Bringing nature into your home is calming, uplifting, and honestly beautiful. While that may seem harder during the colder months, there are so many ways to achieve this, further strengthening your bond to Earth—no matter where you live.
Here are just a few examples:
Eat in-season produce.
Learn about what grows in your local region and fill your kitchen with it. Cranberries, spinach, apples, squash, carrots, avocados, and citrus fruits are only a fraction of delicious goodies to pick from. The practice of eating in-season is a scrumptious way to learn more about your region, connect to the nature around you, feel grounded in the season, and have a visual and edible reminder of the current cycle of our planet.
Gather pinecones for crafting.
This season is the best time to collect pinecones. They’re useful for so many things, and are such lovely pieces of nature. When you bring them inside, dry them in the oven until the moisture is all out of them. At that point, you can turn them into fire-starters (great for gifting), string them on some twine to make garland, paint a few to keep as decoration around your home (bookshelves are great for them), or make them into ornaments for your holiday tree!
Keep your windows open, if it’s not too cold.
Bundle up and open your windows to let the cold air in. If you dress warmly enough, this is both refreshing and grounding. If you have enough blankets and think you can do so safely, consider sleeping with the windows open so you can fall asleep feeling more in touch with the outside world. With the colder seasons comes the quiet, so be prepared for some peaceful moments as the fresh air wafts in.
Wear colors that correspond with the season.
If in your region there is still a lot of autumn foliage, wear colors that match the bright leaves. If there is snow on the ground, wear snowy colors. If it’s just cold and peaceful, don colors that remind you of that. Colors are so powerful, and are excellent ways to practice grounding, connection, and awareness of our emotions. This is also a great way to further understand your relationship to the colder months. Pay attention to colors that you notice most in nature during this time, and explore them. You can even incorporate them into your makeup routine, meals, nail polish choices, or any art that you make.
Make art from bare branches outside.
With the leaves either gone or about the drop, branches often fall to the ground in the cold as well. Go foraging for some (remembering to not take anything from a live tree), picking up ones that strike your fancy. Take them home, dry them, make art out of them. You can use twine to make them into a cool stick version of a macrame, or you can put them in a beautiful vase to make a nature sculpture with them. You could even paint them and put them around your home, or use them to hang jewelry with. They’re such beautiful reminders of the art of letting go that is being practiced by the Earth during this time.
Flood your home with scents of the colder months.
Smells like citrus, ash, pine, and cranberry all bring our minds to late autumn and winter time. Make candles that smell like that, or buy candles, incense, or essential oils that do. Whatever scents make you think of the colder months? Fill your house with it. It will ground you in this time, and be very calming. It’s such a relaxing way to honor this time of the year. You can even use perfume on your body that smells like it, or use hair products like shampoo bars that do.
The most important thing is to pick methods that speak to you. How do you feel connected to the seasons? What reminds you of the cold? Maybe you’re a painter, and you want to paint winter scenes every week and hang them up around your home. Maybe you’re a dancer who wants to choreograph dances to do inside that are inspired by twirling leaves and falling snow. Maybe you are a reader and would love to flood your bookshelves with books about subjects that you associate with this time of the year. Listen to your gut. Honor your connection to the colder months, and it will be a centering time of the year for you.
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Photo: Emily Iris Degn
