Have you noticed how differently your body moves in winter?
We brace ourselves when the cold arrives. Our shoulders hunch up toward our ears, the jaw tightens, and the breath becomes shallow. We literally pull inwards away from the cold to stay warmer at our core. But held long enough, that bracing becomes a pattern the body can forget to release.
I think of it as a winter holding pattern.
What the Body Holds
The nervous system doesn’t distinguish very well between the contraction of physical cold and of emotional stress. Both can register as a threat, and trigger the same protective response: muscles contract, breath shortens, and the body moves into a kind of guarded readiness.
This is useful in the short term. But winter is long, and if we never consciously offer the body a cue to soften, that tension will accumulate — in the neck, the hips, the belly, the jaw, the places we each carry our particular brand of stress.
By the time Spring arrives, many people have been holding on for months without realising it.
A Craving for Extra Warmth
My body gets greedy in winter. It wants to be warm and experience both relaxing and deep therapeutic touch on a massage table, in a sauna, or spa bath. The external cold of winter, the effort of heading out into the cold to get there, and finally lying on the table makes me more receptive to letting go in a way warmer weather doesn’t.
Intentional touch is that valuable medium. Whether it’s bodywork like massage, somatic therapy, or energy-based approaches — it gives the nervous system a clear, sustained signal that it is safe to let go.
When the body feels genuinely held and supported, we let go. Our breath deepens, braced muscles stop holding on, and we get to experience the deeper relaxation of letting go, and a quiet relief in discovering how much the body was ready to release.
In my practice, I work with both bodywork and energy healing to support exactly this process, meeting each person where they are in their body and time of life.
For Women on a Fertility Journey
For women navigating the path of trying to conceive, winter is a perfect time to set aside the relentless pressure of tracking everything and staying hopeful.
This near-constant state of bracing, and the resulting chronic tension becomes the very barrier to what your over-busy body and mind really needs — a break.
Winter, with its natural invitation to slow down and turn inward, is your ally here. This is the perfect season to step back from active doing and step into quieter, more nourishing forms of self-care. Bodywork and energy healing offer exactly that, not another thing to manage or optimise, but a genuine rest from the effort of trying. An hour of being held, rather than holding on.
Gentle Practices for the Colder Months
What can you do to step into your own self-healing practices? Here are a few simple tips to help your body stay more open through the cold:
- Warm up before you move. Give yourself a few minutes of gentle heat — a warm shower, a heated wheat bag on the shoulders — before stretching or exercising. Cold muscles resist; warm ones yield.
- Breathe into the belly. When you notice your breath is high and tight in the chest, place one hand on your belly and simply invite it to rise on the inhale. Even three slow breaths can shift the nervous system’s state.
- Check in with your jaw. The jaw is one of the great unsung holders of tension. A few times a day, let your back teeth part slightly and your tongue rest soft in your mouth. Gently hold your jaw in your hand and massage it lightly. Notice what happens.
Winter is an invitation to slow down. Bodywork and the gentle awareness we bring to our own bodies is one of the most generous ways we can answer it.
If you would like support releasing winter tension and bracing, you’re welcome to explore sessions here.