​We can learn so much from Mother Nature.  There is what I call the Cycle of Growth.  The seasons can teach us how to tend to ourselves - how to manage the "real estate" of our bodies, minds, and souls.

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Refer to my post “Mother Nature – Spring in the Vegetable Garden”.

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Refer to my post “Mother Nature – Summer in the Vegetable Garden”.

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Refer to my post “Mother Nature – Autumn in the Vegetable Garden”.

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Mother Nature and the season of Winter

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Over the Winter season, there is less work required in the garden.  However, the garden will continue to deliver a selection of vegetables that can withstand the hardship of Winter weather and be harvested, or stored, as required.

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For the Winter much of the garden will be “rested” in preparation for the season of Spring ahead.

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Over the Winter season in the garden, although not in the vegetable garden, one activity required on any fruit bushes or trees is pruning.  I will use my pruning of one of my apple trees as an example.

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I started by gathering the tools necessary for the task – secateurs, long lopping shears, and ladder.  I looked at the tree from a distance to see what needed to be done overall.  I then studied the tree in detail.  Then I was able to determine which branches or parts of branches to prune.  There were different reasons for selecting certain branches, including:

• Some branches were long and weak and would not develop properly, thereby wasting the energy of the tree.

• Some were old and past their best and no longer served any purpose.

• Some were part of a group of crowded branches which would stop sunlight getting to the centre of the tree, and which would interfere with the growth of each other.

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I then carried out the pruning, constantly reviewing the work to determine what needed to be done next.

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When finished the pruning, I gathered up the pruned branches, shredded them, and will use them to make compost over the coming year.

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Hopefully, the pruning exercise will result in a stronger tree, which will produce abundant fruit in the next year.

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In early Winter next year, the process will be repeated and with the knowledge of how the last pruning worked or otherwise.

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Lessons from Mother Nature and the season of Winter

 

Over the Winter season, there is less work required in the garden.  However, the garden will continue to deliver a selection of vegetables that can withstand the hardship of Winter weather and be harvested, or stored, as required.

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Just as the garden will continue to provide produce all year around, we benefit from any work that we do on our physical, emotional/mental, and spiritual states on an ongoing basis.  The time and effort that we invest will be rewarded in the present and in the future.

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For the Winter much of the garden will be “rested” in preparation for the season of Spring ahead.

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Just as in the garden, it is useful for us to rest, relax, or just to take it easy for a while.  This is not an excuse for being lazy of for doing nothing.  However, rest and relaxation is good for us; physically - to allow our bodies to recover from activity; mentally and emotionally - to help us to step back from the pressures of life; and spiritually to allow us to find purpose and meaning in our lives, and to reflect upon what is good and positive in our lives.  We can achieve this rest and relaxation in many different ways through, for example, sleep, socialising, reading, and meditating.  Use relaxation techniques that work for you.

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Over the Winter season in the garden, although not in the vegetable garden, one activity required on any fruit bushes or trees is pruning.  I will use my pruning of one of my apple trees as an example.

​

I started by gathering the tools necessary for the task – secateurs, long lopping shears, and ladder.  I looked at the tree from a distance to see what needed to be done overall.  I then studied the tree in detail.

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We should regularly review our own lives, from a physical, mental, and spiritual perspective.  Based on the information from our past and our aspirations for the future, we should reflect on where we are now.

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Then I was able to determine which branches or parts of branches to prune.  There were different reasons for selecting certain branches, including:

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Based in the information and data, we can determine what to change and what to do now and in the future.

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• Some branches were long and weak and would not develop properly, thereby wasting the energy of the tree.

 

We can identify those activities (including tasks, actions, relationships, and thoughts) on which we are spending time and effort but with minimal or negative return.  We should focus our limited time and effort (both physical and emotional) on activities that are worthwhile and fulfilling.

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• Some were old and past their best and no longer served any purpose.

 

Similar to the previous consideration, some of the activities on which we are spending time and effort no longer serve any useful purpose.  We should not continue with these.

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• Some were part of a group of crowded branches which would stop sunlight getting to the centre of the tree, and which would interfere with the growth of each other.

 

We can often get involved and carry out so many different tasks that we cannot do any of them properly and not get the full reward from any of them.  This can apply to work, relationships and all those activities that we carry out.  We need to be selective and put the time and effort into a limited, but varied, set of activities (tasks and relationships).  In that way we can grow as people, and grow as souls, and live more fulfilling and meaningful lives.

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I then carried out the pruning, constantly reviewing the work to determine what needed to be done next.

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Having made our decisions, we must then implement them and continuously monitor ourselves to determine how we are doing.

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When finished the pruning, I gathered up the pruned branches, shredded them, and will use them to make compost over the coming year.

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Any activities that we cease are not wasted.  They are in our past and cannot be un-done.  They can serve a very useful purpose as input to our current and future decision-making and even our current and future emotional and spiritual states.

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Hopefully, the pruning exercise will result in a stronger tree, which will produce abundant fruit in the next year.

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Following an exercise like this will, hopefully, help us to grow personally, emotionally, and spiritually.  There are no guarantees but being proactive means that we will continue to make progress.

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In early Winter next year, the process will be repeated and with the knowledge of how the last pruning worked or otherwise.

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At some future time – annually for some, periodically for others, daily for some others – the process can be repeated.  However, for many they never even start the process.  That is their loss.

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Follow Mother Nature’s lead - you should be on a continuous Cycle of Growth too.