Welcoming Winter - Or As We Say Coorie In

Welcoming Winter - Or as we say Coorie in
As the days grow shorter and cold weather sets in, it’s easy to dread the darker months—or we can choose to embrace the unique blessings winter brings. Join me for a relaxed reflection on finding joy in the quiet season. We’ll explore the Scottish concept of coorie (nestling in with a big blanket, fire and warm drink), notice the star-filled night skies, and practice a completely silent, balanced breathwork exercise to bring peace to your day.

Transcript

So it's nearly the end of September a wee while, The clocks will be going, Is it spring forward, Fall back, The clocks will be going back Before we know it's going to be December and it's going to be dark at three o'clock in the afternoon. Oh my, Oi, Oi, Oi, Oi, Oi. Aye. Some folk. Get depressed with the oncoming of winter the oncoming of the dark days They cannae forget. To look upon the blessings that never really happened. In the summer that only happen when the nights are dark and it's cold. Oh, The days see the darkness for darkness they never see any any light of the tunnel they only just they just can't wait until wait until spring comes and steady rejoicing the fact that the rivers are fuller so there's more chance of going for a kayak or paddle down the river There's more chance of waking up at a reasonable time and watch the sun come up. Or watch the sun go down in fact. In Scotland. In the summer solstice. Like if you're right up north. The sun hardly even goes, It doesn't hardly get dark. Where we are in Stirling, It gets dark about midnight. If you're on the top of the hill, There'll still be a wee bit of light there. It's not like up the top of Norway where I've been up there and at two o'clock in the morning you actually realise that. Creaky. It's starting to get bright again, Eh? That's always great fun. Especially like, At two o'clock in the morning, There's nobody at the beach and you've got it all to yourself. But that's a different, That's a different meditation altogether, Like, Eh? That's just incredible when you're swimming and you see it at two o'clock in the morning, Right up the top of Norway. So anyway, We're not all beads, Some of us don't want to be the one, Huh? The opportunity to go outside at 7 o'clock and see the stars. See a Ryan's belt? Notice the stars, But also notice the planets. Look for them. The wee bright balls in the sky that don't flicker. They're the planets there. That'll be like Pluto, Eh, No Pluto, That'll be like Jupiter and Saturn, Eh? Aye. And Mars'll be a wee bit redder. You're not getting them opportunities in the summer in Scotland. We've got to relish these. And the whole point of what I'm trying to get at is. . . There's a term in Scotland called Curie, To curie in. And I was thinking. . . In Denmark it's called hygge or hygge or something like that it's spelled h y g g e I could probably Google it and figure it out. I wish I could pronounce it properly, But. . . Then I would have to actually stop this mumbling and start again. Right, I know in Welsh there's a, There's a play, There's a word called like, Is it cotch? We are at stake. If. . . It's like, It's more knuckled away. It's like a place of sanctuary and safety. And in Scotland, The Curie Inn, Or like, In Scotland, The term, Gie ye a wee bosey. Yeah, Come here, And I'll gie ye a wee bosey. It's like a cuddle, Eh? It's more a Doric. They say, In a way, On the North East, Up near Aberdeen and stuff, They'll say, We'll gie ye a wee bosey. It's like a wee cuddle. A wee hug. And that, No, The thing I'm trying to get is the curry in. In the summer, You never get the opportunity to curie in because it's always warm. No, Always warm in Scotland, Eh? Sometimes the weather can be pretty harsh. That whole thing of going for a walk when the wind's howling and there's leaves kicking up and there could even be ice on there and it's just freezing cold and you've got your big hat on, You've got like a buff or a scarf on, Big pair of boots. Well, I'm saying all these from a privileged point of view that I've got all these things eh? If you've got a nice big warm jacket. And get outside and. . . And just some crazy weather and actually just enjoy it. And then that feeling of going back inside, Getting a warm drink. You might not have a fire, Like, But. . . Cuddle any of your loved ones. It might be your dog or a cat. And just relish in the heat. That doesn't happen in the summer. In the summer you're just actually, The windows are open or the air conditioning's on and you just get that drone off the air conditioning. No, In the winter you turn it off and enjoy the silence. Then, Watching the geese fly overhead, Hearing the calls of them, The honks. Winter's amazing. We should. . . And steady. Instead of no looking forward to it, We should relish it. It's a blessing. The change in other seasons. But not just stuck doing the same routine every day, Because life. . . Continues to move. And every day we should try and find a blessing in the struggles. Try and find joy. I know, Like, Sometimes you're just like, I'm just, Nah, I need a break. And it's easy for me to say. You're using the same amount of energy as you used before. Two days ago, Four days ago, Five days ago. Two years ago. You need a break from the