A Winter of Well-being

How to create a Winter of well-being and nourishment

As the days grow shorter and shorter and the light continues to dim, even at the height of day, I can’t help but feel the urge to turn more inward. My body craving more rest and warmth. My mind craving more stillness and space to simply be.

Resistance to rest

The truth is that for most of my life I have fought against this. Like a child throwing a tantrum, I would kick and scream against my body’s needs. I was the ‘master’ after all and my body was the ‘submissive servant’ that had to be quiet and had to push through to finish whatever I had on my to-do list.

The body whispers before it screams

Though I know better today than to ignore or suppress my body’s whispers before they turn into screams, if I’m not careful, if I don’t pay attention, that is exactly what I’ll do. Of course this seemingly innate inability to rest does not make it any easier to see our bodies as our allies, as the vessel that enables us to move through the world.

None of us grew up in societies and environments that taught us how to listen to our bodies, let alone how to connect with it. We did learn to push through. Moreover, we’ve been conditioned to equate our ability to push through, with our self-worth. As if self-worth can be measured by our capacity to suppress and ignore our most fundamental biological needs.

Surviving versus thriving

We can you know… Suppress these needs for a while. Some of us have been doing so for decades. But it’s not because we CAN do something, that we actually should. Just because you can survive in certain environments, doesn’t mean you’ll ever be able to thrive in it. And I for one have reached a chapter in my life where I’m no longer contented with surviving. I want to thrive, I want to be well and feel well. As a consequence, I will have much more to give to the world around me because I’ll be giving from overflow and not from depletion.

Depending on where you live in the world, from around the middle of Autumn until deep into Winter, life can get pretty dark. And I mean this in a literal sense as the days become dark, gloomy and short. I don’t necessarily mind the cold, I love that I live in a place where we have four seasons. What does get to me is the darkness, the lack of light and the ridiculously short days. Today, by the time it was around three pm, the light had already started to fade. I had to hurry up and keep our walk a bit shorter because of this.

Thriving Winters!

This year, after years of feeling miserable around this time of year, I’ve decided that from now on I want to thrive during the Autumn and Winter season. I no longer want to crawl under a rock and wish time away, life moves fast enough as it is. I want to be fully present in my life, throughout every season of the year and every season of my life. So I am writing this post for you just as much as I am writing it for me. My intention for this post is to inspire you to live fully this next few Winter months. To create your own Winter of well-being.

Here are some guidelines and ideas to create the ultimate Winter of well-being:

1. Mind your pace!

I know, I know, this sounds so logical but slowing down is not something that we, modern humans, seem to be too familiar or comfortable with. And yet, just like Nature slows down and goes into a deep restorative sleep during Winter, so should we. We are not superior or inferior to nature. This separation is nothing more than an illusion, one that is quite harmful. The truth is that we ARE nature and we have evolved in it, which means that its systems are also our systems. There’s a time for EXPANSION, growth and evolution and then there’s a time for INTEGRATION, rest and restoration.

Consider starting a mini hibernation-ish period. Try to clear your schedule of all the extra’s that you know you don’t have the mental nor physical energy for. This can be launching projects, hosting fancy dinner parties, overly extending yourself, going out a lot, etc. … I’m not suggesting to become anti-social and exclude everything and everyone from your life. What I am suggesting is to create space for downtime, to turn inward, to digest this past year’s experiences. I feel like I have less capacity to deal with demands around this time of year. These demands can be external but also internal. The latter are often trickier to recognize, even trickier to dismantle.

2. Stick to regular sleep and wake times

One of the benefits of adopting a new puppy is that the puppy forces me to stick to regular sleep and wake times. I cannot emphasize enough how this will impact your overall well-being throughout the year but even more so during the Winter months. This has a profound impact on the quality of your circadian rhythm (24 hour cycle) and will make both your body and brain happy.

You could do this by creating nourishing bed- and wake time routines ( more on that later). Sticking to regular sleep and  wake times will bring calm into your days and will give your body and mind the consistency it needs.

3. Get fresh and clean air!

First thing I do every morning, much to the husband’s dismay, is opening up the windows for ten to fifteen minutes. Yes, even if it’s freezing outside! The indoor air quality is on average two to five times more polluted than outside air. This can highly influence our health, mood and our capacity to think. Brain fog and fatigue are often linked to poor air quality in our working and living environments. I love to start my days like this as it invigorates our home with fresh, new energy.

