25. The Wisdom of Winter Solstice and Living by Nature’s Cycles

The Wisdom That Lives in the Winter Solstice and Nature’s Cycles

In this final episode of the year, we explore the quiet wisdom of winter—and what the winter solstice can teach us about rest, release, and the natural rhythms we’ve forgotten how to trust.

The winter solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the year, a powerful turning point where light begins its slow return. Rather than signaling immediate growth, this moment invites us inward—into reflection, nervous system regulation, and deep preparation for what’s to come.

In this episode, we explore how humans are not separate from nature, but part of it, and how centuries of disconnection—from the land, from our bodies, and from natural cycles—have shaped the way we live today. We look at how ancient cultures honored solar and seasonal rhythms, how modern life keeps us stuck in constant “summer energy,” and why honoring winter may be one of the most radical acts of healing available to us right now.

This conversation weaves together science, spirituality, psychology, and ancestral wisdom to reframe the winter solstice not as an ending, but as a moment of orientation—where change becomes possible because we slow down enough to listen.

In this episode, we explore:

• What the winter solstice represents energetically and symbolically
• Why rebirth does not mean immediate growth
• How human nervous systems are designed to move with natural cycles
• The science behind grounding, circadian rhythms, and nature-based regulation
• How ancient cultures honored solar cycles through sacred structures
• Why modern systems have distanced us from seasonal living
• How capitalism keeps us in constant output and ignores natural rest cycles
• How patriarchy disconnected us from intuition, embodiment, and cyclical wisdom
• Why individual healing creates ripple effects that support collective healing
• How working with winter supports reflection, release, and nervous system renewal

The seasonal cycle as a map for becoming:

• Winter – Rest, repair, shadow work, and subconscious renewal
• Spring – Activation, seed planting, and emerging motivation
• Summer – Growth, visibility, connection, and outward expression
• Fall – Harvest, reflection, integration, and letting go

Visit this Substack article for my winter solstice playlist.

If this episode spoke to you, it would mean the world if you took a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend who needs it. And make sure you hit follow so you never miss an episode of The Becoming You Project.

You can connect with me on Instagram @jesscallahan_, join my Substack community at becomingyouproject.substack.com, or explore more of my work at jesscallahan.com.

My Back in the Body Nervous System Healing course is now available! Find it here.

Thanks for listening — I’m so grateful you’re here.

