fitness · season transitions

Chronicles of December: same month, different attitude?

catherine w

December provokes a lot of emotions for us.  It’s the beginning of real, bona fide, no-getting-around-it winter (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere). It’s a time of frantic activity:

  • frantic finishing of semester for those of us students and teachers
  • frantic preparing for those of us celebrating Christmas
  • sometimes-frantic taking stock of the year and starting to make resolutions for the next one

I’ve been especially prone to the last type of frantic activity. I wrote a post  on Seasonal adaptation: slowing down and turning inward two years ago. In it I said that, despite the craziness of the season, 

In the midst of it, I feel– calm. A bit quieter than usual.  Slow and deliberate. The indirect light suits me.  The early dusk I find entrancing.  This is a new experience and completely unexpected.

Reading these words now, I wince a little. I think they were more aspirational than actual.  That is, I was shooting for this feeling:

Woman in white gauzy, flowing gown in the woods, viewed from the back.
Woman in white gauzy, flowing gown in the woods, viewed from the back.

When in fact, in December, I pretty much always have this feeling:

Woman's face covered with post-its with tasks and responsibilities like pets, work, house, cooking, etc. You get it.
Woman’s face covered with post-its with tasks and responsibilities like pets, work, house, cooking, etc. You get it.

This December, I admit that I’m way overburdened with work, physical therapy, lots of family strife around me, unmet writing obligations, and my usual body shame/dissatisfaction that accelerates during the holiday season. 

So I’m going with it. This is me, moving forward in super-messy fashion.  I’m:

  • doing a bunch of yoga, mostly in very small bits (7-15 mins, even)
  • walking more, with the accompanying soreness of the ankle with no brace now
  • sleeping 8 hours at least, because I have to in order to function
  • being present for my family, trying to maintain boundaries of some sort
  • accepting that my house will be super-messy and my writing obligations will have to wait and that my body is actually helping me do all these things so thank you body

Forget ethereal.  I’m going for pragmatic this season.  

What’s your word or attitude this December?  I’d love to hear from you.

Published by catherine w

I'm a feminist public health ethicist (yes, that's a thing). I'm interested in heath behavior change, particularly around eating and activity, and how things other than knowledge affect our health decisions.I'm also a cyclist (road, sort-of-off-road, commuter), regular yoga-doer, occasional swimmer and kayaker and leisurely social walker.

4 thoughts on “Chronicles of December: same month, different attitude?”

  2. Oh oh oh. I’m so with you. Loving some of the parties and time with family and friends but also feeling over burdened work wise.

  3. The only place I really want to leave my house for is my yoga studio. However, tomorrow I am flying as far around the world as I can. And my first thought is, I wonder where I can find a yoga studio in Melbourne.

    Hugs to you, Catherine.

  4. I embrace your attitude Catherine! My neck muscles and back muscles attest to what this time of year means to me: Grading, grading, grading, travel … This isn’t getting the grading done, though, so back to grading! (But I will try to emulate you and get in even just tiny chunks of yoga.)

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