Winter holds all of the yin energy— darkness, cold, introspection, stillness. 

It is a complete counterculture to our society; the divine feminine in all of its natural form. 

Our relationship with Winter is a communion. A profound connection that encompasses all four of our bodies: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. 

An invitation into honoring the cycles of rest, retreat, and renewal. 

Here are some simple and sacred ways you can come into communion this season.

❄️ PHYSICAL BODY

• rest + recovery: slow down and rest. no… truly. go to bed early. sleep in. take breaks. take naps. say no. wear cozy and soft clothing. eat warm foods and broths. sip herbal teas. light the fire. light candles. keep it all soft.

• connect to nature: engage with the winter landscape. take a walk. spend time looking out your window. form a relationship with a certain tree in your yard and observe it daily.

❄️ EMOTIONAL BODY

• introspection: practice journaling. invite in self-reflection. explore your emotions. give yourself permission to feel the spectrum of them, and to feel them fully. 

• nurture: invite in self-care practices as birthrights, not luxuries. offer yourself holistic nourishment.

❄️ MENTAL BODY

• mindfulness + meditation: if there was ever a time to cultivate mindfulness… this is it. mirror the stillness of the natural world within your own daily life. you are a chosen member of nature; honor this by creating space for a meditation practice.

• learn + reflect: reflect on the year and take note of patterns, rhythms, insights. what key elements and lessons did you gain? if this past year had a theme for you, what would it be? use all of this wisdom to support you in setting holistically guided intentions. allow this learning to feed and fuel your mind, and your path.

❄️ SPIRITUAL BODY

• go inward: offer yourself spiritual practices such as prayer, meditation, and sitting. give yourself space and time to connect with your inner wisdom. go quiet. listen.

• ritual + ceremony: embrace winter solstice celebrations and rituals that honor the darkness and the return of light. gather with sacred community. listen to music that honors the natural rhythms of this season.

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Maybe the idea of the world as flat isn’t a tribal memory or an archetypal memory, but something far older — a fox memory, a worm memory, a moss memory.

Memory of leaping or crawling or shrugging rootlet by rootlet forward, across the flatness of everything.

To perceive of the earth as round needed something else — standing up! — that hadn’t yet happened.

What a wild family! Fox and giraffe and wart hog, of course. But these also: bodies like tiny strings, bodies like blades and blossoms! Cord grass, Christmas fern, soldier moss! And here comes grasshopper, all toes and knees and eyes, over the little mountains of the dust.

When I see the black cricket in the woodpile, in autumn, I don’t frighten her. And when I see the moss grazing upon the rock, I touch her tenderly,

sweet cousin.

~ mary oliver