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Blythe leading a Winter Solstice Reflection

Winter Wonders & Warmers: a Bucket List for Dark but Festive Times / Solstice – Return of the Light

Happy Winter Solstice, arriving in late December in the Northern Hemisphere (June in the Southern), a time of celebrations of light in many cultures.

The stark, bleak, dreary days are here in Cologne and strings of lights, candles, treats, and traditions help to warm the cold of winter. It can be a difficult time for many reasons, so be gentle with yourself and make exquisite self-care and kindness for self and others a priority.

As the longest night passes and the days begin to grow longer, so can our hope, clarity, and vision.

You may use this quiet moment and reflection questions as part of your winter ritual, to shine a light into areas of your life at this introspective time, before re-emerging into a new year, and to celebrate the beauty of life.

Winning at Winter

Here I’ll provide just a few examples of practices that you might like to incorporate into your own seasonal ritual or everyday life.

Some places to look depending on what’s important to you and what you’d like to savor this Solstice:

  • Nature – go for a walk or be outdoors, even if it’s chilly, fresh air and sunlight help our mood, and bring fresh air and greenery in
  • Yoga & Mindful Movement – choose a more energetic, warming practice or one centered on rest and relaxation depending on what you need and feels good
  • Breath & Mantra – great ways to ground and be present
  • Poetry & Inspiring Reading – read or listen to favorite seasonal poems or what suits the mood
  • Music – play or sing a holiday tune, put on a track or playlist to set the tone
  • Meditation & Quiet – take some time to go inward, connect with spirit
  • Reflection & Journaling – winter is especially rich for gratitude, venting, affirmations, visioning, planning, memory keeping, mood boards…
  • Consider supportive Therapy, Coaching, and/or courses for a fresh new season
  • Altar Set-up & Decoration – ornaments, crystals, art objects, incense, oils, candles, aromatherapy (sometimes I share images of my altar, journals, inspiration, studios and creative spaces on Instagram)
  • Ephemera & Decor – collage, journaling, household decor, party accents, correspondence, creativity, this is especially a time for Holiday Cards and reconnecting with loved ones and our own creative spark
  • Cleaning, Decluttering & Organizing – take small steps toward a cozy and comfortable living space for festive season and a fresh New Year
  • Cooking, Baking, Food & Eating – for me, it’s eating seasonal ingredients and dishes, drinking lots of warm beverages, cooking comfort foods, baking easy cookies, and lots of treats
  • Creativity – setting up seasonal projects, refocusing for the next period, planning in fun and play for my Artist Child, outlets for my mature artistic voice, and enchanting offerings for my students and clients
  • Any other rituals of your choosing, or just take a nap and rest up for a new season!
Cut & decorated sugar cookies a la my great-grandmother and Betty Crocker

Festive Flavors

One of the best features of winter and the holiday season is treats and feasting! These are selection of favorites:

  • Milk chocolate Santas
  • Hot Cocoa, Coffee Drinks, Tea (enjoying a Tea Advent Calendar from Cupper this year)
  • Eggnog
  • Mulled wine/Glühwein
  • Ginger Snaps
  • Decorating Cookies
  • English Toffee
  • Soups – miso, ramen, carrot ginger, African peanut, French onion, tomato potato,
  • Sugar Plums, Candy Canes, or other traditional sweets might float your boat
  • Gingerbread People

Scents & Aromatherapy

Set a festive tone with atmospheric smells in the form of essential oils, simmer pots, candles, or other scented items.

If oils and odors are your thing, some nice ones for the Solstice and Winter are Lavender to calm and relax, festive Frankincense and Myrrh (the latter of which I am currently enjoying as incense), brightening Citrus or Peppermint, warming Cinnamon and Ginger, or whatever stinky stuff lifts your spirits at dark times.

Winter Yoga Practices

As the hours of daylight are few but slowly increase, you may choose more restful, restorative, and yin practices to release seasonal stress, or more energy-building and warming practices depending on what best suits your state at the moment.

Glow Like Fire Yoga video on YouTube 15-minute practice celebrating fire & light
Silver Bells Winter Solstice Yoga full hour practice video on YouTube

Any of the practices from my Yoga ReTREAT 5-day virtual retreat would also be lovely part of a autumn-to-winter Solstice ritual or regular morning routine. My whole library of recorded yoga practices is available on the Yogalicious playlist on YouTube.