Transcript

Speaker: 0:02

Hey guys, welcome back to the Becoming You project, where we reconnect with deeper purpose by reconnecting with ourselves and exploring all that keeps us disconnected from ourselves and from each other. This is our last full episode of the year, and I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you who have listened and shared and commented and given me feedback. I think we're about 25 episodes in as we're ending the year. And, you know, I've known that I wanted to create the Becoming You project for a long time. And this summer I was sort of in one of those moments like, I can keep planning or I can just do it. And it's been one of the most rewarding journeys of my entire life. You know, in finding my own voice, but also in the connections I've made, the stories I've gotten to, you know, hear myself and share with all of you. And it's just um it's something that I'm really looking forward to continuing in the new year. Um, we've got some really cool episodes lined up in the, you know, in the coming months. Um, I've had the opportunity to connect with some inspiring women to talk about like reclaiming creativity as this, like, as a birthright and a way that we can reconnect with the deepest parts of ourselves. And, you know, brilliant minds breaking down this whole idea that like it's the conditioning that's keeping us so disconnected from ourselves. And how do we overcome that? How do we like, how do we reshape the system so that they work better for us so that we can know ourselves better and connect with each other? And um, so I'm really excited about that. Um, my goal for the new year is in growth, but not just like growth in numbers, like growth rooted in genuinely reaching people where they are through thoughtful conversation and thought-provoking interviews and like deep research. And so if you found value in the Becoming You project at any point, um, I would just I'd be so grateful if you had some time to write a review or possibly to share an episode with a friend. I would just be eternally grateful. So let's move forward to today's topic, which is the winter solstice and living by the energy of the seasons. So the winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year and the longest night. It's literally the point in the year when the sun is shining for the least amount of time. And it's this time to go inward, to reflect, release, and create space for renewal. It's a time to honor the dark, like the darkness in the sky, um, the darkest, you know, the darkest night, the longest night, but also the shadow that lives within us. And we don't do this so that we can focus on negativity. It's actually really the opposite. Because without the darkness, there is no light. And we can't fully bask in our own light, and we can't shine our light on our world unless we first work through the darkness. Um, you know, interestingly, the winter solstice this year is almost directly coinciding with the new moon. And, you know, one is a solar cycle and one is a lunar cycle, but you know, each month the lunar cycle goes between new moon and full moon, periods of darkness with the new moon, and the full moon is um, you know, peak moonlight. And so with the new moon and the winter solstice um taking place, you know, about two days apart, we're really in this moment of like one of the darkest points that a year can really be. And the energy around these periods of darkness is really supportive of release, like releasing old habits and patterns and all that we're holding on to, that's really starting to feel just like too heavy. When your cup is so full of everything you've been accumulating without releasing it, like emotions you haven't fully processed or released, unresolved situations or disagreements, negative thought patterns that have been allowed to run rampant in your mind, or, you know, maybe unfinished projects that are just like sitting heavy in the back of your mind, and all of this on top of like to-do lists and the obligations and setting goals for the new year or looking forward to the new year, and you know, not to mention all of the things that you want to do, especially this time of year, there's just not enough space for all of it. And so one way that we can really work with this idea of release is by working with nature's cycles. There's this idea that we are separate from nature, that there's, you know, humans and then there's nature. But we are, as humans, we are nature. We are one with nature. We've just been disconnected from that, um, really, for centuries in the making. But have you ever thought about like how deeply connected we actually are? Like, think about how natural light synchronizes our sleep cycles. So natural light basically like synchronizes the flow of melatonin and cortisol throughout our bodies, um, creating like our circadian rhythm, which directly like impacts our waking and sleeping cycles. Or how about like the earth's ability to calm us? So when you go outside in bare feet and you just you literally put your bare feet in the soil, have you ever noticed how that feels in your body? And if you haven't, like next time it's warm enough, um, you should try it. And and I should like add this disclaimer that I'm recording this from the northern hemisphere. And so the lens through which I'm bringing this article, this uh podcast to you today is through, you know, the northern hemisphere, where on the winter solstice we are in, you know, it is cold, it is winter, there is darkness. If if you're in the southern hemisphere, this will actually be the opposite. I mean, there is still a shifting of light, it is still a major turning point in the year, but um, you know, it's it's sort of actually the opposite. So um back to the idea of putting your bare feet in the soil. So basically, like the earth neutralizes, like the the earth has um a natural frequency, right? And when you put your feet in the earth, it's actually neutralizing any of the excess, like the buildup of positive charge in your body, or you could call them free radicals. And these free radicals are what contribute to inflammation and chronic stress. And so when you put your feet in the earth, you're