Warning: adult language ahead. 

Update: Be extra mindful today and this week as today marks the beginning of the don season. The Tibetan New Year is soon, bringing with it a fresh start.

Dön Season starts with a “neutral” day on February 17th and ends with Shambhala Day (the New Year) on February 28th, 2025. Year of the Wood Snake!

Bonus video: Waylon Lewis on how to mindfully survive Don Season.

How to Work with Obstacles: Dön Season

We are now officially in dön, or obstacle, season.

From a Tibetan Buddhist point of view, we are entering the New Year in 10 days. For a period prior to the New Year there is a time that is traditionally known for being a rough patch—a time of obstacles.

“Just as the motion of the earth and the cycle of the seasons take place, there may be also a cycle of the karmic forces on a psychic level. Traditionally the end of the old year is seen as a time of the ripening of karmic tendencies.”

This dön season is a time where the accumulated karma from the past year rises up and, at times, feels like it’s slapping you in the face. This is said to take a variety of forms: arguments, accidents, heated conflict. On a more inner level, we are more prone to fixed emotions and opinions, sickness and feeling unbalanced.

Perhaps you’re having a delightful week so far and think that this is Tibetan hooey. That’s fine. There are lots of lovely posts on this site, so go check them out. But if you’ve been feeling suddenly blue, fatigued or have been called awful names by strangers on the internet, it might be helpful to consider that the ending of an annual cycle may very well be having an effect on your well-being.

This is not a time to freak out, but instead a time to regroup. Some methods of doing that include reciting traditional protector chants (often held at Buddhist centers this time of year). These chants help rouse us to address our life in a straightforward and fearless manner.

It is also a good time to face the coming wave of aggression and conflict with an open heart. You can engage in shamatha (calm-abiding) meditation or loving-kindness practices. Given that this is dön season, you may find that one obstacle you face is getting to the meditation cushion. So you have to exert yourself beyond whatever laziness may arise.

There’s another form of laziness that seems to be applicable to this dön season: speedy-busyness. This is the form of laziness that is based in coming up with all sorts of activity to avoid doing something. For example, you want to meditate but first you have to vacuum, then there are a few emails that need your attention, then you realize you need to return someone’s phone call, then shower, then it’s already 1:00 a.m. and it’s too late to meditate because it’s time for bed.

The best antidote for a speedy lifestyle is simple but not easy: slow down.

Take the time to notice when you’re speeding up during this dön season. Recognize it, and then consciously take some time to slow your pace, or the speed with which you eat, or allow for more space in your conversations. When we take the time to be more present then we can see situations clearly. From that vantage point we can then find a way through whatever obstacles arise.

So let’s keep our conduct and awareness straightforward and kind. Seems like good advice for any season! We can remain open, ride on our own personal energies, and pay attention to the details of our lives. This may mean cleaning your house, double-checking your projects at work or making sure you’re eating three meals a day. This advice, particularly the paying attention to the details of your life, seems very potent indeed.

So if you are encountering a lot of obstacles during this period I have bad news and good news. The bad news is that from a traditional Tibetan point of view, you may continue to experience a rough patch for another week or so. The good news is that you can face these obstacles fearlessly, with openness and through slowing down and appreciating the details of your life.

Bonus good news: everything is impermanent, even the bad stuff, and especially mean e-mails. 

For more:
Mercury Retrograde might be BS, but Dön Season is coming to get you:

For m

ore~