Transitions Autumn to Winter
This meditation series is inspired by Katherine May’s, Wintering, The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, within this series we begin in autumn and transition to the winter solstice.
As humans living in a post-industrial revolution society, we have tumbled unintentionally into normalising that life is in constant spring or summer, always blooming, always producing, and always busy. Since moving to the countryside here in France I have learned an enormous amount about the seasons from the nature that has surrounded me and I credit it with my learning to adjust to the slow rhythms here. To take my time.
You are invited to prepare for this period of dormancy, and hibernation. To create time and make space for the quiet, sleep, and stillness of the mid-winter months. To open up to the possibilities this will bring us for the seasons that follow.
Hibernation is a period of dormancy for animals and plants. Essentially there is less food around and it’s colder and it’s the time of year to be busy preparing ourselves for this period. As an Occupational Therapist, we use activity as a therapeutic tool to support wellbeing, so here is a a simple meditation series to prepare you for your hibernation. Being deliberate with how you take care of yourself will have an impact not only on your overall health but those around you.
May your time in this season be soothed, calmed, and nourished with this series, supporting your mind, body, and soul.
Settle in, have a cup of tea (perhaps in a heat protecting cup) at the ready, and any journalling tools you may find useful for the inquiry into the practice. The sessions were recorded with a group once a week over 6 session. You are welcome to follow this format or your own pattern, perhaps even one a day for 6 days. If you need any help with the practices for example posture or any challenges you experience please do reach out to josephine@thewellbeingatelier.com.
The atelier follows the following format:
Meditation
Poem
Tea meditation
Reflective Inquiry with journal prompts (opportunity to pause, reflect or journal about your direct experience of the practice)
You are welcome to email me about anything that you may wish to explore josephine@thewellbeingatelier.com)
A closing Meditation and invitation for home practice
What do I need to prepare?
Each practice will be either a sitting, movement or lying down, for meditation hints and tips have a look at this handout HERE. In advance of the session, you’ll need:
Use a chair, cushions or a stool
Enough space for an exercise mat on the floor
Enough space to move your arms around your body from standing
Any props for comfort and warmth (see the handout mentioned)
A glass of water or warm drink for the tea meditation.
Week One
Metamorphosis
In November (Northern Hemisphere), and May (Southern Hemisphere) we find ourselves In the depths of autumn, a time when nature is preparing itself for hibernation, a busy time as we prepare for less light, food, and colder temperatures. We begin the series in preparation, to make time for quiet, sleep, and stillness of deep winter.
Week Two
Transformation
Transformation is what winter is all about. In this session you are guided through a compassionate body scan where we reflect on the story of our bodies. As always take exquisite care of yourself, winter is inviting you to be careful with your energies and to prepare for resting until spring.
Week Three
Slumber
In this session, we continue to explore allowing and being with our experiences. anchoring in the body and the breath. Holding space for our experiences just as they are. And as we prepare for our hibernation period a poem about warm socks and a reading on the lost art of two sleeps.
You can read more on hibernation in Katherine May’s wonderful blog here.
Week Four
Preparation
In this weeks session, you are invited to begin with a ten minute meditation before moving into a mindful writing exercise. There are five journalling prompts you will be encouraged to reflect and explore on what a preiod of hibernation could look like for you.
Mindful writing is an opportunity to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), free yourself of your inner critic and editor, and pay attention to the narrative of your experience and how you understand it.
Week Five
Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
A compassion-based practice where we build mental muscle to drop into the body’s experience of emotions and feelings. take exquisite care of yourself, the breath is always there to anchor you in the present moment, and extending your out-breath can be enough to soothe and nourish.
Week Six
Still and Quiet
We close with a quieter practice, punctuated by simple bells and minimal guidance. A gentle reminder of the skills you’ve been developing over the last six sessions and that yiou can draw on over the coming weeks. The breath and body are always there for ou to anchor in the present moment. Giving you space to pause before responding, to listen and apy atention to our needs.
Take exquisite care of yourself. We return with deep winter. See you there.
