This year has been a doozy. December calls for deep self-care—not just to recover from the past 12 months but to prepare for the year ahead. This isn’t the instagram version of pampering. It’s about energetic recalibration and intentional retreat into your Self.

As we move toward the Winter Solstice (December 21, 2024), nature shows us the way. Just as trees shed leaves in fall, we too must shed our burdens. This process isn’t passive—it requires our full attention and active participation. Since the Summer Solstice, you’ve been pulling your energy back, learning to stop being a power source for others and to return that energy to yourself. The final stretch of autumn is about completing this withdrawal so you can enter the winter months fully centered and ready for renewal.

Winter is for regeneration. It’s a season for going inward, not for frantic activity or endless consumption. It’s a time to be intentional about what you allow into your mind, heart, and home. What will you need to feel supported in this inward season? If a snowstorm were to arrive tomorrow, would you be ready—both practically and energetically? Would your home, heart, and mind feel like your sanctuary?

This isn’t just a metaphor. It’s a literal call to “batten down the hatches” of your inner world. Be deliberate in how you prepare for the next three months. From now until the Spring Equinox (March 20, 2025), you have the opportunity to be in “monastery mode”—a sacred period of reflection, ritual, and remembering. It may feel strange to shift into stillness, especially if you’ve been moving at high speed, launching projects, chasing dreams, and achieving big wins. Moving from intense motion to stillness can feel jarring. It may even feel disorienting, like falling into a void. But don’t fear the void. It’s here to clear you, to prepare you, to restore you.

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus

This is a creative pause, not a punishment. Lean into it. Anger, discomfort, and doubt may surface, but these are your teachers, not your tourmentors. If you face them head-on, you’ll discover the truth beneath them. Fear will rise too—but don’t run from it. Instead, work with it. Trust that the unknown is fertile ground, not a barren wasteland.

To be clear, this isn’t a “do nothing” period. Regeneration requires your participation. Yes, rest. Yes, reflect. But do so intentionally. That starts with being prepared and having a plan. How will you care for your mind, body and spirit? Put rituals and practices in your calendar. Make commitments and vow to be consistent. Map out each week, as if you were on your very own winter retreat. Lest you become overindulgant, spending your energy only on comfort and consumption.

Overindulgence—whether it’s food, drink, or busyness—will only dull your connection to your Self. So be intentional about how you engage with the holiday season and its traditions.

Instead, imagine you’re entering a season-long retreat. Plan your daily rituals, gather your reading materials, and get clear on how you’ll spend this sacred time. This will prevent aimlessness from taking over. Don’t wait for January 1 to “start fresh.” Start now.

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” — Anne Lamott

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3 Journal Prompts for Your December Self-Care Retreat

1. What do I need to release before the Winter Solstice to feel at peace within myself?
2. What would make my home feel like a true sanctuary this winter? What do I need to bring in, and what needs to go?
3. Where in my life am I still leaking energy? Who or what is draining me?
   

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Key Rituals for December Self-Care & Retreat

1. Call Back Your Energy Ritual
   On the night of the Winter Solstice (Dec 21), light a candle and call your energy back to you. Speak aloud the names of any people, projects, or places where you feel your energy is still lingering. Call all yourself back into your heart, mind, and body. You might say outloud: I call myself back from ________ (fill in the blank). Snuff out the candle when you feel it is complete.
2. Seasonal Reflection Ceremony
   Take 30-60 minutes to sit in silence with your journal on the evening of December 15 (full moon). Reflect on everything you’ve released in 2024 and write down everything you’re ready to release in time for 2025. Burn or bury that list.
3. Home Sanctuary Ritual
   Set a timer for 2 hours and transform your living space into a winter retreat. Clear the space of anything that is no longer of use. Clean, clear, and place a few intentional objects around your space (crystals, candles, fresh plants) to signal to your subconscious that this is a space for rest and reflection.
4. Closing Doors Ritual
   On Dec 20, make a list of the “open doors” in your life—unfinished projects, open loops, unresolved emotions. For each, ask yourself: Is this something I want to carry with me any further? If not, let it go. Then journal on what you ought to do to take external action.

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This December, you’re not just resting. You’re gathering strength, calling back your energy, and preparing your foundation for an extraordinary 2025. Consider it a sacred pause, not a shutdown. Every pause has a purpose. Your power is growing beneath the surface. Just like the seeds lying quietly in the soil, you are preparing for a springtime rise that will be nothing short of magnificent.

Don’t forget to be deliberate. Take a moment now to plan your self-care rituals, gather your sacred objects, and prepare your heart and home for a season of deep renewal.

You are in monastery mode now. Let it be sacred. Let it be intentional. Let it be enough.

Want to Have a Breakthrough in December?

For 4 more journaling prompts and an exclusive playlist in the journaling session, join my membership The Monthly Integration (TMI) for a live journaling session to dig deeper to breakthrough.

Or, to dive deeper into your inner child healing, sign up for my Inner Child Workshop here.