Seasonal Self-Tending: Aligning Comfort with Nature

Have you noticed that your comfort needs shift with the seasons? Nature moves through her own cycles of blooming and resting, and it seems our souls do, too. So if we can learn self-tending in harmony with the seasons and their natural cycles, we will experience a greater sense of harmony, ourselves.
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I find that I often resist seasonal changes. Do you, too?

I resist winter's call to rest (I'm working on it), and spring's profusion of pollinated flowers.

But what if there's something unique in each season that our souls need? What if each season has its own unique medicine for us?

I know that they do, but it's easy to get distracted by other things as time marches on. I'm starting to get better at listening to my body's response to what nature is doing, but there is still room for improvement, especially during the seasons that affect my chronic illnesses.

It's important to find ways to comfort ourselves especially when what we are going through (like pollen season) is something we can't avoid.

So let's look at what each season offers and how we can adapt our comfort practices in harmony with them.
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How Winter Holds Us

Winter arrives with darkness and stillness, inviting us to find our own depths. While others might resist turning inward, and we've been conditioned to do so, too, sensitive healers can find medicine in the quiet of winter.

It's not without challenge, though...

The shorter days may lead to winter sadness. Being less active might make you feel restless.

The unending cold and darkness can sometimes feel like a trap, with no way to escape.

And your body may need more nurturing than it does at other times of the year.

​How to Follow Winter's Rhythm

(1) Rest. End your days earlier and sleep a little more.

(2) Build nests of soft blankets and pillows. Make it feel like a hug. That will feel even more soothing during the winter season!

(3) Light candles even more often than you usually would to mirror the gradual return of light.

(4) Create a warm, cozy area in your home that beckons you to spend time there, reflecting, reading or doing other restful activities. Place both your journal & your Kindle there.

(5) Pause just to dream, or look at what;s happening outside your window.

Winter Comfort Practices to Try

Warm baths and hot teas will be soothing & comforting
Use soft lamp light instead of harsh overhead lighting
Journal by candlelight

Winter teaches us to honor our need for rest & hibernation, and to trust the need for slowing down.

Awakening to Spring's Comfort

Spring is all about renewal, gently emerging from winter's cocoon, and new growth. It calls us out of our winter rest.

Spring Challenges for Sensitive Healers

The energy of new growth might feel overwhelming. And it can change so quickly, that those changes can be disorienting (pollen, anyone?) 

Also, our hearts may need a little support to open and emerge. See, the balance is between emerging and staying protected.

Here are Ways to Navigate Spring Energy

(1) Open windows for short periods of time to let in fresh air

(2) Create cozy corners for when you need to retreat

(3) Find sheltered places in nature

​Spring Comfort Practices

Do walking meditations
Plant something and tend it every day
Place spring flowers on your altar

(Note: if like me, you have allergies, you might not do any of those suggested practices. Consider other ways to interact with newness or growth energy, or to tend to something that needs you.)

Sprint teaches us about - the courage it takes to blossom, the need to honor your own timing and trust the way things unfold in and for you.
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Summer Comfort

Summer arrives with an abundance of light and life - sometimes more than our sensitive souls know how to hold. While others might be racing to pack their days full, we need to find our own rhythm with summer's expansive energy.

How to Dance with the Intensity of Summer

(1) The long days can feel overwhelming

(2) Heat can increase your sensitivities

(3) More social activities may drain your energy

(4) That sense of abundance might feel like too much

Instead of pushing to match summer's energy, choose to emulate its more gentle expression.
Get up earlier when nature is quieter. Take breaks from the heat.

Sip cooling teas, and use water to release overwhelm. Practice earthing when there's still dew on the ground.

What we can learn in the summer...

(1) Even when the energy is full or abundant, we still need rest and moments of quiet.

(2) We may feel tempted to go at full speed, but we need to balance doing with being. 

(3) We need to find our own rhythm, which may not be able to mirror summer's pace.

Fall Comfort

Fall is my favorite season! I saved the best for last, in my opinion. But like the others, it does offer us some challenges...

Fall teaches us that letting go is beautiful. It offers us the energy of transition.

But sometimes those transitions can feel unsettling, and the releasing energy can trigger grief.

The days start getting shorter, and that can begin to affect your mood. You may feel the need for more reassurance than normal, but not know why.

How to Respond to The Energy & Rhythm of Fall

(1) Notice as leaves fall and watch the earlier sunsets to make peace with letting go even as you celebrate the beauty of it.

(2) Welcome the growing darkness with candles

​(3) Gather some of autumn's beauty for your altar

How to Create a Fall Comfort Practice

Use cozy wraps when sitting outside
Do more letting go rituals
Have some warming soups and teas
Go for walking meditations in falling leaves

From fall, we can learn how beautiful it is to let things end and find peace in letting go. We can learn about the wisdom we gain from experience and that if we slow down, we get a whole season to prepare for winter's rest.
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Paying attention to each season's rhythm and energy will help us slow down, be more mindful and harmonize our own energy to the season. And I love that we can lean into our own rhythm by self-tending according to the season.

Which season is the easiest one for you to adapt to each year?

See you next time!

​Love, Jeanine
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I'm sharing my cherished comfort-centered letting go ritual - the same gentle practice that's carried me through many of my own difficult moments. It's free, my gift to you, here:
Letting Go Ritual​
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