Wintering Well
I’m currently sitting by a fire pit in our backyard writing this to you. My partner’s been so sick with Covid, so we completely cleared our schedule (which was full of so many holiday parties) and hunkered down this past week. I’ve never seen him this ill before and I was sure I was going to catch it, but so far so good. And he seems to have turned a corner, thank goodness. We even went on a walk in the woods today!
Because everything’s slowed down over here, I’ve had some time to sit with a lot of things.
I was recently in Florida for a week to record an episode with Kate Northrup for her podcast and to attend her mastermind retreat (which I’m sure I’ll be sharing more about soon). After this week, I came back to Nashville for two days and then drove to Louisiana for Thanksgiving. On our way back to Nashville, I felt so dysregulated and exhausted. After a very full fall and a ton of traveling (which can be very hard on my sweet body), I’ve fallen off my routine and schedule. Sleeping in different beds, flying, and not eating in ways that nourish me can leave me feeling so ungrounded.
On our drive home, I decided to cancel all of my December travel plans. I was planning on going to an artist’s residency I’ve been attending throughout the year, but my body gave me a full-body no to traveling for that. Even going back home to Louisiana for Christmas felt like too much. I need to be home. I need to winter. I’m craving sleep, slow walks in the forest, homemade healthy meals, routine, reading and journaling a ton, hot tea, long baths, and 1:1 time with dear friends. I’m deeply craving these things. My body is asking for it, and the season is asking for it.
I’ve honestly LOATHED winter for as long as I can remember. I’m freezing at all times and cold weather tends to heighten the pain in my body. So I’ve fought it, complained about it, and been at war with it most of my life. Looking at the trees with no leaves would bring about a feeling of sadness. It felt like death to me, and I think that scared me on some unconscious level. I came ALIVE in spring and summer, but I caused myself more pain by fighting the seasons.
Holidays also made me feel so lonely and sad. For nine years, I was consistently the only person in my family and friend group in Nashville who was single and without children. Holidays accentuated that feeling of aloneness. A few months ago, my partner Eric started talking about decorating for Christmas with so much excitement. I realized I hadn’t decorated for the holidays once since I had gotten a divorce. I think on some level, I preferred keeping my house as it was because I didn’t see the point. It brought up a lot of sadness for me.
I told Eric we could do whatever he wanted because it really wasn’t my thing. He’s been so cute with it. He bought a ton of Christmas lights for the house and got us a tree. I found some stockings and bought a wreath and garland for the front door. We started the decorating process and put up our tree this weekend! We had Christmas music blaring as we hung up all the ornaments and adorned the house. Eric’s favorite person growing up was his grandmother, who they called Nanny, and he has a ton of her old ornaments. So a lot of the tree is filled with them. I can’t even begin to tell you how much joy it’s brought me to celebrate with him.
Our tree is the sweetest little tree. I keep finding myself walking into the living room just to stare at it. The stories all those little ornaments tell and watching the delight on Eric’s face. It’s all so sweet. I was texting my two best friends the night we decorated with tears running down my face, how sweet it feels to create new memories for the holidays with Eric. I feel a part of my heart opening that I didn’t even realize was shut down to try to protect myself. I told myself I didn’t care about the holidays or decorating, but the truth is, it gave me such an ache and a feeling of loneliness. I’m so excited to wake up Christmas morning and start new traditions with this sweet man.
I’m also so excited to Winter. I read a book called Wintering a few years ago that I really enjoyed. I’ve started understanding the importance of working with the seasons and not fighting them. Our Western culture begins pushing so much bullshit in the new year. Slogans like, “new year, new you”! All the weight loss ads start rolling out come January. Companies will begin their push to sell to you in the new year because we’re more motivated to change. I’m choosing to intentionally go against this consumer mindset.
I’ve set myself up this year to slow down my work in December and January. Clients are closing out their 6-month containers with me and I’m waiting until the end of January to start the next round. I’m planning to Winter, to go inside, feel a lot of the feelings I’ve pushed down and avoided, allowing myself to stop “doing” and invite more “being”. Our bodies crave it, we’ve just moved so far from cyclical nature that we’ve forgotten.
I was thinking about my dear friend, Elizabeth, and all she’s taught me about working with the seasons and I thought it could be really lovely to have her come to our little corner of the internet to share some of her beautiful wisdom around Wintering Well. Thankfully she agreed, and so for our monthly live we’ll have my dear sister and friend, Elizabeth Bennett, with us. I visit her regularly here in Nashville for body/energy work and the wisdom she holds is so profound. I’m thrilled to share her beautiful offering with you. This will be recorded, but there will be time for Q&A and things that you won’t want to miss, so if you’re able to be there live, I can’t recommend it enough. (Scroll down to register).
Much love, sweet friends,
xx Ruthie
This week’s resources:
Wintering by Catherine May
Elizabeth Bennett’s Instagram is here.
I’ve had this Christmas song on repeat lately!
Keep reading for:
The Sacred Rebel Retreat - April 2024
Wintering Well with Elizabeth Bennett
The Sacred Rebel Retreat
April 12-14th 2024
Learning to Love Every Part of Yourself
Prepare to embark on an extraordinary voyage of self-discovery and healing, where you’ll reconnect with the radiant, whole, and divine essence that is your birthright. Guided by the esteemed author, coach, and soul midwife, Ruthie Lindsey, this transformative retreat promises an experience that transcends the confines of societal norms.
Throughout this empowering weekend:
Discover liberation through expression, find radical self-love, reconnect with your body, unlearn and remember through the power of evocative writing prompts, meditation, and the support of a nurturing community, learn integration practices, and gain tools for self-love.
By the conclusion of this weekend, you will possess a profound comprehension of the conditioning that led you to believe something was wrong with you and the tools and wisdom required to unlearn these stories and fully embrace the radiant being that resides within.
This retreat is open to all, regardless of your background or experience. No matter where you are on your journey, you are welcome here.
Elizabeth Bennett is an energy kinesiologist, writer, and speaker who facilitates the natural process of healing and transformation in the soul and body. In this monthly live event, we will be discussing “Wintering Well”.
Elizabeth will teach from the ancient principles of the Chinese five element system, how this profound wisdom can empower us to support our bodies and souls through the season. We will look at nature, and also learn real, practical healing tools specific for this season. She will lead us through hands on energy medicine that we can integrate into our daily practices.
To connect more with Elizabeth, you can find her at her Instagram here.
This is an offering for paid subscribers to Love’s Invitation. If you’re not already subscribed, you can do so before the event to join us!
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Register using the link below.
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