Micro-Habits to Increase Mindfulness During Winter

Self-compassion and self-care

Self-compassion and self-care not only go hand in hand, but can also be a small, yet significant, micro-habit that greatly boosts the mind and body during the winter months.

Self-compassion means treating yourself with kindness, love, compassion, and care, just as you’d treat a friend. Studies find it can help cultivate a sense of emotional safety, which means feeling secure within oneself, allowing you to be your true, authentic self, vulnerable, and without any fear of judgment or backlash from others.

In other words, practicing self-compassion during winter can help you accept and not judge your own emotions or feelings, particularly if the cold and dark winter months make you feel a little more glum than usual.

Ways to practice self-compassion to increase mindfulness include:

• acknowledging and accepting how you feel without judging yourself and with compassion, such as accepting that you may experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD) due to weather changes during winter
• recognizing that winter can be a difficult time for many, due to reasons such as weather changes, expectations that come with the holidays, and a reduction in sunlight, causing lower vitamin D and serotonin levels
• practising supportive self-talk such as “I am doing the best I can” or “I am strong and capable”, out loud or internally
• giving yourself affirming, warm, physical touches, such as hugging yourself or putting a hand over your heart
• observing difficult thoughts, but not becoming consumed by them

Self-compassion involves adopting a non-judgmental attitude toward oneself, especially when experiencing negative emotions such as sadness or stress. It includes recognizing that it is part of the human experience to have days that don’t feel so good.

Alongside this, practicing self-care with self-compassion can also help increase mindfulness and improve your mood during winter. This may involve:

• focusing on staying warm and cosy, such as wearing warm clothes, sitting by a fire, or curling up in a blanket with your favorite movie
• eating your favorite foods that are particularly nourishing during wintertime, such as hot soups and other hearty meals
• doing cozy indoor activities such as having a hot bath, hot shower, baking bread, or making holiday cookies
• creating a cosy atmosphere, such as lighting candles, putting on cozy string lights, and using warm blankets
• prioritizing exercise and eating well, nourishing the mind and body
• taking care of yourself and your body in the form of practising good skin care during the harsh winter months

Both self-compassion and self-care can help build emotional resilience to changing and harsh weather conditions, cultivate a sense of joy in oneself and one’s life, boost physical and mental health, and help combat feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Mindful winter activities

Mindful winter activities can help a person embrace the stillness and quietness of winter, focusing on the beauty it brings rather than the often cold, harsh weather and limited sunlight.

Mindful activities can help you focus on the present and appreciate the moments that make winter beautiful, while also boosting both mental and physical health. They can help improve stress levels, as well as improve mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

Some examples include:

• taking a walk in nature, particularly if it is frosty or snowing, appreciating and paying attention to the beauty that cold weather brings such as winter plants and berries, bare trees, and winter wildlife, such as robins or sparrows. It can even help boost the immune system and reduce inflammation
• doing mindful exercises such as yoga, which studies prove can help aid mental health
• enjoying making and drinking hot drinks such as tea, hot chocolate, eggnog, mulled wine, and seasonally-flavored coffee
• spending time in the kitchen making winter-themed foods, such as baking cakes, cookies, or making soups, paying attention to the delicious smells
• immersing yourself fully in a book, reading while wrapped up warm and cozy
• doing mindful creative activities, such as knitting, crocheting, painting, and drawing
• journaling, maybe writing about your favorite things that occur during wintertime

All of these activities, which you can complete in small amounts of time, such as 5 to 10 minutes, can help you focus on the world around you, be present and aware, and enjoy the current moment.

Grounding techniques

Grounding techniques can increase mindfulness during winter, allowing you to feel connected to the earth and appreciate the beauty that winter brings (rather than the cold and darkness!). Studies find that grounding, which involves touching the earth or focusing on something tangible, can help the body enter a healing state.

Grounding habits that help increase mindfulness during winter can include:

• picking up and touching things you find in nature around you, e.g., going on a winter walk, and picking up the freezing cold snow, bare fallen twigs, holly leaves and berries, or frosty acorns and chestnuts
• doing deep breathing, particularly if it’s cold outside and you can see your breath in the air
• holding a warm mug of your favorite drink in your hands, feeling the sensation and tasting it at the same time
• lighting a winter-themed candle and smelling the fragrances, such as cinnamon, apple, gingerbread, pine, wood, or peppermint
• visualise a winter task or activity you’d like to do, such as making snow angels, skiing, or building a snowman

Reflection and appreciation

One way to increase mindfulness during the winter is to reflect on the year that has passed. Winter can sometimes bring a sense of stillness, allowing you to pause and turn inward. It may be that you look forward as well as reflect on the past, cultivating an idea of how you would want the next year to look, and what changes you can make.

You can do this by:

• journaling thoughts about the past year; your favorite moments, personal achievements, things you would change, and lessons you have learned
• share moments of gratefulness and gratitude with loved ones, reminiscing on past year events
• allow yourself to “process” the entire year; living another year on earth is a reason to celebrate, and you should take joy in simply “being” without the need to be productive
• write down goals, big or small, particularly focusing on how you want to feel in the next year, rather than physical achievements
• view the longer, colder, darker days as a way to rest and recharge, rather than something to feel saddened by

The bottom line

Practicing micro-habits that incorporate mindfulness during the winter months can not only help uplift your mood but also boost your immune system and improve emotional resilience to the harshness that winter can bring.

Some examples include practicing self-compassion through non-judgmental and non-critical positive self-talk, engaging in joyful winter activities such as walking in the snow or wrapping up warm, and reflecting on and appreciating the year that has passed.