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Health & Fitness

Winter Solstice: Not Just For Druids and Hippies

Note: this post is best enjoyed while listening to "Here Comes the Sun" from "Abbey Road."

On Dec. 22, at 5:30 UTC* the Earth's Northern Hemisphere will mark the 2011 Winter Solstice.

Unfortunately, many of the people living in the Northern Hemisphere will miss the opportunity to celebrate this blessed event, having been laid low as the hapless victims of . If you're one of those who hasn't traditionally celebrated the Winter Solstice, the Yummish would like to encourage you to give it a try this year.

As you probably learned in some grade school “generic science” class, the Winter Solstice is the date after which the days begin to lengthen and the Earth begins its celestial march toward spring. Depending on the hemisphere in which you find yourself, it is celebrated in either December or June.

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“The date after which the days begin to lengthen...”

Those italics mark an important distinction. The Winter Solstice marks the time when the days are shortest, the nights are deepest and the warmth and light of the growing season is the furthest away. The Winter Solstice is the celebration of hitting the low point, the moment after which everything simply has to get better because there is just no worse for it to get. It is a celebration of hope. To observe the Winter Solstice is to express your faith in the potential goodness of the future.

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For the Yummish, that makes the Winter Solstice a low stress/high reward holiday. Unlike the other holidays of this season, with their measures of success – the perfect turkey, the perfect present, the perfect party – there is no pressure to get Solstice “right.” Solstice isn't about preparing for the one day, but taking one day to prepare for the year ahead. 

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*Yeah, I didn't know what that was either.

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