stress. You need a break for. The physicality of what you're going through, But sometimes just stopping and taking a breath. Is that vacation that you're needing? Korean. Relish the time, The difference. And a warm drink in your hands. And there's nothing better than being outside and watching the steam come out of your mouth. That's brilliant. And then go and say it. Kicking off big boots and relaxing. Right. I have more mood than love. Right here. Do some breathing. We're going to start off with five big breaths inside the mouth. I kinda made the first one a five, Sorry. If that is five, That's it. I'm pretty rubbish at this. I'm pretty rubbish at trying to live in the moment too. In fact, Was that living in the moment? Just concentrating on the next breath? And know as you count, Know the breaths. Just going to breathe in. And pause. I am breathing out. Take the next breath in. We're going to try and make the breath in and the breath out at the exact same time, Same use of the muscles. We're just trying to replicate one for the other. But no trying to make a difference and take a big breath in and a slow breath out. So up your arms, We're just going to breathe in. And breathe out, So there's no effort at all. So we'll do that about 2 or 3 times. You. I'm not here to tell you what to do, I'm only here to guide you. I'm not here to say take a breath for a count of three, Take a breath for a count of five. I'm just asking you to take a breath in and a breath out of the same. The same amount of time, The same amount of effort. That might be a count of six breaths, Or a big breath for you, Or a big breath for youse. Probably a huge breath for somebody else but. . . The features. Just try and calm the breath down so we're just breathing in. And breathing out at exactly the same time. When we've actually accomplished that, When we've actually like. . . Balloon master, But if we ever get to that point. Breath in the breath out at the same time the same effort. Try and make it silent. So you can't hear it. It's a bit more tricky here. Especially with like, You've been practicing, What is it, OGIE breath and stuff like that. You actually use that noise to actually keep you grounded and keep you in the moment. We're going to try and make no sounds at all. It's going to be really tricky for me, Because I love the sound of my own voice. But also, Normally, When I'm breathing in and out, That's a bit of a guide for you. So I'm not going to just try and make a noise when I'm breathing. So I'm sorry for the lack of guidance on this next part of the video. Breath. I don't know if you can hear, There's a guy cutting the grass. He's just started. But I cannae cut the meditation. Sometimes a day I end up cutting the meditation. But some of the words that I've been saying here, I think it's actually been really grand, Really good fun. So it'd be a waste to try and replicate them again. Because you've probably noticed I've no got a script. I just make this up as I go along. So, The lawnmower's nose is strong enough, So hopefully you can hear it, Or hopefully you didn't hear it. But then, If you didn't hear it, Then you wonder what I'm mumbling about. So anyway, Right, Back to try and make your breath silent. Bye. By now your mind's probably taken you home. Win a wee journey and you've probably started thinking about shopping or. . . Planning meals or planning your day's events. I don't know about you, But when you're not trying to make a noise, You're breathing, It's completely calm. That silence is deafening sometimes. And it's actually really hard, It's probably, It's really hard to sit in that complete silence. But then again, It's about going back to what we were talking about earlier on, Finding joy in the struggle. Getting used to, Getting used to the fact that we actually enjoy life. Even sometimes when we're not finding pleasure in it. Life is amazing. And you're amazing. Honestly, I've not just started. Murry up and just tell nonsense. Honestly. You're just completely incredible. Everybody's gold. Everybody, When they look in the mirror, They see parts of themselves that they don't like. When people look at them, All they see is light. It's when you look at a car. When you look at a car, You just see all the good parts of looking at a car. But if it's your car, All you worry about is that wee rattle and that wee noise it makes. Or if it's a bike you've got. Some people look at your bike and just think it's amazing and all you can see is that the brakes need adjusted or the gears need adjusted. So when I say you're amazing. Truly mean. You are incredible. You are amazing. Find. Count your blessings. Find more blessings. A wee bit off track here because we started talking about the winter and the cold days coming and that's it's pretty much the same it's it's that whole thing about finding joy in the things that we do. That we normally shod let. MIB. Looking after a loved one. And it just seems to be getting too hard. But if you actually contemplate how lucky we are to spend more time with them. The struggles is no burden anymore. That struggle is. It's not a struggle, It's a joy. I hope you're still breathing with it making a noise. Right, I think I've mumbled long enough here. Bye. You, Honestly, You are amazing. Please enjoy your day. Thanks very much.