Mid-Winter Survival Guide: 10 Self-Care Tips

When our girl said “All my mornings are Mondays stuck in an endless February” she knew what she was talking about (well, that and Sylvia Plath reference)—mid and late winter can be tough on our mental health. All of the fun festivities are over, it got even colder, days are short and dark and it might seem like spring will never come.
Therefore, we need to have tools to take loving care of our mental health during these gloomy days, turning them into cozy, nurturing moments wrapped in our favorite blankets!

1. Kitchen Experiments

Winter is the best time to have fun with some new recipes, cooking and baking. We spend more time at home, which is the perfect opportunity to cozy up in the kitchen and get creative.

Explore recipes from different cultures that celebrate winter—it’s a delicious way to connect with the season and expand your eating world without focusing on “good” or “bad” foods.
Or you could get one cookbook and try each recipe, one by one! Make it a fun weekly “challenge”, and include your family members.

A Cookbook for Winter: More Than 95 Nurturing & Comforting Recipes for the Colder Months – this gorgeous cookbook could be your gentle guide!

If you’re more of a sweet tooth person, this adorable book would be a perfect source of inspiration: Brownies, Blondies and Other Traybakes: 65 Delicious Recipes for Home-Baked Sweet Treats

2. Take a Winter Cooking Class

If you’re not particularly talented cook, or you’d like to improve your cooking skills while meeting new people, taking a fun cooking class is a great idea! It’s also a cute date night idea.
Learning how to make a perfect soup or bake bread from scratch can be incredibly satisfying—and way more fun than counting calories.

3. Host a “Food Freedom” Potluck

Invite your friends for a food freedom evening, where everyone brings their favorite dish. You can always give it a theme, like favorite childhood dishes—getting nostalgic while enjoying comforting foods, maybe sharing funny childhood stories. Or you can all cook and bake together, sipping on wine or cocoa.
It’s a fun way to celebrate food as connection and notice how it’s more than calories, and can truly bring joy into our lives!

4. Journaling for Winter Reflection

Journaling is only a basic tip because it works so well, any self-care list wouldn’t be it without journaling. Winter naturally invites introspection, it’s a season of rest, recharge, reflecting on what was and what we want.
If you’re a beginner, you can experiment with different journaling styles until you find the style that fits you best.

Some of us thrive with prompts, others thrive with free writing. Just spending a few minutes a day reflecting on what went well that day, or doing a “braindump” so you don’t need to think about your to-do list while trying to sleep will have a positive impact on your everyday life.

A few of my favorite suggestions:
The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity: a 12 week “program” that will inspire you and renew your passion for life. I often recommend it—it has incredible, impactful exercises that will help you feel so much better and braver. And once the spring comes, you’ll be ready to tackle any challenges!
The Intuitive Eating Workbook: if you would like to make 2025 your year of balanced health, working with me would be the best choice 🙂 but this workbook is a wonderful choice too, it’s incredibly gentle, yet powerful.

You’ll explore all of the intuitive eating principles, and have journaling and other exercises to help you truly comprehend what intuitive eating is, and how it helps you live a better, healthier life.
Peace With Food: another journaling option for making peace with food, written by yours truly! Peace With Food is easier if you’re just dipping your toes in intuitive eating, you’ll gain understanding of intuitive eating principles and be able to explore your relationship with food, working toward healing.

I would recommend pairing it with my bestselling Peace With Food course. So when the summer comes, you can enjoy your ice cream guilt free!
The Five Minute Journal: an absolute classic in the journaling world, it’s perfect for anyone who’s just starting their journaling journey.

It will help you reflect on your day, practice gratitude and become more mindful—all the things you need to enjoy calmer, peaceful winter days!

5. At-Home Pilates Sessions

Maybe enjoying frosty winter walks just isn’t your thing, and you don’t enjoy going to fitness classes. Doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with some joyful movement! After all, movement does wonders for mental health.

Pilates is incredible for core strength, flexibility and can be done at any level.
If you’re just starting, you can experiment with different online pilates classes, or simply find a cute YouTube video.
All you need to start is a yoga mat, and once you feel stronger and more confident, reward yourself with a beautiful dumbbell set.

If you discover you love your pilates workouts, I would definitely recommend investing in a pilates board—it’s aesthetic, but will also allow you a whole new level of fun exercises, while being perfectly suitable for beginners.

Pro tip: having a cute matching set will definitely help put your in the mood!

