the dön season…
After the longest January EVER…it’s finally February. I spent much of January on a plane/in a hotel room/doing laundry between trips…and as much as I love travel, it was exhausting. I feel like I kind of stumbled into February. Frankly, it’s been a little rough. There’s the expected parts…transitioning from 4 kids to 0 kids. Clearing out holiday stuff & reorganizing life. Packing, unpacking. Adjusting to time zones & climates. And then there’s the unexpected parts…small grievances. Less patience for obstacles & bullsh*t. To-do lists that never seem to get cleared.
This morning, Dan & I both the same thought during our morning meditation…”Let’s go to the Shambhala Center.” In the past, we’ve attended evening sitting sessions to complement our home practice. As we looked up the schedule, I came across several articles about the dön season. The what?? It’s the 10 days leading up to the Tibetan New Year. The Shambhala Times explains…
“This time of obstacles is known as the “dön season.” Döns are negative forces that arise out of the environment, causing humans to do things that are self-destructive and mindless. This could take the form of sudden fits of anger or madness, or making bad decisions that will lead to misfortune. Döns produce sudden, unexpected neurotic upheavals. Car problems, colds or flu could be considered döns.”
Sounds like a pretty apt description. Another article describes the accumulation of the year’s chaotic energy before the beginning of the Tibetan New Year. We certainly had a lot of chaotic energy last year. I’ve been struggling with the feeling that the New Year didn’t feel as clean start-ish as I wanted it to…and now I realize that we really didn’t get a clean start. In fact, we had negative chaotic energy show up at our door just after the New Year…and never really had the space to clear it. Until now. The dön season. Counting down 10 days until the Tibetan New Year. A (thankfully) short season of clearing the past, and creating the New Year. Yes, please. The same article linked above offers this simple solution…
“On a personal level, the best protection against döns is increasing one’s mindfulness. Therefore, this season is an especially good time for meditation practice.”
Over the next ten days, you’ll find me practicing meditation, yoga, and self-care. We have travel plans to see our Littles next week, and extra-special plans to see Barb (sooo excited!!). I’m committed to slowing down, being mindful, and making every effort to detox the remnants of 2017 before Shambhala Day. And then I’ll figure out how to deal with the Year of the Earth Dog…’cause y’all know how I feel about dogs….