Wintering – The Power of Resting

As participants of Laura Storm's Regenerative Leadership Journey 2023, we - the Twins for Change - will use our blog this year for short personal reflections around the topic of regeneration. You can read more about Regenerative Leadership in general in our last blog post. In accordance with the season, we start, how could it be otherwise, with the topic "Wintering" from the area of "Living Systems Being", i.e. the rediscovery of the core of the human being through deceleration and introspection:

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"And for a short span of time, the vast earth rests,

And the whisper is silent."

(Hugo Marti)

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Every year, as Christmas approaches, I feel that endless tiredness, the desire for a break, for a blanket to pull over my head and disappear. Even if only for a little moment.

When I lived in Bangkok, I missed the seasons. I missed the transition from summer to fall. The cold in winter. And the fresh start after the end of the year. I missed the "Wintering."

"Wintering" occurs naturally in the animal and plant world. It is an essential part of the cycle of life. Trees drop their leaves, stop photosynthesizing. Grass stops growing. Many animals go into hibernation or retreat. Everything slows down. Energy stores are replenished until life explodes anew in spring.

But what about us humans? After all, we are also part of nature. And yet we have forgotten how "wintering" works. Honestly, whether in Bangkok or here: I always run. Give myself too little time to regenerate, to retreat, to be still and reflect.

Why?

In our society, what counts is availability, performance and speed. We have never learned to take a break. Because we only feel valuable when we achieve something. Because then we are appreciated by others.

But isn't taking a break just as important? The brain needs rest, but we are constantly in Fight & Flight mode. Creativity, compassion and holistic thinking are not possible under stress.

How are we going to learn from mistakes if we don't think about why they happened? How are we going to approach projects with renewed energy if we feel burned out and empty? And how are we supposed to reflect on what's really important to us if we get completely lost in the day-to-day challenges?

That's why we "Twins for Change" have started incorporating "Wintering" into our daily lives.

How?

• We allow ourselves two minutes of silence before important meetings or trainings.

• We use the Connecting format in trainings whenever possible. Each participant has 5 minutes of uninterrupted time to talk freely about themselves, their challenges, but also joys. After that, the others each give 1 minute of feedback on what they perceived.

• We do a retrospective after each training and assignment and decide what we will do differently next time.

• We journal every night about what we learned and especially the small moments of gratitude that too often get lost.

Twin tip: If you want to read more about "Wintering", we recommend the book "Wintering" by Katherine May.