Here in Arizona, the winter changes are subtle. But winter is here. It is here in the cool mornings and the cloud streaked skies. It is here in my body which seems to need the warmth of a bath and a few extra blankets. It is here as the “snowbirds” descend on my new desert home with license plates from Minnesota, British Columbia, Wisconsin… It is here in the afternoon chill of a swim and my desire for a bowl of stew or soup in the early evening. Unlike in the Northeast, where winter hits savagely at times, here it is a whisper. But it is here.

For those of you who were able to join me for my first Self Care Seasonal Solstice Retreat, it was wonderful to see all of you and welcome in the light together. You were from three countries, three continents, ten states, six time zones and…five generations! Ahhhh the beauty of zoom! 

One thing we did together was create altars to support us through the season. Even some of you who signed up for the retreat but were unable to join, created altars on your own. Here are a few pictures of some of these altars that you so graciously shared with me:

Altars can serve as visual and tactile representations of your inner experience, your outer intentions, what is important to you and where you currently are on your soul journey. The items you include in your altar, their placement and the relationship they have to each other can depict deep truths about yourself. Keeping an altar through the season, changing it according to changes you experience as time passes, can help ground and connect you to these deep inner truths. 

For our Solstice altar we used the following prompts to help us choose the objects to include:

• Dark - a time to see and embrace the shadows

• Light - a time to shine our light and let the dappled light in

• Nature - a time to allow seeds their dormancy

• Letting Go - of the old. Letting In the new

• Rest - a time to rest our bodies, minds and spirits

• Self-compassion - a time to look inward with love

• The body temple - a time to tend to our bodies

• Forgiveness - a time to forgive ourselves & others

• Clarity - a time to see more clearly

• Tenderness - a time to allow for grief & openheartedness

• Care - a time to offer comfort to others

• Hope - a time to remember that spring will soon be here

• Intention - a time to set our intention for the new year

I invite and encourage you to create an altar of your own, and if you already have one, to see if your altar needs to be “altered” to better reflect yourself and your needs in the moment.

Please join me for my January Self Care Moon Cycle Retreat when we will be working with our altars to dive into the experience of winter, rest and how the cycles of the moon reflect our well-being.