opposite of what the natural world is offering us at this time: deep rest, reflection and moving more slowly.
So I invite you to journal with these questions:
How can you create some stillness in your life this winter?
What can you say ‘no’ to in order to create more stillness over coming weeks
What choices are you making for yourself, and do they help you connect with the stillness that wants to reshape you this winter?
And how would you love things to feel different next winter?