neutralizing those free radicals, which is bringing like more calm back to your body. You're literally like regulating through simple connection with the earth. Or how about like just how our breathing mirrors the breathing of plants? Like we exhale carbon dioxide. A plant inhales carbon dioxide and releases the oxygen, which we then breathe in. Um, it's not a coincidence that a plant's root system or even its like branching system looks so similar to our lungs. Um, actually, if you think about even just like those similarities, have you ever seen images of like the like a placenta compared to a tree? Or human skin up close compared to tree bark? Or human veins, maybe against like a map of a river system. That's it's not a coincidence that there are so many, you know, parts of the human body that mirror nature. We are nature. How about this one? So the vagus nerve is um, you know, one of its primary functionalities is to convert, like to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. So to activate the rest and digest state of the nervous system, moving us out of that activated fight or flight state. And one way that it does that is by responding to the sounds of nature. So when you hear ocean waves or birds singing, or even like the wind moving through tree branches, that's bringing you a sense of calm. It is activating the parasympathetic nervous system and it's bringing you back into that rest and digest state of the nervous system. Our bodies are really built to move with nature's cycles. And there are so many different cycles that we can work with, that we can move with. I mean, if you think about like even just on a daily basis, like wake, like waking up and going to sleep and like the cycle that we go through each day. Um, on a monthly basis, as I just mentioned, lunar cycles, there are, you know, new moon is a period of darkness, and that's like a more like introspective um phase, right? Like it's a quieter phase, and then um the full moon is is like bolder energy. Um, and so today, as we're talking about the winter solstice, I'm gonna focus on the yearly cycle because you know, the sun, the sun shifts with the seasons as, you know, as each new season comes, the sun's positioning in the sky changes and it invites forth a new energy that really marks that that period in time. So, you know, from winter solstice to spring equinox, spring equinox to summer solstice, and so on. So, in this example, I want to talk about just like the growing season and how as humans, like our energy can really mirror the solar cycle. So the solar year really begins on the winter solstice when the sun is reborn. So as the sun enters, you know, as the sun, as the sun rises after the longest night, it's it's in that moment that really the sun is reborn. And from that point forward, every day until the summer solstice, the amount of time that the sun spends in the sky gets longer and longer. And one thing that I find often confuses people is that rebirth doesn't necessarily mean that we're entering a period of like expansion and growth, because before any growth cycle can really happen, there has to be a season of preparation. And so that's what we move into as the light begins to return with the winter solstice. For so many ancient cultures, it marked a turning point in the year where, you know, there was light ahead, there was hope ahead. They would soon be back to the cycles of like planting seeds and growing crops. But, you know, there's this, there's this period that has to happen before the growth can happen. In winter, it's still dark and cold and the ground is frozen. And as humans, this really invites a period of reflection and release. And none of this means that your energy has to mirror these natural cycles every single day. It doesn't mean that for an entire winter you have to be spending each moment in periods of like that introspection. But when we start to build our lives around these natural cycles, we're creating habits and routines to release all that feels heavy so that we can create space to reconnect with ourselves more deeply, so that we're releasing that which no longer serves us and making space for, you know, newness and growth to come in. You know, it's in this space of balance that we're able to make choices that align with the roles that really fit with our natural energetic signatures, like moving our lives into better alignment, as many would say. So in this period of like cold and darkness, it's really a time to work with releasing that which does not serve us, which involves, you know, a lot of introspection and going inwards so that we can figure out what it is that really doesn't serve us. And so later in the episode, I'll give you some ideas on how you can work with the energy. Um, I have some of my favorites that I'll go through. But if we're talking about like these growing cycles and the seasons, as we move to spring, spring really becomes that period of activation. So this is the time when we plant seeds and you know, growth begins to take root, but largely that growth is still happening under the surface. In this space, like motivation builds. Uh physiologically, our serotonin and dopamine levels increase naturally as the daylight hours increase. And it's, you know, spring energy is a great energy to start something new. Summer is a season of like peak sunlight, more rapid growth. There's an outward focus. And it's in this space that we have, you know, a much greater capacity for things like collaboration, connection, and taking action. And in the fall, we harvest. So fall energy at this point, it really shifts from growth to preservation. It's where we start to invite periods of reflection, like what worked and what didn't work this growing season. It's a period where we begin to simplify, evaluate, refine, and let go. And from there, we return to the winter solstice, entering, you know, this season of rest and repair where our roots strengthen and we quietly go inward to regenerate. Winter is just like a really great time to work with our shadow and dig into the subconscious. It's a great time for like identity reorganization and deep nervous system renewal. Connecting to natural cycles is something