Chinese cosmology is very aligned to the natural world. In it, winter corresponds to the water element. Water represents power, strength, flexibility, flow and potential. Water has enormous capacity to change shape, stay still, move, flow, and even become firm and resolute. Water can be as powerful as Niagara Falls or as gentle and playful as a bubbling brook. It can be as shallow and light as a small puddle or as deep and dark as an ocean. It can be flexible enough to flow around rock and at the same time be stronger than that rock as it wears it away over time.
Water also represents our reservoirs. At times, it is critically important to save our reserves of energy and time while at others, we need to flow at all costs.
I think about the power of water and since the majority of our human bodies are made of water, the power inside of me. What a gift to know that I have the capacity to stay still and listen, move when action is needed, become gentle and comforting, and firm when a boundary is tested. I trust that I have this wisdom already within myself.
This season, experiment with a new view of water. Look at the different water sources that are in your life and see how its properties and movement might be a metaphor. Say a small blessing of gratitude as you drink your water. Listen to what your inner wisdom is telling you. And, finally, let the water wash away anything that needs to go.
