Keeping Warm In The Cold Months Through Self-Care

As the chill of the winter months drags on, many people find themselves retreating into the warmth of their homes and spending more time indoors.

While winter can sometimes feel like a season of hibernation, it also offers a unique opportunity for introspection and self-care.

The stillness and solitude of winter provide a chance to cultivate a deeper relationship with yourself — one that nurtures your mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

Here’s how you can embrace the winter season to foster a meaningful and loving connection with yourself:

1. Embrace the Power of Stillness

In a world that often encourages constant activity, winter invites us to slow down and rest. It’s the perfect time to practice mindfulness and be present with your own thoughts and feelings.

Instead of rushing from one task to the next, take time to sit quietly, reflect, and embrace moments of solitude.

This stillness allows you to tune into your inner world and gain clarity on what you truly need, what nourishes you, and what may no longer serve you.

2. Create Cozy Rituals

Winter is the season for cozy comforts.

Read More: “How Is Your Relationship… With You?”

Whether it’s curling up with a warm cup of tea, lighting your favorite candles, or wrapping yourself in a soft blanket, rituals like this can help to ground you in the present moment.

These small acts of self-care remind you that you deserve comfort and warmth, both physically and emotionally.

By setting aside time each day to indulge in these rituals, you reinforce the importance of nurturing yourself.

3. Practice Self-Compassion

The winter months can sometimes bring up feelings of loneliness or sadness, especially as we deal with fewer daylight hours. During these times, it’s essential to practice self-compassion.

Acknowledge any negative emotions without judgment and treat yourself with the same kindness that you would offer a close friend.

Rather than pushing yourself to “snap out of it,” give yourself permission to feel and process your emotions.

Winter is a time for reflection and giving yourself space to process can help you emerge from the season more aligned with your true self.

4. Engage in Creative Expression

Winter’s quiet ambiance can be a perfect backdrop for creative expression.

Whether you’re drawing, writing, cooking, or even working on a DIY project, allowing yourself to get lost in creativity is a wonderful way to connect with your inner world.

Creative outlets offer an opportunity for self-discovery and can serve as a powerful form of emotional release.

Even if you don’t consider yourself “artistic,” the act of creating something with your hands can be immensely healing and empowering.

5. Reevaluate Your Goals and Intentions

The winter months provide an excellent opportunity for reflection.

Ask yourself what you’ve accomplished, what challenges you’ve faced, and what you truly want moving forward.

This period of evaluation allows you to realign your intentions and start the new year with clarity, focus, and a sense of purpose.

6. Connect with Nature, Even in the Cold

Winter may seem like a time to stay indoors, but there’s something uniquely beautiful about the quiet of nature during this season.

Read More: “The Secret To Taking Care of Your Mental Health in the Colder Months.”

If you’re able to, try taking a walk in the crisp winter air.

Whether it’s a light snowfall or the bare trees stretching toward the sky, nature in winter offers a moment of stillness and reflection.

Walks can help you reset and find peace, even during the colder months.

7. Prioritize Rest and Rejuvenation

Winter naturally calls for rest, and our bodies often crave more sleep during this time of year.

Rather than fighting the urge to slow down, give yourself permission to rest and recharge.

Take naps, enjoy long baths, or simply curl up with a good book. Winter is an invitation to prioritize your well-being, giving your body time it needs to restore itself.

8. Set Boundaries to Protect Your Energy

It’s important to set boundaries that protect your emotional and mental energy.

It’s okay to decline invitations or take a step back from social commitments if you need to focus on yourself.

By setting boundaries that prioritize your well-being, you honor your needs and ensure that you’re able to approach social events from a place of inner balance and peace.

9. Allow Yourself to Let Go

Winter is a time for release, and it’s the perfect opportunity to let go of anything that no longer serves you — whether it’s an old habit, a toxic relationship, or an outdated mindset.

Allowing yourself to let go of the past creates space for new growth and transformation.

Winter can be a time of renewal, where you shed what you no longer need and make room for the new.

Self-Care Doesn’t Mean You Have To Change Yourself

Fostering a loving relationship with yourself isn’t only about changing yourself. To practice self-care, sometimes you don’t need to change anything at all.

There are therapeutic modalities, like IFS or Internal Family Systems, that can help support you exactly as you are today instead of a future version of you.

IFS or Internal Family Systems can help you to get curious about parts of you and connect with them. It’s not about changing, comforting, or creating something new.

IFS is about fostering a connection with yourself right now, exactly as you are in this present moment.

Read More: “Embracing Your Inner Critic: A Guide to Managing Negative Self-Talk”

To help you connect with all of your parts, you can use a daily meditation, according to Heather Smith, an IFS trainer and founder of The Moxie School:

Notice a recent time, either from today or this week when you felt particularly triggered. 

Allow yourself to go back to that time and place and imagine seeing yourself there in that moment. 

Allow all the sensations, images, words, and thoughts to come back to you.

Let your system know you are here to simply observe; not to blend with it, but just to be with it to get to know this space in you a bit better.  We’re simply going back to understand it better, more clearly. 

Now ask, what part of me was activated?

Who showed up in this moment?

On a piece of paper, jot down anything you notice about this part. Once you have released all thoughts into words, ask yourself what that part of you was trying to help you accomplish.  

Did you feel angry?

Did you feel sad?

Did you feel trapped?

Once you have acknowledged your part, you can thank it for revealing a new side of you to you.

You can repeat this daily meditation as many times as it serves you.

Another helpful resource in getting familiar with this approach is the book “No Bad Parts” by Richard Schwartz.

Going Deeper With Therapy And Getting The Help You Deserve

Therapeutic strategies like this daily meditation through IFS or Internal Family Systems can help you to foster a love for yourself.

It can help you forge a connection with parts that may have felt lost, unheard, or trapped. You can get to know yourself as you get to know each part within you.

At Denver Metro Counseling, we embrace trauma-trained support so that we can help to improve our own mental health.

We are practicing what we say by showing up for ourselves with meaningful part work, daily meditation, and trauma-informed strategies. Our clinical team aren’t only trauma-informed; we are trauma-trained.

The winter months offer a unique opportunity to cultivate a deeper, more loving relationship with yourself.

By embracing stillness, creating rituals, practicing self-compassion, reaching out for help, and reconnecting with nature, you can turn this season into a time of personal growth and rejuvenation.

Winter may be cold and dark, but it also holds the potential for warmth, introspection, and transformation.

Allow yourself to embrace the quiet of the season, and take this time to nurture your mind, body, and soul.

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Written by: Randi Thackeray, MA
Clinically Reviewed and Edited by Denver therapist: Julie Reichenberger, MA, LPC, ACS,