that, you know, we're we're really like culturally disconnected from today, but ancient cultures like lived through connection with like sun cycles, the moon cycles. Like, um, and and that's not just because they lacked modern technology. You know, it's it's easy to kind of like instinctively think like, well, we have all this modern technology now. We're so much smarter. We have so much more available to us, so we should be using those things. But, you know, I'm definitely not convinced that we're any smarter than we were back then. Like, sure, we have modern technology, but what have we lost with this like disconnection from nature and disconnection from ourselves? Um, there's so many examples of ancient cultures that honored these cycles through like these massive structures and temples. Um, Stonehenge, for example, in England was built to precisely align with the sunrise on the summer solstice and the sunset on the winter solstice. And, you know, it was a gathering place at the winter solstice where like they they gathered together to mark survival and continuity and the promise of renewal. Um, there's also like there's a much more recent discovery at Karahan Tepe in Turkey. And they've discovered, you know, the civilization this civilization that dates as far back as like 10,000 BC. And they're still studying what all of this means. So, um, but right now, what we know is that they've discovered a carving that depicts this like giant human head that's emerging from a wall or a pillar. And recent observations that have taken place at the site indicate that there's this liver of light that enters this chamber from a precise angle, illuminating the head on the winter solstice. And so, you know, while they're still studying it and, you know, coming up with their like collaborative findings, the findings do suggest that the structure was built around like a solar orientation. So, you know, that's an interesting one just to keep an eye on as they continue their observations and excavation. So, okay, if ancient cultures were so great at honoring the sun cycles and the moon cycles, um, why are we so disconnected? Of course, there are modern inventions that have had an impact on this disconnection, one of them being like artificial light, for example. It used to be that women's menstrual cycles followed the moon cycles, with like um periods of menstruation and ovulation mirroring the cycles of like um new moon through full moon, and artificial light interrupts that pattern and and among many, many, many other things leads to dysregulation. Um, but there are also, you know, so many systems that are centuries in the making that are actively disconnecting us from ourselves. These are the systems that our entire, you know, Western culture definitely is built on. And they're so baked into the fabric of who we are that we don't even realize how much of an impact they're having on, you know, our connection to ourselves and our connection to each other. And I could go on and on about the impact that these systems are having across our lives. Um, we'll do that in future episodes for sure, but I do want to spend just like a minute breaking down some of the systems and how they relate in the context of our topic today. Um, like capitalism, for example. Capitalism itself, like not, you know, in theory, how the system is supposed to work. I'm really talking about what capitalism has demanded of us and the rules that it has written for us that we're all sort of abiding by without a conscious knowing. Um, and and I mean, like when you know, when you when you spot these systems, you don't ever really see the world the same afterward. But it is this like a process of deconstructing them. And that can be a long process and it's an ongoing process. And because it is, you know, so. Actively commanding the world around us. It's something that we have to continuously just be mindful of. But, you know, capitalism keeps us in peak summer energy all the time. There's just like pressure around constant productivity. Think about the guilt that sits at the back of your mind when you take an afternoon, say, to just like put your feet up because you're exhausted. But in the back of your mind, there's like this little voice telling you you could be doing something more productive, or, you know, what about that to-do list? I can't tell you how many times I've heard some like iteration of, you know, I don't know if I want to start therapy because they only offer it during working hours. And, you know, I could really be doing something more productive during that time. You know, and I think to myself, like, what could be more valuable than investing time in yourself so you can pour into yourself and, you know, then in turn pour into your kids if you have them, your, you know, spouse or the communities that you're part of, or you know, your job, whatever it is that's really important to you. Um, but this is the system that tells us that our identity is our job and our worth is how much we make, and that we have status in comparison to others. And, you know, that status is largely derived from what we can afford. It's a system that makes us feel guilty for prioritizing our own mental health over this whole like demand that we should be productive every waking hour as much as we could possibly be productive. Okay, or think about this. Think about how most of us live in places where we have no ancestral relationship to the land beneath our feet. You know, it it might be in this ancestral relationship that our connection to natural cycles and to the earth would be passed down. But in the United States especially, that connection was violently severed when Native people were forcibly removed from their land. You know, the land that that had been lived with and listened to and tended for thousands and thousands of years. And in its place, we built colonies. And with colonization came this like fundamental shift in relationship between people and the land. You know, we were no longer one with the earth. The earth became property, a resource or like a commodity to take from. And so with that disconnection has come like an intentional disconnection from ourselves with the