It’s officially October and while there is so much to look forward to this time of year, the shorter days, colder weather, disrupted routines, and general busyness of the season can all deeply impact our sense of wellbeing and leave us feeling utterly exhausted. Intermixed with the excitement of a new season, many of us feel some apprehension and even dread for this time of year—a sense that the next few months are ones to endure, rather than truly experience and enjoy.
But what if the change of seasons isn’t something we need to simply endure and hope for the best in? What if it is something we can respond to intentionally? How can we care for our hearts, bodies, and minds so we can show up well for those we love and the things we love to do in this season ahead?
While each of us will approach this season differently, today I want to share with you some habits and rhythms I’ve learned and adopted over the years that have helped me to tend to my heart, body and mind and to show up well in this season.
Now I am well aware of the danger in writing a post like this. It can quickly feel burdensome. Rather than being a life-giving opportunity to find ways to care for and steward what has been entrusted to us, it can become yet another checklist of things we feel like we are failing to keep up with or not measuring up to.
But seasonal care for our hearts, bodies and minds is not about keeping up with or measuring up to some arbitrary list of habits that are best suited for someone else. It’s not about achieving, striving, perfection or productivity. It is simply about identifying a few simple, intentional practices or rhythms that will help us care for ourselves well in the season of life we are actually living.
So take what’s helpful. Leave what’s not. And let’s dive in and discover some rhythms that can help our hearts, bodies and minds to truly flourish in this season ahead.
Care for the Heart
If you were to Google “healthy winter habits” you would likely find tips on nutrition and hydration, physical activity, sleep, mental wellness, and illness prevention—all of which are essential and many of which we will explore later on in this post. But what you may not find, at least not right away, are habits that tend to the heart.
If we are being honest, the heart can feel abstract. It is way easier to track what we are eating, how often we are exercising or how much we are sleeping, than to gauge how our hearts are doing. Moreover, time spent caring for our hearts can often feel unproductive or even boring.
But if we truly want to show up well in this season, we must begin with the heart, as it is the wellspring from which all else flows. So then the question is, how do we care for our hearts?
Rhythms of Abiding
There’s a quote from Pete Greig’s book Dirty Glory: Go Where Your Best Prayers Take You I find I come back to time and time again:
“Before we do great things for Jesus, we are called very simply to become His friends…. This means that we are qualified for Christian service by our praying and not our preaching, our desire to worship Him and not our workload on His behalf, by knowing Jesus personally and not just knowing a lot of interesting things about Him. If you lose God’s presence, you lose everything, but if you have God’s presence, you already have everything you need.“
Friends, everything we do must flow from an overflow of intimacy with Christ.
Jesus reminds us “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.” (John 15:4, MSG).
If we are to show up well for those we love and the things we love to do in this season, we must abide in Christ first and foremost. But how do we do this? What does this look like practically?
One way is to cultivate rhythms of abiding in Christ. These spiritual practices or habits of the heart will look different for each person and each season of life we are in. They are not boxes to be checked off or activities to do for the Lord to earn his affection or favor, but ways we position ourselves to abide in Christ and experience His presence. A few practices that can help us make space to be with God include:
- Solitude – Through this practice we intentionally withdraw from people to be alone with God. It frees us from constant interaction and helps us to notice what is shaping our thoughts and reactions. In solitude, we learn to be with God without distraction and to find our identity in Him rather than in activity.
- Silence – This practice goes hand in hand with solitude. Through this practice we quiet our words and external noises so we can simply be in God’s presence and hear from Him. It exposes what is happening inside us and creates space to listen and allow God to meet us honestly and personally.
- Fasting – Through this practice we abstain from food (or something significant) for a time to deepen our dependence on God. It reveals what controls us and teaches us that God alone sustains us. In this practice, we learn that true nourishment comes from Him.
A few practices that can help us to actively draw near to God include:
- Study – This is the practice of intentionally engaging with Scripture to know God’s heart and ways. We read, reflect, and meditate so that God’s Word reshapes our thinking and forms our character.
- Worship – Through this practice we intentionally turn our attention to God’s greatness and respond with praise. It reorients our hearts, reminding us who God is and who we are in Him — both privately and together as His people.
- Prayer – Prayer is ongoing conversation with God. As we pray regularly, we grow in awareness of His presence and learn to involve Him in every moment. Over time, prayer becomes less an activity and more a posture of presence.
