{"id":45295,"date":"2016-02-08T14:05:59","date_gmt":"2016-02-08T19:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wanderlust.com\/?p=45295"},"modified":"2018-02-06T11:34:23","modified_gmt":"2018-02-06T16:34:23","slug":"honor-lunar-new-year-self-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/fr\/journal\/honor-lunar-new-year-self-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Honor the Lunar New Year With Self-Love"},"content":{"rendered":"

Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda honor nature\u2019s flow as an essential guide in creating a joyful life.\u00a0These ancient practices use holistic approaches aimed at restoring the body to its natural, harmonious state.\u00a0Both practices encourage observation of personal behavior and surrounding environment as a vital tool in deepening awareness.<\/p>\n

As we begin to attune with our surroundings, we create a life in love with nature\u2019s flow.\u00a0A life in love with nature is a life in love with the self.\u00a0Just as Ayurveda embraces organic rhythms<\/a> to support a life in balance, the lunisolar calendar observes this in the sun\u2019s rotation along with the waning\/waxing of the moon.\u00a0Attending to the moon cycles is earth\u2019s most central way of tapping into nature\u2019s cyclical groove. The earliest measurement of time was celestial observation, so it\u2019s no wonder the traditional Chinese calendar, along with the Hindu, Buddhist, Tibetan, Hebrew, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Korean calendars (to name a few!) are all lunisolar.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Lunar New Year<\/a> falls on the new moon about a week before our beloved Valentine\u2019s Day, on February 8.\u00a0While I adore a box of dark chocolate or a sweetheart valentine, I\u2019ve found the Lunar New Year plucks the heartstrings of true self-love<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Chinese New Year, also called the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, is a ripe holiday for tapping into the nature of self-love.\u00a0Aside from its cultural celebrations like the festive red envelopes\u00a0(called hongbao<\/em> in Mandarin, lai see<\/em> in Cantonese) meant to bring good fortune, and \u201clucky\u201d foods such as niangao<\/em>, a bean cake served as an offering of growth and expansion, it\u2019s the inclusive rituals that invite us into the nourishing aspects of\u00a0nature.<\/p>\n

This is a perfect time to restore, replenish, and remember to listen in.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Every new moon is a rebirth.\u00a0Marking the beginning of a fresh cycle, the dark sky brings sacred space for quiet contemplation<\/a>.\u00a0Simply taking a moment to gaze up at the sky\u2019s open expanse draws us to mother nature\u2019s intelligence.\u00a0This is a perfect time to restore, replenish, and remember to listen in.\u00a0Both Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine associate the moon (soma<\/em>\/yin<\/em>) with cooling, nourishing, receptive qualities.\u00a0Every new moon supports our connection to these peaceful virtues.\u00a0We can honor this time by assessing what in the soil of our lives needs tending.\u00a0Often times it\u2019s the simple act of slowing down<\/a> that creates the shift from confusion to clarity, anxiety to peace, fear to compassion.\u00a0Creating space to meditate or practice a couple yin postures for just 20 minutes during the dark moon is a meaningful act of self-love and a homage to the cosmos.<\/p>\n

Using the new moon to pause and integrate slower, soothing rhythms into the fabric of our lives is a simple ritual that cleanses the spirit.\u00a0Actions always feel sweeter when we are invigorated rather than depleted.\u00a0New moon rituals create the space to reboot.\u00a0Our collective consciousness knows on many levels that our active (shiva\/yang<\/em>) modern culture must take steps in creating balance (shakti\/yin<\/em>).\u00a0Signs of excess pitta\/yang<\/em> energy are taking an aggressive toll on our bodies, spirits, communities, and planet.<\/p>\n

Even the most active modern yogi acknowledges the wholesome benefits of pausing or slowing within flow.\u00a0Just as the brilliant French composer Claude Debussy reminds us how \u201cmusic is the space between notes,\u201d it\u2019s the dark side of the moon that offers space in between the notes of nature\u2019s song.<\/p>\n

The Lunar New Year\u2019s dark moon is an especially auspicious time to reflect inward.\u00a0A month into 2016 is a perfect time to assess which patterns of behavior (samskaras)<\/em> are creating excess, deficiency, or balance within our personal nature (prakruti<\/em>).\u00a0Peaceful reposes support healthy transformation.\u00a0Simple\u00a0rituals connect us to nature\u2019s pulse.\u00a0The more attuned we are with nature, the easier it is to remember how an act of genuine self-love can be a devoted expression to the source of all creation.\u00a0One Love.<\/p>\n

Simple Rituals to Embrace the\u00a0Lunar New Year<\/h3>\n