Winter Rest: An Invitation Into Fertile Darkness
Winter is a powerful time for resting, spiritual growth, and listening to the fertile dark. It’s a time for slowing down. The only trouble is that it can be such a busy time.
Winter Rest offers you the support of community to create space for darkness and winter rest. On select Thursday nights we will gather on Zoom for about 10 minutes to ritually unplug and prepare ourselves to enter into the dark together. The rest of the hour – or the evening if you like – is for you to rest.
My only suggestion for this time is that it is dark and as un-electronic as possible. Maybe only illuminated with candles or night lights. You could sleep, walk outside in the dark, pray, sing, talk, give yourself a spa treatment. You might not feel like you know what to do, which is partly why we don’t give ourselves this time. This is why I am creating this container so we can overcome some of the things that get in the way of allowing fertile darkness in our lives.
The dark is so good for our health, for our dreams, for the cycle of life.
This invitation is my gift to you and there is no charge.
Thursdays, November – January
Preparing yourself:
- Finish evening chores
- Turn off lights
- Light your candle
Evening schedule
6:50 Zoom room opens for community time
7:00 Ritual to enter darkness
7:10 Darkness on your own
8:00 End of darkness, if you choose.
How people found Winter Rest meaningful to them
Feedback from Winter Rest 21-22
“It created the structure for me to set aside time that became an oasis of peace. Regardless of what I did with that time, it felt like a sacred hour and I appreciated knowing that I was sharing it with others.â€
“[It] was a surprisingly profound feeling. It stayed with me the next day.â€
It shifted my view of the dark this winter from oppressive to cozy. And on the nights I joined you, I felt lighter, in weight, in worries.â€
Themes and Dates for Winter Rest
Each month of winter rest will draw inspiration from a theme inspired by what nourishes the archetypal journey through the dark. These are gentle invitations; however you want to spend your time in the dark is up to you.
NOVEMBER
Compassion and accessing the power of being enough.
November 3
November 10
November 17
DECEMBER
Becoming a creative vessel through the discipline of being.
December 1
December 8
December 15
December 22
JANUARY
Birthing wholeness through the marriage of opposites.
January 5
January 12
January 19
January 26
FEBRUARY
Concluding celebration inspired by Candlemas.
February 2
Your Guides for Winter Rest
In addition to your host Emily Jarrett Hughes, the darkness meditation will be guided some weeks by some of these Wisdom Dances collaborators.
Emily Jarrett Hughes
Dancer, qigong healer, and wisdom teacher.
Niki Kolodge
Qigong teacher and healer and transformational coach.
Johanna Schussler
Certified forest therapy guide with a passion for guiding in urban spaces.
Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew
Writer and writing instructor dedicated to the spiritual transformation within the writing process.
Carolyn Kolovitz
Spiritual Counselor specializing in life transitions.
A Weekly Practice, Special Events, and More!
The heart of Winter Rest is a free weekly collective practice of resting in the dark. Throughout the season there will be additional in person offerings. Winter Rest Supporters receive access to a special deepening workshop.
Full Moon Night Forest Therapy
Forest Therapy is a way to wake up the senses and become fully present and connected with the natural world. This workshop is guided by Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide Johanna Schussler. Sunday, December 4, 4:30 – 6:30 PM Central. Cost sliding scale $15-30.
Become a Winter Rest Supporter
Contribute $48 for 12 sessions of winter rest and receive access to a deepening workshop that expands on the theme of winter rest and how darkness activates yang feminine power. The workshop will be offered Tuesday, November 15, 6:30-8 PM Central and a recording will be available. Becoming a supporter automatically registers you for the weekly rest in the dark.