- Confession – This is the practice of honestly sharing our struggles and sins with trusted believers. It frees us from hiding, cultivates humility, and allows us to experience God’s grace through His people.
Jesus’ invitation is open. “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:38, NIV). Are you thirsty? Come and drink from the only source that will truly satisfy. Let it fill you within and become a river that overflows into the lives of those around you this season.
A few books that have been particularly helpful for me in learning more about rhythms of abiding are The Common Rule: Habits for an Age of Distraction by Justin Earley, The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives by Dallas Willard and Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus. Become Like Him. Do What He Did. by John Mark Comer.
Rhythms of Community
As hinted at in the last section, we are not meant to live in isolation. Another aspect of caring for our own hearts is actually done in the context of community and living life with others. Those rivers of living water are to pour out from our hearts into the lives of those around us.
One way we can practice this is through what Rosaria Butterfield calls “radically ordinary hospitality”. In her book The Gospel Comes with a House Key, Rosaria explains that the purpose of radically ordinary hospitality is “to build, focus, deepen and strengthen the family of God, pointing others to the Bible-believing local church, and being earthly and spiritual good to everyone we know. When our Christian homes are open, we make transparent to a watching world what Christ is doing with our bodies, our families, and our world.”
I have said it before in The Gift of Home: A Kingdom Perspective on Creating Spaces and I will say it again: friends, it is very simply not about us. God has blessed us to be a blessing to others and as we have freely received, we are invited and called to freely give. This includes giving of our time, our energy and our hearts for the sake of those around us, that they too may drink and experience rivers of living water.
Care for the Body
As believers, it is easy to put a period there and say that the only thing that matters is caring for our hearts, end of story. But we are human beings and have been given a body to steward and care for in this life. We were created in the image of God for this very purpose and the Spirit of God lives within us and it is through our bodies that we carry out the work of his kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. So how we tend to and care for our bodies matters profoundly.
That being said, I am well aware that the pendulum can easily swing in the other direction. Rather than being a temple through which we bring God glory, our bodies can become the very object of our worship itself. Navigating care for the body between the two extremes of the spectrum requires deep discernment, wisdom and humility.
With that in mind, I don’t claim to be an expert on this topic. There are people much more qualified to talk about how to best care for our bodies, but for our intents and purposes I wanted to briefly touch on a few of the fundamental ways we can steward these bodies we have been given and show up well in this season.
Rhythms of Movement
One of the ways we can show up well in this season is to prioritize moving our bodies daily. More and more research is showing how crucial movement is for our health and wholeness, but this (like everything else we have talked about so far) will look different for everyone.
Over the years I have found what works for me and what doesn’t. Going to the gym is actually a deterrent for me to move my body. I don’t particularly love working out around other people and I don’t really want to drive somewhere to do so, adding more time to an already full day. For me, I have found the most joy and consistency in going for runs outside around our neighborhood and at-home YouTube workouts. And these have worked well for me.
For others, they thrive on exactly the opposite. They are energized by the community aspect of going to the gym and feel focused and committed when they put time and effort into being there. There are others in completely different stages of life where moving their bodies well looks like joining a recreational sports team, or taking a hike with a friend on a Sunday afternoon, or going for a walk around the block after dinner with the little ones in tow, or taking dance lessons.
Ultimately, the best workout for you is the one you’ll actually do. So experiment. Find out what works for you and then go do it.
If you are not sure where to start, one resource I’ve found to be incredibly helpful is Heather Robertson’s YouTube channel, which is packed full of all sorts of workouts that can be done at home with minimal equipment.
Rhythms of Refueling
Another way we can care for our bodies in this season is to fuel our bodies well. This can feel exceptionally difficult this time of year, with all of its holidays and gatherings galore. But knowing how to fuel and nourish our bodies—what they need to truly flourish—is key to showing up well in this season.
Once again, this will look different for everyone. What tends to help me show up well is a combination of drinking plenty of water, prioritizing protein, healthy fats and nutrient-dense whole foods, and minimizing sugar and processed foods.
A few books that have helped to shape the way I think about how to fuel my body well are Why We Get Sick: The Hidden Epidemic at the Root of Most Chronic Disease and How to Fight It by Benjamin Bikman and Good Energy: The Suprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health by Casey Means.
Another aspect of fueling our bodies well that often gets overlooked is sleep. In Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, Matthew Walker shares that sleep is one of the most foundational ways we can care for our bodies, and consistently getting enough quality sleep supports everything from mood and memory to immune function and physical health. Things like maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, keeping the bedroom cool and dark, and avoiding screens and blue light before bed can all help us to get better sleep and in turn show up well for those we love and the things we love to do.
