Winter is an inward season. The days are shorter and there is less daylight. Our cold temperatures and snow mean we move differently. We slow down, activate more caution, engage a bit more solitude and lend ourselves to rest. Life in winter is more dormant.
Attentive to our own changes in this season, the tree must also adapt for the cold and frozen elements. Normally, trees are made up of about 50% water. In winter they release some of this water as a mechanism to survive. Water held within the tree increases its potential to freeze from the cold air that surrounds it. I won’t get too scientific, but the membranes in a tree become more pliable in winter so that water can escape from the cells, allow the cells to prolong or escape freezing and protect the life of the whole tree. The objective of the winter tree is: don’t allow living cells to freeze.
Winter has taught the tree to release what could cause it to freeze and die. I believe the inwardness of winter invites our souls to do the same. Reflect on your winter and name one place in your life that has become more pliable or flexible. Ponder how your flexibility has allowed you to release what you had been holding. Name and celebrate what you have released for your own vitality. Offer gratitude for the wisdom that connects our bodies to the seasons of our Creator. Thank you God for the blessings of winter.
A Winter Tree 