land, because um, you know, with that framing, it becomes easier to just like strip the land of its resources. Okay, think about patriarchy. And seriously, guys, the sooner you get comfortable with words like patriarchy, the better, because patriarchy isn't about blame and it's not about like men versus women. Um, it's actually about like deconstructing patriarchy is really about like collaboration and partnership over oppression and control. It's like it's about rewriting the rules that say that this like false gender construct means that we're required to behave in a certain way, or that some of us have fewer or more human rights than others. So, okay, back to patriarchy. So basically, in a patriarchal system, which in Western culture, we've we have lived in a patriarchal system for centuries. Um, so in these systems, we value things like control, dominance, and masculine archetypal energy over everything else. So, like through this system, we've severed all trust in our own bodies, like intuition, emotional intelligence, um, awareness of these like natural cycles. All of these things were systemically erased in favor of, you know, compliance, obedience, and control. Like the body itself became something to discipline, silence, or control instead of something that we listen to. Um, you know, through this system, logic and rationale became the only acceptable form of knowing over intuition. And and you know, that's directly related to this idea that everything feminine became like devalued at best. So intuition, creativity, emotion, they're all feminine archetypal energy. And like each of these things have become woo, frivolous, or irrational. So like intuition is considered woo, right? Creativity is a frivolous expenditure of our time, and emotion is irrational. Um, you know, and for men, you know, these things aren't any of those things. They're just like completely unacceptable. Um, so we have like totally disconnected ourselves, like um culturally, from those like feminine archetypal energies. And just like a note on how like I see this energy working is like each of us has a balance of masculine and feminine energy within us. Like the balance is different. It's why, like, like it's a spectrum, right? Like if every single one of us has a different balance of masculine and feminine energy, it means that we are all just created inherently differently. But each of us has both of those within us. All men have feminine archetypal energy within them, all women have masculine, but we have been totally disconnected from all that is feminine. And so these natural cycles and like listening to our intuition, which is directly related to our connection with like our bodies and nature, has become, you know, woo, or because it's not logical or rational by way of like, you know, material science, um, it's it's just not like a legitimate form of knowing. And so, you know, that's this is how we become through each of these systems disconnected from our own energy and from our own energetic cycles. We learn to override our inner knowing and we learn to override trusting our bodies for like conformity and obedience. So when we start to honor our natural rhythms, to tune in and to really like figure out what it is that our, you know, bodies and our energy are like asking of us, um, instead of just like overriding it in favor of this like 24-7 constant productivity, um, in this space, we can really start to reclaim some of what we've lost in this like centuries-long disconnection from ourselves and from each other. And so, you know, back to the idea of celebrating the winter solstice. So winter solstice is it's an invitation to listen inward. It's an invitation to create space and ritual and and habit, um, you know, create patterns where we are releasing anything that's like stuck within us or anything that, you know, we're carrying that we don't need to carry anymore. It's creating space for that release. It's creating space for rest. Because when we're not well rested, I mean, I don't believe that we should be looking at the world through like productivity as this like ultimate outcome. But even if you are looking at the world with productivity as the outcome, rest is still productive because like when you are rested, when you are working with these cycles of like output and rest, you're able to tap into like inspiration and innovation and creative problem solving. And, you know, your mind is more clear. And, you know, there's there's such a ripple effect that impacts the work that you're doing and you know, how you're showing up in the world. So winter solstice is really like a deep invitation to go inward, to give yourself permission to rest and to start to invite in some of these like rituals that allow you to just reconnect with nature's cycles. So I'll talk you through a few of my favorite ways to work with the winter solstice. And um, you know, you don't have to do all of these by any means. I think the winter solstice is my favorite time of year. It's really like my favorite day of the year because I love, I love marking periods of change, but I really love taking a moment to pause and just thinking about all that was and and celebrating my own wins, you know, for myself, not for anyone else. Like just celebrating how far I've come, thinking back on, you know, where was I at this time last year? And and what are the dreams that I had that, you know, through these cycles of output and rest, I was, I was able to um, you know, bring forth into my world and what dreams am I still working towards? And and I do this without an attachment to the outcome, you know, without creating a plan to take those steps forward, but really just taking time in this like moment of reflection, you know, just like celebrating myself, celebrating my year, and figuring out what's no longer serving me so that when I am ready to sort of take those steps to move into the new year and move into growth cycles, I know what I can leave behind me. And I know that that will make room for new growth, new inspiration, um, new ideas to come forth. So, okay, here are a few of my favorite ways. So the first one is to bring nature inside. And this really is a reminder that we