A wintertime mindset for slowing down, listening inward, and meeting the season where it is.

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Hello Friends!

How are you this festive, reflective, final month of the year? 🎄💭🗓️

I’ve been more mindful that December arrives with a different quality of attention.

The light is lower.
The days are shorter.
And many of us begin to feel the year settling in our bodies.

As winter takes hold, there’s a natural pull toward slowing down—toward warmth, quiet, and fewer decisions. Our bodies and nervous systems recognize the season before our minds do. They ask for rest, for simplicity, for a softer pace.

And yet, December is often full.

End-of-year deadlines.
Holiday and social obligations.
The mental load of wrapping things up, showing up, and holding things together.

This is the threshold December brings us to:
between what our bodies need physically—rest, warmth, recovery—and what our minds feel pressured to deliver: productivity, responsiveness, momentum.

What I’ve come to realize is that December doesn’t demand we choose one over the other.
It’s a both-and situation—an invitation to notice the strain that comes from holding both at once.

You may already feel this in your own body as you read.

You’re not unmotivated, behind, or failing to “keep up.” You’re responding—quite normally—to a season that asks something different of the human body than our culture tends to allow.

This is where the idea of a wintertime mindset becomes so helpful.

Health psychologist Kari Leibowitz, whose research spans Nordic countries and northern Japan, reminds us that mindset shapes not just how we think, but how we feel in our bodies—and even our physiology. When we orient ourselves toward what winter offers, rather than what it takes away, our experience of the season shifts.

In nature, winter is a time for rest and recuperation. Every living system adjusts: energy is conserved, rhythms slow, attention turns inward. The difficulty for many of us isn’t winter itself—it’s the belief that we’re not allowed to respond to it.

Modern life often tells us that slowing down is a personal or moral failure.
Winter quietly tells a different story.

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A Simple Body–Mind Check-In

As you move through this month, you might pause and ask:

• What does my body need more of right now?
  (Rest, warmth, fewer inputs, more quiet?)

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• What is my mind insisting I keep delivering?
  (Productivity, availability, finishing strong?)

You don’t need to resolve the tension—just noticing it can be grounding.

December doesn’t require decisions or declarations; we put those on ourselves.
It offers us a moment to stand at the threshold and listen.

Do you feel the shift with this reframe?

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Small Ways to Meet Winter Where It Is

Responding to winter doesn’t require a lifestyle overhaul. Sometimes it’s just a matter of making the season a little friendlier.

You might:

🕯️Soften the light in your home—turn off overheads earlier and let lamps, candles, or the fireplace take over.

🌄 Make a ritual of watching the sunrise or sunset, welcoming the transition to day or night rather than pushing through it.

🍲Choose warmth on purpose: a hot drink, a slower morning, or stews and soups that make your house smell lived in. Keep a cozy blanket where you usually sit, signaling that this is a season for settling in.

🧣 Bundle up and go outside. Take short walks to notice winter things, or bring a summer ritual into the cold—like sitting around a fire and roasting hot dogs.

These aren’t productivity tools.
They’re signals to change your relationship with the season.

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THIS & THAT

Seasonal notes, small comforts, and December discoveries.

Winter Solstice​
The winter solstice falls on December 21st—the true turning point, when the light begins its return. That alone feels like a reason to celebrate. I love marking the solstices, sometimes with a small gathering, sometimes with a quiet, personal ritual to honor the change of season.

The Calm Christmas
​Each year during the Advent/holiday season, I follow some sort of devotional to help me stay intentional about what matters most. This year, I’ve discovered a podcast I’m completely taken with: The Calm Christmas Podcast by Beth Kempton.​

Beth is an inspiring writer from the UK who lovingly curates an online seasonal magazine, along with a podcast and book of the same name. Her work centers on caring for ourselves during the holidays—encouraging time in nature, creativity, nourishment for body and soul, and gentler ways of honoring tradition. I truly can’t recommend it enough.

For the Body
​A good lip balm and hand cream—kept in consistent spots (car, purse, bedside)—matter more in December and January than almost any other time of year. These also make thoughtful stocking stuffers—or an entirely reasonable request to a gift-giver. Let me know if you have favorites.

Small Delights
​Work a puzzle, host a game night, tend to an amaryllis, or bake bread that needs a long rise. This season lends itself to activities that unfold slowly—things you can return to throughout the day, where progress is quiet but visible. Even reading aloud to yourself can quietly change the shape of a winter afternoon.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

As this year draws to a close, I hope you’ll give yourself permission to meet this season honestly—without trying to optimize it, explain it, or make it meaningful in any particular way. December doesn’t ask us to figure things out; it asks us to listen. To our bodies. To the quieter rhythms around us. To what’s naturally letting go.

And not everyone feels tension in this season. Some of us are simply enjoying it differently now—watching grandchildren take in the magic, savoring quieter traditions, or letting the holidays be lighter than they once were. If that’s you, let yourself stay right there.

You don’t need to reflect.
You don’t need to plan.
You don’t need to decide anything—at least not yet.

There will be time for looking ahead. For now, let yourself be wherever you are, however you are—present, unhurried, and open to enjoying this season as it unfolds.

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​With warmth,

Judy

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