Welcome winter. Welcome silence. Welcome stillness. Welcome rest. Celebrating the winter solstice with a simple ritual is a wonderful way to greet the change of seasons.
This time of year Mother Nature models slowing down, turning inward, conserving energy. The inner “work”—resting rarely feels productive—these next few months nurtures the rebirth, blossoming, and harvesting to come in 2025. It’s okay if winter is hard for you, if the holidays don’t feel full of joy, if seasonal affective disorder is not something you’re looking forward to. Resting now opens up more opportunity and possibility later.
Create your own Winter Solstice ritual
You don’t need an elaborate ritual to celebrate the solstice. My five-year-old son was invited to a Winter Solstice celebration complete with a neighborhood walk to revel in the light displays, hot chocolate, and a movie, all wrapped up by 8pm so bedtime didn’t get thrown off schedule. I loved the simplicity of this Winter Solstice Celebration: Child Edition. To be honest, I wanted to participate too!
To celebrate this year, I’m choosing a simple nidra practice, meditation, journaling, and some intentional time in nature to honor the darkness and welcome the light.
Invite the qualities of light, warmth, and rest into your ritual and you have all you need. Light a candle. Get cozy. Give yourself permission to rest. Commit to doing the inner work this season provides the time for.
Stay tuned for next week’s post
Next week I’ll be sharing a post on setting sankalpa—soul-level intention—that will inspire your New Year’s planning. The process and practices I’ll guide you through will be something we’ll keep returning to throughout 2025 as we work toward living more intentional and aligned lives next year.
Let’s connect
How are you choosing to rest? Let me know in the comments below!
Give yourself the gift of wellbeing
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Happy Holidays!
With gratitude,
Ashley
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