Guiding you to wholeness, alignment and vitality through intentional embodiment practice. My writings and newsletters are Gifts of Self-Care as you journey towards your most authentic self.
Staying Slow without Getting Too Low ❄️
Published 25 days ago • 4 min read
Here we are making it through the start of 2026, Reader.
Some days time feels like it’s speeding by - how is it already the end of January?! - and other days time feels like it’s creeping by - frigid temps, evenings and nights that are lonnnnng, nationwide events that seem unbelievable, one sickness after another...
Winter is a season that invites us to slow down in many ways, but often that slowness can bring a low feeling. How do we balance recuperation and rest without falling too deep or getting lost? Just like, how can we find a cadence of time that is just right, not rushing us, nor dragging us along.
A lot of my clients are sharing this feeling, but through yet another lens - how hard this month has been - it's cold, it's gray, things just don't seem overly hopefulAND having moments that are joyful - the sparkle of the snow, the bright blue sky, the new recipe they tried.
A snowshoe behind our house with a pocket of blue sky
How is your balance? Are you finding some glimmers amongst the darkness? Holding this both/and while wobbling through can be exhausting. Imagine balancing on a single leg - we may wobble, our legs may shake, maybe we fall and have to get back up - it is tiring. Despite it all, we remain, or return to balance, and maybe we find the peace and smile.
I have been teetering back and forth through this month along with you... swamped with emails that I still don’t feel caught up on AND finding joy in feeling the sun on my face; scowling as I chop ice from our driveway or clenching as my footing slides when I least expect it AND feeling so free as I snowshoe with our family; feeling sick once again and letting our 4 year old watch more TV than I care to admit AND enjoying a podcast more than I care to admit as I prep dinner. This is life in New England in winter, it’s not easy but it sure can be beautiful at times.
Cold, yet soaking in the sun
Ice chopping with a cute audience
Two things (beyond movement and time outside) that I keep returning to are:
Hygge
The Danish term, pronounced hoo-ga, that Meik Wiking writes about in one of his many books, The Little Book of Hygge - The Danish Secrets to Happy Living. Hygge is defined as the Danish art of creating cozy contentment, well-being and connection through simple pleasures, emphasizing atmosphere, presence and togetherness. Its cultivation often involves soft lighting, comfort, good company and savoring the moment to find happiness in the everyday. More of that for me, please! Any other takers?
Energetic Healing
I have been deepening my learning about energetic healing and its physiology; science is really catching up on how some of these practices impact our body on a cellular level. (See below in the section What I'm Listening To for a recent Telepathy Tapes podcast episode that dives into this.) This past year, as I continue to recover from severe blood loss in my last birth, I've allowed myself to dive deep as a student of this realm and it’s really unlocking something for me.
Terms that I’m hearing and integrating more are: resonance and coherence, which also make me think of harmony. And when I hear these terms I often associate them with sound or music, which can be part of energetic healing. Then to bring it all full circle, this sense of resonance, coherence and harmony evokes hygge for me - that cozy, warm feeling that you can't really name but can feel. I will continue sharing my learnings as I process them. If you have interest in this field, please share any sources you trust.
While this newsletter isn't explicitly about what exercise you should do or what breath technique might benefit you most, I do firmly believe this all plays a role in how we feel and how we heal. I hope this newsletter can remind you of how you're balancing AND of something that fills you up, that keeps you steady amidst all the wobbles.
Last, but certainly not least, I am feeling called to create more community connection this year and am curious...
If this doesn’t spark something in you, think about a topic that does and try learning more! There’s nothing quite like being an interested student for our overall wellness.
In looking for the first quote, I found this one too - how fitting as we ponder finding balance between life's oppositions. Howard Thurman lived from 1899 - 1981, incredible.
“Whatever may be the tensions and the stresses of a particular day, there is always lurking close at hand the trailing beauty of forgotten joy or unremembered peace.”
Guiding you to wholeness, alignment and vitality through intentional embodiment practice. My writings and newsletters are Gifts of Self-Care as you journey towards your most authentic self.