6. Try a Digital Detox

Only when we try not to look at our screens, do we realize how much we depend on them. Being unable to spend quiet time with ourselves (and/or our loved ones) can become problematic, especially if we’re doomscrolling on social media, comparing our ordinary lives to the perfect snippets of someone elses. Naturally, this doesn’t reflect well on our mental health.

Therefore, spending a tech-free evening alone or with someone can be beneficial for your mental health. Nourishing your real-life connections, whether it’s a connection with a loved one, or the most important connection—with yourself, is much more valuable than being connected to the Wi-Fi.

You could enjoy a thematic evening like board games evening, or coloring books evening, or do some puzzles. Of course, tech-free evening is also a perfect opportunity to journal, maybe even write about your goals, aspirations, or describing what a perfect day in your life would look like.
Set up the mood with some candles, blankets, hot cup of your favorite tea and fuzzy socks.

7. Enjoy Dark Academia Vibes

A bit of a niche idea, but personally, I feel that January and February are perfect time to awaken your inner dark academia personality. Add some elegance to your space by incorporating some dark academia inspired decor.

Think candles that smell like an old library, Greek goddess statues, old books, handwritten letters, and cozy brown tones. This corner can become your winter spot for journaling, reading, or simply sipping coffee while pretending you’re at a 19th-century university. Preferably also learning something new; perfect ideas for dark academia would be history, latin or any other language, caligraphy, reading poetry, or books on Greek mythology. Or, take an online class from Yale University.

8. Prepare For The Gardening Season

Soon, sooner than it feels, nature will start to bloom—I’ve already noticed primrose flowers shyly showing up in my garden, and birds singing restlessly, expecting the spring.

It’s a perfect time to start planning your garden for the year, purchasing all the seeds you need, and maybe even potting some bulbs like hyacinths, daffodils, crocuses or tulips, depending on where you live.

If you only have a balcony, or even just windows, you can still enjoy some greenery. Start your little indoor herb garden; rosemary, thyme, or mint are all wonderful, and fresh herbs make every meal better!

9. Enjoy Winter Hobbies And Crafts

I’ve seen air clay is trending on TikTok, the amount of creativity and fun one can have with this will definitely keep you busy and happy till spring! Coasters, bowls, vases, possibilities are endless!

Explore fun hobbies like knitting, candle-making, or painting winter landscapes. These crafts are more than just fun—they’re meditative, therapeutic, and a way to keep your hands busy when snacky boredom strikes.
Knitting can help you focus on repetitive, calming motions, while candle-making, or even just painting, fills your space with lovely scents that make winter evenings magical.

If painting feels intimidating, try watercolor—it’s forgiving and soothing, even for beginners. It can also help you reconnect with your inner child.
Another great idea is scrap or junk journaling, look up some examples on TikTok, it’s a lovely way to preserve your favorite memories.

By diving into these winter-themed crafts, you’re not just passing the time till spring—you’re nurturing your creative spirit, and who knows, maybe you discover a new hobby that will stick with you!

10. Volunteer at a Community Food Pantry

Giving back makes our lives more meaningful, and can feel very grounding. Volunteering connects you to others, helps against loneliness and winter blues, and reminds you of the bigger picture.

Consider spending a few hours stocking shelves, sorting donations (and donating), or serving meals. You will meet people with a shared purpose—maybe even make a new friend, and you’ll walk away with a renewed sense of gratitude. Knowing you’re making a tangible difference in someone else’s life is such an amazing way to stay connected to the values of kindness and community, even during the colder months.

You can also explore other opportunities to volunteer, perhaps a local hospital or animal shelter.
Whatever you choose will help feeling more peaceful, hopeful and happier.

Final Thoughts

Altough winter time, especially January and February, can be tough on our mental health, practicing any of these self-care tips can help you thrive, in a gentle, compassionate way.

By exploring these tips, you’re joining in on the season’s beauty and magic, while learning to care for yourself in ways that go far beyond food.

So wrap up in your favorite blanket, enjoy some cocoa with a mountain of marshmallows, and remind yourself: You are doing enough. Winter is time to rest and recharge—all of nature rests, why shouldn’t you!

If you want to take extra steps toward supporting your well-being, check out my courses, such as:

– Mindful Eating: The Intuitive Approach

– Intuitive Eating: Foundation of Health

– Nourishing Immune System: An Intuitive Eating Approach

– Body Positivity in Fitness: Enjoyable Movement for EveryBody