Creativity as Self Care in Winter
Here in the Winter season, it's easy to get caught in a cycle of not taking care of ourselves.
With “shorter” days it can be more challenging to prioritize movement practices and even short walks on cold wintery days.
Also, tons of people are affected by SAD: Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is related to the changing of the seasons and specifically, having less light in the day to go around.
But Winter can also be one of the most potent times in the year to go into “our cave” and look inward. It can be a powerful time to cozy up for some renewal in what matters: the little pleasures that make life so rich.
So how can we make sure we are utilizing this potent winter time to take better care of ourselves?
We can start simply. We can start with really small steps.
Firstly, it can be helpful to engage in a creative act each day to help us meander through Winter peacefully. Below are some prompts you might find helpful:
5 minute Creativity Prompts:
Draw a doodle: On any sheet of paper, or an old envelope, doodle literally anything your heart desires. Combine shapes, lines and colors if you wish to create something that represents how you feel. Focus on the process, not the product.
Trace your hand: Find any writing implement and a piece of paper. Mindfully trace around your nondominant hand (or for more fun connection to the inner child, you can try tracing your dominant hand with your non-dominant hand). When you’re finished you can color inside your hand tracing with elements that match the way you’re feeling. Don’t overthink it!! You got this.
Braindump: Start with a blank page in a journal or just on a piece of paper. Begin by making a list (or “bran dump”) of everything in your brain. Start writing and don’t stop for five minutes. Let the words flow out of your pen and don’t edit, only write whatever words or phrases come up. It can be a super interesting process to reread it when you’re done too.
So, I hope these three prompts are helpful. Feel free to check out the entire private podcast episode about this on Patreon!!
You can join for as little as $3 per month. Each month I share content on Patreon that doesn;t get shared anywhere else. I’d love to serve you over there on either the FREE Tier or a paid one.
