The last time I sat at the computer I was watching the snow fall and drift around me. There was a certain cocooning that I was able to do as a result of the storm. Out at Tapestry Lodge where I live we had almost 6 feet of snow which forced me to be house bound for a few days.
In my coaches training at Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara we were introduced to what Frederic Hudson called “The Cycle of Renewal”. Being stuck in the mountains reminded me of the phase that he researched and called Cocooning. I find that many women in recovery don’t know about this normal phase of adult development and many times think that when they cocoon they are not working their program.
Cocooning is a normal phase we go through as adults, it can be characterized by some of the following:
- Anger
- Grief
- Sadness
- Fear
- Quiet Excitement
- Loneliness
The cocooning phase is preparing us for something, a new perspective, interest or passion. It is a necessary place for us to be in order to transition to a new place. That place that cocooning takes us might have some of the following outcomes.
- Spiritual Renewal
- New Friends
- Personal Confidence
- A new sense of purpose
- Inner Peace
If you are reading this from a place where weather isn’t making you slow down, I hope you will find the value in this particular phase of your life. Just remember not to judge it as depression, lack of motivation, rather to understand that you are exactly where you are supposed to be.