The Joy of Wintering: How to Rest, Reconnect and Rejuvenate with Creativity and Conscious Living

by Erin Niimi Longhurst

How to rest, reconnect and rejuvenate through practical lessons, creativity and conscious living.

The Joy of Wintering celebrates the ways in which the joys of spring are made possible at any stage of life by periods of rest and recuperation.

Through practical tips and lessons from cultures with a strong wintering tradition, learn why rest should be celebrated not stigmatised, and how to live more consciously and compassionately.

So many of us have experienced periods of burnout, influenced by a range of factors. This book is a rallying cry to make space for times of feast and fallow to improve productivity, make space for creativity and finding your presence in moments of clarity. It is for those who want to unlock their potential and adjust to our new normal, largely inspired by the conversations forced upon us by the pandemic.

Drawing upon different cultures with a strong tradition of rest and recuperation, this book will be full of practical activities, inspirational quotes and aims to provide a space for readers to embrace stillness. The chapters what we see, what to listen out for, what to touch, what to taste, what to breathe; including craft activities, recipes, meditations, and much more.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 12, 2024

About the author

Erin Niimi Longhurst is a half-Japanese, half-British writer and blogger. She currently works as a social media and digital consultant, helping charities, nonprofits, and foundations to improve their interactions with those who are important to them, by telling their stories more effectively online. Her blog, Island Bell, focuses on food, travel, and lifestyle. She is a graduate of the University of Manchester with a degree in social anthropology.

Reviews

[Tamsin Frost · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book focuses on the writer's personal experience with creative block that comes about through difficult life experiences and how she reconnects to her creativity through her different senses and different creative practices. The writing is lovely, as is the design, but I felt it didn't really focus on the joy of wintering so the title is a bit misleading. There are some unusual practices recommended such as tracking your mood with the moon and using tarot cards. It might be helpful for some people who need some basic creative prompts but if you want to explore the joy of wintering, even through creativity, this book won't help you.

[Tera · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took out this book because I was looking for something to promote mental health enjoyment of wintertime, but the title is a bit misleading. This book isn't so much about healthy living in winter as it is about being mindful of rest periods versus the helter-skelter of busy lives. This book focuses on the need for rest periods, or "wintering", for the rejuvenation of creativity. I appreciated the information but it wasn't what I was expecting.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

As someone who suffers from depression (seasonal or regular) is it too much to ask to have books that are trying to help without the need to promote pseudoscience??? Apparently not.
The book is pretty which is why it’s getting one star.

[Nadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you find the wisdom in your winter, you have connected in ones own self. I enjoyed this read very much. Often during the winter months we find ourselves withdrawing, but this read truly did bring some rejuvenation to the mind and heart. We all struggle with the determination to get things done, more than often to burnout from it. I have to learn to "embrace the stillness" still trying to in all honesty but this book takes you in the direction that needs to be read, heard and felt. I loved the layout and all the lovely ideas and advice given through the pages.

[Niamh · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some lovely moments in this book. That being said, I feel it was really designed to be a coffee table book, picked up and flicked through, rather than read cover to cover. I think the advice and thinking therefore seemed very disorganised and the picture and quote breaks interrupted the flow somewhat. The advice itself was a mishmash of all sorts, with a lack of core themes tying them together.

[Charlie Newell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book isn’t really ‘how to winter’ as I was expecting it to be and how the covers present it. It is more an autobiographical account about how the author gained self awareness after making a lot of poor impulsive choices, suffering the consequences of those choices and then putting in the work to slow down and heal herself. Which is great for her, but I struggled to see the reader as an authority for ‘how to winter’ and found it a tough read. The ‘tips’ are all very generic self-care, ‘cosy’ tips you’d find online, nothing originally profound. Saying that, the ‘tips’ are still very pleasant and some of the (stock) photos are very beautiful.

[Sarah Gosling · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am fascinated by stories of wintering - how we experience it, how we might approach it consciously and positively. In this book Erin Nimitz Longhurst widens wintering from simply the season in nature to how to look at how we experience seasons of winter in our lives. Sharing stories of her own winterings, I was particularly drawn to her stories of her Janpanese heritage and seeing how it weaves into who she is and what she can then write about. It is a lovely book to dip into and draw on, and especially a gorgeous book to hold, to open, to revel in the weight, the images, the pages as well as the words. I have endless notes and ideas for my own journey from here and I commend it for anyone wanting to reconnect with themselves.

[Kyra Leyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the philosophy of using winter as a time to recharge and introspect and there are some great ideas for activities and recipes in here. Personally the style of narration really didn’t work for me, it felt very over written and pretentious, but maybe others would like it.

[Laura Brzovic · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is perfectly mediocre. Lots of lovely ideas we’ve all heard before about how to be cozy - take on a hobby/craft, walk in nature, journal, and do yoga. I really liked the peaceful images in between Longhurst’s thoughts.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this as a gift and I loved it so much that I bought it for someone else as a gift, a very enjoyable and relaxing read. The author writes with such charm and grace.