Personal Growth During the Winter Season

Personal growth does occur during the Winter, but it’s an inside job. 

The energy of Winter, slows ----a time for the wisdom of quiet and stillness 

But the energy is not frozen or stagnant. 

This isn’t a time of creating change through heavy lifting, pushing, and striving, but instead a call to go within. Time to support elements within yourself that are needing time and space to heal, to reshape your energy and focus, recalibrate your system, or maybe even time for your inner self to more deeply reveal itself to you. 

Here are my favorite practices for cultivating personal growth during the Winter: 

1) Meditation. 

When we physically are able to relax, we can quiet the mind. Why is this quiet mind so important?  Our stresses, worries, and fears also quiet as our thoughts settle. This makes it easier for us to listen, sense, know and feel our inner insights, wisdom and to receive messages from our guides. 

• Do you have a practice of quiet? Of stillness? Of meditation? 

If not, take some time today to connect with my guided meditations, connect with your tribe, or simply take a few minutes of quiet to reconnect back to yourself. 

• Is there a change, a tweak, or a commitment to yourself you want to make around Meditation during this Winter? 

Have you been listening to your needs? What has your body been telling you? What has your emotions been telling you? What has your energy and spirit been telling you? 

• When we have a consistent practice of setting aside time for quiet and stillness, time in Nature or time in meditation—We listen the small voice from within. We feel the gentle nudges. We see the subtle messages from our guides and the Universe. We return to a place of deep knowing. We recognize and honor our inner wisdom.

2) Re-quaint yourself with yourself. 

The Winter is the time for going within. This is your time to check in with yourself, to reflect back on the previous year and consider what is yet to come in the following weeks, months, or years.  Take it all in and see where you are in the process of becoming your best version of yourself.  This is a time to not only forgive ourselves for our missteps, but to also celebrate our small and big wins.  This supports us in finding new ways to balancing our inner Light and Shadow. 

Tap back into what inspires you, what you love, what brings you joy. Explore your thoughts and emotions. Seek to have a higher perspective on your mindset and beliefs—practicing noticing and observing. 

• What do your choices/actions say about your mindset and beliefs? Are there any outdated mindset or beliefs that need to be healed, released and upgraded? 

• Questions to ponder: Who am I? What do I want? If I knew, what would be my next step forward on my ideal path? 

3) Nourish yourself. 

Winter is the perfect time to begin or return to a practice of nourishing yourself.  This may mean cleaning up your diet, or softening any restrictions. This is the perfect time to practice eating seasonal fruits and vegetables, see how you can revitalize your system with food choices that work for you. Think about reducing your reliance on alcohol and other mood-altering substances, including caffeine, that may create imbalances. Drink fresh clean water and set an intention of hydrating and purifying your body.  Make conscious decisions about what you consume and how you fuel your body with healthy choices. 

• What does (or would) nourishing your body look like for you? 

• What is one area of you relationship with food or food choices that you would want to work on? 

4) Nurture yourself. 

This is your time to create (or return to) a new, healthy, and self-supportive self-care routine. A self-supportive self-care routine will help you to reduce stress, improve your sleep, and improve your overall mood. If you have struggled with a consistent self-care routine, make small tweaks and build on those new changes. There are so many practices for a nurturing self-care routine, such as practicing gratitude, practicing loving kindness, challenging and replacing depleting thoughts or self-limiting beliefs, setting aside time for creativity and activities your love, understanding and meeting your needs, taking a break from stressors such as social media, following through with your goals, and making yourself a priority.  

• Do you withhold love and tenderness from yourself? How do you show yourself compassion and grace?  What are some ways you celebrate yourself?

• Are you too hard on yourself or have to rigid and inflexible expectations for yourself?  How do you give yourself permission to show up as yourself? 

• What is one area of self-care that you would want to increase? 

5) Move your body in gentle and loving ways. 

This one is super simple, be gentle with yourself.  This may not be the time to push yourself past your physical comfort zone or taking you starting an ultra strenuous or high intensity exercise routine. Practice moving intuitively, listen to your body and honor your energy and fitness level.  Release any pressure to do it "perfectly" or to look a particular way.  

Find joy in movement.  Send thanks to your body for moving you through your day.
Remind yourself that Winter is a time for rest and recalibration.  Incorporating small, mindful movements into your day can greatly reduce stress and improve your overall health.  Think dancing, stretching, yoga, qigong or tai chi, walking or hiking, massage, and increased rest (yes! rest!).  

• How can you move your body to nurture and nourish it? What makes your body feel good?  How can you incorporate it into your day?  

• Is there anything you need to work on related to your relationship with your body? Is there any self-talk (criticism or critiques) that needs to soften?   

6) Seek out new healthy and supportive relationships with like minded people. 

As life slows down in Winter, there may be more time for reflection.  Opening us to receiving a new perspective.  Community and support is such a vital aspect of our overall well-being; it might be time to reflect on who you are choosing to surround yourself with in your personal and professional lives. If you are finding lack in community or support, it is time to build a new tribe. Practice increasing healthy communication. Practice establishing and maintaining healthy boundaries. 

• Are there any relationships in my life that have worn out it’s welcome? Are there any energetic cords that I need to release to other people?  Do you see endings in any relationships?  

• Are there any relationships that it does not feel safe (mentally, emotionally, physically, or spiritually) to show up fully as my authentic self? What needs to change so that I do feel more safe within certain relationships?  

•  Any relationships that I give too much and receive too little? How can I create more balance in my relationships? 

7) Take time to learn and expand your mind.  

Winter is the time to explore interests.  Sometimes just "dabbling" in an interest can lead to a lifelong hobby.  Read a book in an area you enjoy or would like to learn more or enjoy a book series that takes you outside of your everyday experiences.  Brush up on a foreign language.  Maybe consider going beyond the everyday and explore metaphysics, spirituality, or ancient culture and traditions.  Explore any interests in deepening your awareness of your intuition, energy healing (such as Reiki), breathwork and meditation, shamanism, etc. Trust your nudges and moments of inspiration as they can lead to an area to explore more deeply.  

• Is there an area that you have been wanting to explore or experience? Have you considered taking a course, working with a mentor, or joining a group focused?  

• Not sure where to start?  What did you enjoy as a kid?  Or consider if anything has been coming up multiple times, this may be a sign for you to explore an area, interest or hobby.  

Personal growth during the Winter is all about opening to our inner wisdom, and receiving messages from our guides, for direction. For guidance. For inspiration. For the next aligned step on our journey. 

I invite you to set an intention for yourself for this Winter and your personal growth. It could be related to your next step, it could be to further align with the energy of Winter, it could be to gently awaken from autopilot to live a more intentional life, or it could simply be to receive whatever you are needing in this particular season of your life, all for your highest good. 

Wishing you the best on your personal growth journey! 

Mary 

P.S.  If you are looking for more support, especially if you find yourself struggling in one or more of the areas of practice, consider booking a session today!