As a British woman living in Spain, I’m so aware these days how I’ve been conditioned to feel a certain way in certain weather.

Have you ever noticed how in movies it’s nearly always raining at funerals and sunny at weddings?

Isn’t it strange how we fall into these patterns and beliefs?

The more sensitive I become to the elements of earth, fire, water, air and space, the more my energy seems to be affected by the forces of nature.

However, just lately I’ve started to see a bit of a change.

I love being in Spain for the weather. I mean, who wouldn’t!

We have 320+ blue-sky days a year. And yet we seem to have plentiful resources of water. We never see hosepipe bans, despite that I can count on one hand how many days of proper rain we’ve had this winter.

When we first came here, my belief was that it was warm all year round. But I was very wrong! Even in the south, I’ve noticed a typical winter.

I feel warmth in direct sunlight but mornings are nearly always frosty through January and February, even March. Halfway through April and with temperatures up to 25C this week, I’m still in long-sleeved PJs with a blanket over the duvet as it’s chilly at night!

See I’m waffling about the weather again?!

The most interesting thing I’ve discovered is my tendency to love the warm and dry and dislike the wet and cold.

In my defence, I do have extremely low blood pressure which means the heat distribution around my body isn’t always that efficient. And no-one likes blue toes and cold hands do they?

However…

On the Camino de Santiago, when all I ever had to do was walk every day, the rain was never an issue. I even had two days of snow on my way up and down O Cebreiro. I had the right clothing to keep me dry and was warmed after only a few miles of walking anyway.

It did rain, but not much on the plain. When I walked over the ‘Mesita’ which is quite flat and for some time, quite boring, I had strong sunshine and sweat. Half of my body was suntanned, the other half not!

Back to ‘normal life’ isn’t it interesting that we run out of the rain with a bag over our head for the fear of a few drops of rain ruining our look!

After spending so much time here, I’ve noticed just how much I’ve started to take the sunshine for granted but also how much the rain is appreciated by the people here.

The landscape is completely different here in Winter and Spring. In Spring, we have green valleys carpeted with yellow flowers. We have poppy fields and the scent of orange blossom is intoxicating.

None of these gifts would be here without the rainy days.

That balance in nature gives us so many gifts.

My mindset is changing…

Rainy days are no longer days for jigsaw puzzles, reading and writing. I realise that I can get just as much inspiration for creativity from being outside on damp, dull and cloudy days as I can from sunny ones.

This is having an enormous effect on my energy, my mood and my everyday life.