4. Gentle movement every day

I know! If you are anything like me, you simply want to roll yourself in a soft and warm oversized sweater, wear the comfiest track pants ever created, have two pairs of socks on your feet, a big scarf around your neck and  move as little as possible (this elegant fashion scenario is at home of course). However, our body craves movement and it needs to be flexible for it to be healthy. I guess this has to do with the cold temperatures and the lack of light, but I often feel stiff and wake up with at least some body part aching during the Winter months. And no, it’s not age, I’m only in my thirties and it’s something I even had as a teenager.

So let us support and nourish our bodies during these long Winter months by practicing some restorative yoga for fifteen minutes a day, or by walking in nature, lifting some weights, going to an indoor swimming pool…

5. Get a massage!

No better time than the heart of Winter to get a nourishing massage by a professional. This will help with the stiffness and soreness that often accompanies our bodies during the Winter months. I only started doing this two years ago and I regret not starting earlier because the payoff is quite impressive. I usually plan these when I’m in my luteal phase (the week before menstruation) because it’s when our cortisol levels peak and our well-being takes a hit. It also promotes lymphatic drainage which has a positive effect on your health and well-being as well.

6. Warm magnesium baths

Nothing quite as delicious as a warm, soothing bath on a cold Winter’s day. Add magnesium flakes to that and it’s a treat to your mind and body. Women often lack magnesium and taking supplements and/or baths will replenish those deficiencies. Magnesium is very important for multiple processes in the body and has a profound impact on our mental and emotional well-being.

7. Read cozy books!

I’m a firm believer in reading books every day, no matter the season. However, something that I just started doing is to focus more on cozy themed books around this time of year. It emphasizes the coziness of the season even more and feels like a warm, soothing blanket to the soul. I am currently reading ‘The Christmas Bookshop’ by Jenny Colgan which was gifted to me last year for Christmas by one of my oldest friends. It is a cozy, atmospheric book that brings the exact amount of magic my heart now needs. I also just bought ‘Calm Christmas’ by Beth Kempton and ‘Cosy, the British art of comfort’ by Laura Weir. I also got my eye on ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ which are classic Winter stories if you ask me.

Okay, ready to get comfy in your favorite reading nook with the warmest and softest blanket ever made? Let’s light the candles and get the tea pot ready first. Ahh bliss, isn’t it?!

8. Soft, warm and comfortable clothing

Make yourself a hot chocolate milk, put on some soothing background music and take an inventory of your Winter wardrobe. Have a look at what you have and try out a few things. Does it still fit? Does it feel warm? Is it comfortable? Do you feel good in it? If not, out it goes! Surely one of your girlfriends will love it and if not, you could donate it to goodwill. Refresh your Winter wardrobe with a few new items.

Since I spend most of my time at home during the Winter months and I want to feel cozy, warm and comfortable, I have an entire section of my wardrobe that is dedicated to homewear. I don’t know about you but I like to be comfortable and feel put together, both at the same time. For some reason, many people think these are both mutually exclusive but they’re not.

9. Decorate the house!

Nothing can feel more luxurious than to decorate your house and workspace with fairy lights during the darkest time of the year. Around mid- November I start to feel the Winter blues, it happens like clockwork and it has been like this for years. The darkness gets to me, even when I live for coziness, the lack of light deeply impacts my mood and overall health. Energy levels and patience drop immensely. Moreover, I get this overwhelming sense of melancholy and looking for light does not come as easily. Both figuratively and literally speaking. Do you experience this too?

Not frivolous!

So actively curating our living- and working spaces is anything but frivolous. It creates light and joy, something we could all use when the darkness hits. I love to use lots of fairy lights in most of the house, I haven’t done it upstairs though since we’re usually downstairs during the day and evenings.

The power of fairy lights

This year I also put up some fairy lights in my home office and I just love it so much. It truly inspires me to come and sit at my desk first thing in the morning and to start writing. I don’t know what it is exactly about the contrast of cold, wet and dark weather outside and the warmth and coziness of inside. It gives us this nurturing sense of safety which I am deeply grateful for and refuse to take for granted. This makes it feel even more delicious, doesn’t it?!

I don’t just put fairy lights, I also put a fully decorated Christmas tree in traditional red, green and gold colors. The tree is full of ornaments I have been collecting for nearly two decades. In addition, I create cozy nooks and decorate with natural materials such as dried oranges, greens that I use from the garden or that I have foraged. More on this in my next blog post where I will make a deep dive on savoring a calm and luxurious Christmas.

10. Early morning light exposure

If you find chronobiology as fascinating as I do then you might have read or heard about the importance of supporting our circadian rhythm. This is our 24 hour internal clock which regulates our hormones and sleep/wake cycles. Light exposure early in the morning has a major impact on our circadian rhythm and is why we tend to struggle more during the dark Winter months with our sleep and wake times. This circadian rhythm is directly connected to the earth’s rhythm, which makes sense since we evolved in relation to our environment.