And then there’s rest. Rest is often seen as unproductive or a luxury or something we just need to do every once in a while, yet deep rest is vital to refueling our bodies (and hearts and minds) so we can continue to show up well. In the season of disrupted routines, busyness and exhaustion, intentionally leaving margin, having a slower evening, practicing Sabbath, saying no to things (even good things!), or simply recognizing that this season doesn’t need to be filled to the brim are just a few ways to find deep rest.
Care for the Mind
Once again, it is easy to stop there. But another often-overlooked, yet equally important aspect to how we show up in this season is how we care for our minds. When asked what the greatest commandment is, Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30, NIV).
So how do we care for our minds?
There is much to say about mental wellness, but these are things best left for the mental health experts. Yet there are a couple of simple things we can do to care for our minds that can help us to show up well even in the colder months.
Rhythms of Learning
First, we can stay curious and continually looking for ways to learn. As with all the other points so far, this will look different for each one of us and depend greatly on things like personality type, interests and the season of life we are in. But this season of being indoors can be an incredibly fruitful time of learning.
Personally, one of the ways I continue to learn is by reading voraciously. While I do enjoy a good fiction book every once in a while, I am mostly drawn to non-fiction books covering a wide range of topics: everything from theology and the Christian life to psychology, personal development, business, biographies and true stories of people overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges. More recently, I have also enjoyed listening to audio books as well as podcasts covering a similarly wide range of topics that truly fascinate me.
The point is to discover what truly fascinates you—the things you feel like you can keep digging into and keep learning about forever. Not the things you feel like you “should” learn more about, but the things you are actually interested in. There’s a quote from Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon that has stuck with me: “School is one thing. Education is another. The two don’t always overlap. Whether you’re in school or not, it’s always your job to get yourself an education. You have to be curious about the world in which you live. Look things up. Chase down every reference. Go deeper than anyone else…”
What we allow into our minds is equally as important. The amount of news or social media we consume, overstimulation through constant notifications or doom scrolling and simply never making space for quiet all shape our minds and in turn our lives. What occupies our attention and our focus matters and deeply shapes how we show up as well.
Rhythms of Play
Another way to care for our minds in this season is through play. Yes, you heard that right. Finding ways of having fun is absolutely key to showing up well through the changing of the seasons.
When we lived in northern Manitoba, winters were cold, long and dark and we learned very quickly that we needed to find creative ways to actually enjoy it. We learned to look out for ways of having fun or the things that brought us joy, which in turn has helped us to look forward to winters instead of merely dreading them. One of the main ways we have fun in the colder months is by being outside. We prioritize winter walks, cross-country skiing, and even ice skating, trying to get outside as much as we can.
Another way I prioritize play is through creativity. Whether its woodworking, DIY projecting, painting, or even writing on this blog, over the years I have come to realize that creativity is key for me to flourish through the colder months. Summers can get busy and most of my creative ideas or endeavors are put on hold. But as the days get colder and the busyness of summer comes to a close, I find it is the perfect time to reengage with those ideas and to be creative.
What Your Season Requires
As we step into the colder months ahead, the goal with all of this is not to walk away with another list of things we feel we need to do. Instead, I hope this post gives you permission to pause and ask yourself a different question: What do I need in this season?
Perhaps you need to create a little more space to abide in Christ. Perhaps you need to prioritize movement, nourishing food or getting to bed a little earlier. Perhaps you need more spend time with friends, more opportunities to create, or to plan something fun to look forward to. Perhaps you need to quiet some of the noise competing for your attention or simply give your self permission to slow down.
The answer will look different for each of us.
So as the days get colder, I invite you to consider what would help you show up well in the months ahead. What rhythms would help you remain rooted in Christ? What would help you care your body and mind? What would give you something to look forward to? And what would help you to be more present to the people you love and the things you love to do?
May this season be one where we don’t simply endure the shorter days and colder nights, counting down until spring arrives. May we learn to receive this season for what it is, to care well for what has been entrusted to us, and show up fully for the people we love and the things we love to do.
Over the years, one tool I have found incredibly helpful when incorporating new habits and rhythms is to use a daily habit tracker. If you’d like to create your own, you can download one HERE and fill in which rhythms or habits you would like to prioritize in the month ahead.
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