are one with nature. I love drying orange slices out and hanging them throughout the house. Um, I love to bring in like real greenery, but you know, I love to do it in a way that's like if if um, you know, the greenery has already fallen, um, I love bringing that into the house. I'm I'm not as big of a fan of like cutting down um greenery so that it can, you know, we can display it in the house. But um I like to, you know, work with crystals like gemstones and stuff. I love bringing out, you know, the like like red crystals, the crystals that are like really earthy. Um and and displaying them, you know, uh just holding them, connecting with them in that way. Um, you can also spend more time in nature. So bundle up and take a walk outside, just like feeling the crisp air in your lungs. Um, create bird feeders and hang them around the yard. This is a really good one to do with kids, like the suet. Um, you can hang, you can like use um orange, like the orange rind. If you like can peel an orange and keep it as like a little cup, you can fill that with um bird seed and hang that from the trees outside. They're really fun activities to do with the kids. Um, eating foods that are like like like winter foods. So like hearty root vegetables, eating more stews and soup and hot meals is a great way to align your body with like the energy of the season. On the night of the winter solstice, I love to honor the darkness by bringing the light in. And I love to do that through candlelight, a fire in the fireplace, like however I can bring natural light safely into the house is a really great way to just like honor these, like um, especially like the ancient traditions of celebrating the darkest night. Like winter solstice wasn't like this like huge outward celebration with others. Um, it's really like an inner celebration and like honoring the darkness through simple practices like lighting a candle or, you know, as the sun rises after the longest night, stepping outside at sunrise and just welcoming the sun in its like moment of rebirth, breathing in the fresh air as it rises. Give yourself permission to rest. So I have an episode earlier that I'll link in the show notes about all of the different types of rest. And, you know, rest doesn't just mean physical rest and putting your feet up. There's sensory rest. So inviting in more quiet, um, reducing screen time, reducing like sensory overload. Um, it could be cleaning out a junk drawer, which helps reduce like the sensory input that's like happening on your nervous system. Creative rest might be spending time in creativity, right? Like spending time just like mindlessly painting and working with color. Um, so I'll link to that in the show notes, but giving yourself permission to rest, whatever rest looks like for you, without feeling that demand of like constant productivity. I love to listen to reflective music this time of year. I have a winter solstice playlist that I love. And I'll also include some of my favorite songs from my winter solstice playlist in the show notes. Um, another idea is to create space for like wintering in your home. So, you know, think like a quiet, cozy corner with like a, you know, plush blanket or a candle, again, if you can burn one safely in your home, or you can read or journal or reflect, somewhere that just like invites warmth and coziness and solitude if you can, but reflection for sure. And the last one I'll include here is like is stream of conscious journaling. I think that stream of conscious journaling is one of the most powerful ways to release the energy that's no longer serving you. So, you know, starting with questions just like about what went well this year, what could have gone differently, like what are some of the patterns that I saw throughout the year? Um, you know, what are some situations that came up that still feel unresolved? Or what's something that I feel like is coming up from within me that has been like blocking my path? Um, anything that you can reflect on that takes you a little bit deeper into yourself, I think is a win. And actually, I'll add one more. Um, I think that stuck energy created through, you know, pent-up emotions, unresolved situations, some of these things that we just talked about is um, this is a great time to really like focus on releasing that energy. And one of the things that I love to do, I have like this like vibration plate, but you can also do it through just like like dancing, intuitive dance, or like, you know, literally shaking your limbs. But um, however, like if if you can invite some like vibration movement in, um, you'll find that you can actually release some of that stuck energy. Um, I think, you know, most people will feel it in a certain like central part of their body where they're probably holding on to some of those stuck emotions. So um those are some of my favorites. And I think it's just important to remember that like winter solstice rituals, um, they're not about like setting goals or forcing any kind of change. Like they're really about creating that space from which like change and transformation can eventually be born. When when we honor the winter solstice, we're not opting out of growth. We're just taking a moment to like regulate and prepare first. We're telling the nervous system it's safe to rest, it's safe to wait, it's safe to trust. And from that safety, real change becomes possible. In this culture that demands constant output, the winner solstice offers a different lens through which we can interact with the world. It's one that invites us to tune inward and to notice our own rhythms and our own energy and to listen to and trust ourselves over that demand for like constant productivity, that guilt that sits in the back of our minds. It's, you know, gives us permission to tell the guilt to go away, you know? It's a reminder, ultimately, that we're not meant to live against the very cycles that created us. So I hope you will find a moment to invite nature inside into your home, into your heart, into your life, this winter solstice. Um, take some time to reflect on the year that was and and you know what's ahead for you. And um I can't wait to connect again in the new year.