I have found Winter Solstice and other yoga practices from the following other creators lovely as well:

Winter Deep Breathing

Pranayama and Mantra are wonderful ways to connect to your center and bring light to the season:

Om Mantra for presence, articulation & relaxation video on YouTube
Box Breathing Pranayama video on YouTube

Check out my Beautiful Breathing Yoga Pranayama playlist with a growing collection of breathwork practices to relax, balance, and energize.

Winter Solstice Meditations

Winter Solstice Meditation – Reflecting on Light & Shadow video on YouTube
Orienting to Your Purpose & Vision Meditation

Winter Poetry

Poems cheer me through the dark times, help me wallow in whatever emotions I may feel, uplift and inspire me:

  • “White Eyes” Poem by Mary Oliver
  • “Solstice” Poem by Diane Lee Moomey
  • “Winter” Poem by Greta Crosby
  • “Dust of Snow” Poem by Robert Frost
  • “I Heard a Bird Sing” by Oliver Herford
  • “The Darkling Thrush” by Thomas Hardy
  • “New Year’s Day” Poem by Kathleen McTigue
Winter Solstice Poem reading on YouTube
Winter Poem – Gifts & Gratitude video on YouTube
New Year’s Day Poem video on YouTube

Wondrous Winter Dancing

Dancing is a great way to shake off the winter blues, warm up, release stress, and be creative.

For more dancing fun, my Ballet Barre, Ballet Centre, Wonderful Dance Warmup, and Ballet Conditioning Playlists on YouTube have many exercises and explorations to keep you moving joyfully in all seasons.

Swirling Snowflakes Improv video on YouTube
Firework Festive Port de Bras is suitable for New Year’s as it is Independence Day
Raindrop Creative Port de Bras video on YouTube
Winter & “The Nutcracker” Ballet Barre video on YouTube

Winter Writing & Creativity

You can write to remember, refer to, and keep, to let go of, burn, or destroy, or even to share! Creative writing can serve many purposes in your Equinox ritual or any transition of life. Some of my favorite ways to use writing in my practice are in my Reflective practice through journaling blog article.

This is also a great time of year to focus on gratitude and blessings, and I like to keep gratitude and abundance logs in digital and analog forms.

If you really want to go for it with your writing or other artistic or expressive pursuits this season, take on a creative challenge of your choosing, such as those I share in my Charming Chosen Challenges and Ignite the Spark of Creativity articles. My current creative challenge is #dancedailydecember 31 days of movement to change your life!

Dance Daily December tracking page in my Bullet Journal

Media to Light the Darkness

Winter is a wonderful time for reading for comfort, growth, and learning, watching seasonal favorites old and new, and all of the holiday tunes!

Books / Cozy Reading

Nonfiction
Fiction & Novels
  • The Twelve Days of Christmas picture book, a favorite from my childhood that I’d like to revisit the next time I’m home
  • Christmas Kisses
  • All I Want for Christmas (Love Lives Here box set)
  • The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries
  • The Mistletoe Murders
  • Six Merry Little Murders
  • Love Notes in Reindeer Falls
  • Merry Little Love Story in Reindeer Falls
Videos & Articles about festive Reading
TBR
  • Winter Chronicles
  • Letters from Father Christmas
  • A Christmas Carol
Winter Warmers & Wonders BuJo Spread

Music & Listening

Albums
Playlists by others
Playlists by me
  • “SEASONS: Winter, Christmas, Hannukah, NYE” Playlist
  • “BCS Christmas & NYE”Playlist 
  • “BCS Winter Holidays Jazz Dance 2018”Playlist
  • “BCS The Nutcracker Ballet Class”Playlist 
  • “BCS Christmas Carol Ballet Class”Playlist 
  • “BCS The Nutcracker for Pre-Ballet/Creative Movement” Playlist
Favorite Carols & Songs
  • “Winter Song” by Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson
  • “People, Look East”
  • “Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly”
  • “It came upon a midnight clear”
  • “Joy to the world”
  • “Silent Night/Stille Nacht”
  • “In the Gentle of the Moon”
  • “Silver Bells”
  • “In der Weihnachtsbaekerei” Song and Dance, thanks Germany

Films & Viewing

Questions for Reflection

  • Which celebrations are important to you? How do you make them festive?
  • What lights you up? (Reflect on purpose, values, passion)
  • On which shadowy places do you wish to cast a light? (What to support or release this season)
  • What do I want to bring into the light this year? (Values, what do you care about?)

Resources for Exploration

Thanks for reading, I am glad you are here. Take good care, looking forward to what the winter and New Year will bring in community with you!

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst
she/her or they/them
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
helping multi-passionate creatives dance through their difficulties,
taking leaps of faith into fulfillment through coaching, yoga & dance education

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