Self-Care for Winter: Seven Steps to Thriving in the Colder Months

A 7-step guide to winter: how to not only survive the winter months but to thrive in them

Are you feeling it too? The genuine urge to bunker in, a growing need for rest, a deep desire to seek comfort? As the days become shorter and the cold descends, hibernation mode sets in. While seasonal change is a normal part of the natural world, many of us expect to have the same levels of energy all year round. The result is that our incessant drive to grow and out-perform can often leave us feeling frustrated and disheartened with our lower levels of energy and reduced productivity.

But what if there was a better way to approach the winter season?

Self-care expert Suzy Reading has devised 7 steps to not only survive the winter months but to thrive in them. By embracing the lessons from the natural world - from regulating light activity to warming body movements - you will learn how to alter your daily rhythms so that you can embrace winter. Through honoring lower energy levels and listening to what your body needs in the colder months, this can be an opportunity to rekindle joy and find fulfilment in every season of life.

the 7 steps expanded upon throughout the book are below:

1. Harness Light & Colour
2. Make a Healthy Movement Habit
3. Embrace Nature
4. Savour Comforting Rituals
5. Develop a Compassionate Pace: Sleep & Rest
6. Make Meaningful Connections
7. Practise Reflection

Approaching winter doesn’t have to be full of dread - so snuggle in and learn the key to thriving in the colder months.

Suzy Reading is a mother of two, an author, Chartered Psychologist, yoga teacher and coach. Suzy has over two decades of experience in the health and wellbeing industry, with qualifications in personal training from Australia and yoga teacher training accreditation from The Life Centre in London. She draws these modalities together with psychology to help people build sustainable healthy lifestyle habits and is one of the top UK experts on self-care. Suzy is the Psychology Expert for wellbeing brand Neom Organics and is a founding member of the ’Nourish’ app. She figure skated her way through her childhood, growing up on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, and now makes her home in the hills of Hertfordshire, UK. She is also the author of The Little Book of Self-Care, The Self-Care Revolution, Stand Tall Like A Mountain, Self-care for Tough Times, This Book Will (Help) Make You Happy, And Breathe and Sit to Get Fit. Her self-care card deck The Little Box of Self-Care is available now.