Since sleep is one of the most important pillars to our mental and physical health, it would do us well to expose ourselves to light as early as possible after rising. Preferably, this would be natural light but since it’s often dark until after 8 am, I bought myself a light therapy lamp which is always on my desk. I turn the lamp on first thing in the morning as I drink my tea and have my journaling session. I turn it on for at least 10 to 30 minutes, depending how much time I have in the mornings.

Early light exposure will signal the body to become more alert and awake. Where as at night you want to stay away from blue light or use blue light blockers. This is as not to interrupt the brain’s natural inclination to become sleepy when it becomes dark at night.

11. Home spa treatments

One of my favorite and most nurturing things to do during the Winter months is to carve out time to have these elaborate spa treatments at home. Slowing down. Not planning much else for the rest of the day and indulging in a long warm bath. Candles around the bathtub, soft piano music playing in the background… Using my favorite Caudalie facial masks and pampering my entire body with a nurturing skin oil from Nuxe.

Both, Caudalie and Nuxe are my two favorite French brands that I always turn to for high quality skincare. Especially during Winter, our skin tends to become very dry and dull. An extra boost will not only benefit your skin’s health, it will also boost your sense of well-being and confidence.

12. Get cooking!

Okay, I’ll be honest… At the beginning of Autumn, I usually prepare and eat well balanced meals as the harvest season often explodes with the most delicious veggies and fruits. However, as we go into December, my meals become much richer, heavier and not as healthy as I would like them to be. Although, this is the time of year that our bodies would benefit it the most.

So I am writing this for you as much as I am writing it for myself. I know we usually lack energy around this time of year but carving out time to mindfully cook delicious and nutritious foods will boost our health. I love cooking but I don’t enjoy it if I have to rush the process. So mindfully and slow cooking it is, maybe this could be a separate blog post too!

I know, I know… Life happens and we don’t always have time for slow cooking and mindfulness in the kitchen. This is where batch cooking on a Sunday or whenever you have more time, could set you up for an entire week or at least for the next few days.

Simmering roasts, nourishing casseroles, vegetable gratins, the occasional chocolate cake… Can you smell it yet?!

13. More tea please!

This is the first time in years that I stopped drinking coffee first thing in the morning. My body craves warming teas this year. As a child and a young teenager I would drink countless cups of tea, which was quite unusual compared to my peers. In Belgium and Portugal (where I grew up) people are not really known to be tea drinkers, at least not like the British are.

Nothing can feel more comforting than to put on the kettle and fill a friendly-looking tea pot with your favorite tea on a cold Winter’s day. The scent is so inviting, even if you don’t drink tea.

14. Soothing movies and series

I don’t usually agree with the husband on this because he tends to prefer movies and series that are activating cortisol (stress hormone) while I crave something that soothes my nervous system. I don’t want to see violence anymore or too dramatic things, especially not around this time of year. Some of my favorites that I watch on repeat or put on in the background that feel soothing to me are:

Movies:

• You’ve Got Mail
• Julie & Julia
• The Holiday
• It’s Complicated
• Something’s Gotta Give
• Serendipity

Series:

• Gilmore Girls
• Emily in Paris
• Sex and the City (the original series)

15. Micro-moments of gardening

I know,  I usually want to curl up under a blanket too around this time of year. But carving out small pockets of time to get some work done in the garden will benefit your own health as much as your garden’s health.

By incorporating micro-moments of gardening into your weeks, you will notice how grounding it can feel to be outside and tend your outdoor space. Of course this is not the time to get massive work done. Our gardens are in their restorative Winter snooze and disturbing it too much would be a shame for Wildlife.

Things like tidying up a bit, feeding the birds… are more than enough. You’ll get fresh air, some daylight and you’ll feel less overwhelmed with the garden in early Spring. Take your dog, cat, squirrel… outside to join you. They’ll love it and you might get some help too.

16. Naps!

I’m a firm believer of naps for brain health and, quite frankly, health overall. Even just 20 to 30 minutes can really boost your focus and energy. The only thing to keep in mind is to not have naps too late in the day because this might dirsturb your night sleep.

You know who loves naps too?! The Chic Dogs! Especially Emma when she can curl up next to me in my bed. Coming home after a depleting day and snuggling up next to my pups is probably one of the most restorative things I can do to calm and reset my overwhelmed nervous system.

Here ended the list!

I hope these ideas have inspired you to create your own Winter of well-being.  ♥

Maybe you could share some of your ideas in the comment section? I can’t wait to add some new nurturing tips to my Winter toolbox.

Be well.

Love,

Wendy