Hibernation

I find myself during the autumn and winter seasons naturally wanting to sleep more, be less active and slow down. Basically start to go into hibernation. I think if you’re living with the seasons, this is natural. You’re moving with the rhythm of nature; wildlife does the same, they tend to wake at first light and go to sleep when it’s dark. For me, I’m finding this is not always a good thing. I am already naturally inclined to stay in bed longer than necessary, I enjoy a lot of sleep and prefer quiet and inactive pursuits. Add to that my tendency towards depression and I can easily find myself getting too much sleep during autumn and winter, spending a lot of time in bed, wiling the days away. Too much of a good thing applies here!

I want to find a balance between enjoying the cosiness of winter, such as candles, reading books by the fire, crafts, mulled wine, without it becoming ‘too much of a good thing’, where I gravitate only towards keeping warm, avoiding going outside into the cold and spend too long in bed. It reminds me of the need of opposites in life: cold and warmth, life and death, winter and summer. I know I’ll enjoy a cosy, warm night in with a glass of mulled wine, reading a book by the fire so much more if I’ve spent the day working outside in the cold garden. It’s not about whether I deserve it more when I’ve worked hard, but that I’ll enjoy it so much more!

So I’m going to try and create cosiness in my life during the coming seasons, without it becoming all that I do. I’m going to put on candles while I’m working and plan a cosy craft evening by the fire, after a busy day so that I’ll look forward to it even more. Turning it into something intentional as opposed to mindlessly giving in to cravings. I’ve shared below an image of a lovely lakeland view that I took during an early morning walk recently. I was so grateful I managed to get myself up early to catch the sunrise on this beautiful fresh day.

I will share a winter blog post soon from December 2023, where I found myself fully embracing winter but in the way I have just described, where I allowed myself to be cocooned in the dark and swallowed up by sadness. More on that in my next post. What are some of your favourite autumn and winter activities?

Peaceful lakeland view during an early morning walk recently