Embracing Wintering: A Journey of Self-Reflection and Creating a Heart's Sanctuary (S15E8)
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S15 E8

Embracing Wintering: A Journey of Self-Reflection and Creating a Heart's Sanctuary (S15E8)

Tap to send me your reflections ♡ Have you ever felt the urge to retreat inward, seeking solace in the quiet corners of your own mind? Over the past six months, I've found myself embracing a period of 'wintering'. A transformative journey of introspection shaped by both personal and global influences. My own reflection on this, and listening to the experiences of others has inspired this episode - an invitation to explore the natural rhythm of energy that guides us between vibrant creativ...
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Speaker 1: I've been noticing a
lot of people talk about

wintering recently and it's been
inspiring my own reflection.

Welcome to the Henny Flynn
podcast, the space for deepening

self-awareness with profound
self-compassion.

I'm Henny, I write, coach and
speak about how exploring our

inner world can transform how we
experience our outer world, all

founded on a bedrock of
self-love.

Settle in and listen and see
where the episode takes you.

Episode takes you, and one of
those reflections has been the

realization that I think I've
been dipping in and out of

winter for quite a lot of the
last maybe six months of this

year.

It's something that I'm very
mindful of and if you've been

listening to the podcast and
some of the episodes that I

shared on grief at the beginning
of the autumn, then you'll have

some sense of why Perhaps I
have been dipping in and out of

this feeling.

But it's also something I'm
noticing from many others, from

clients, from friends, from
loved ones, and I'm mindful that

maybe there's something
astrological going on.

Maybe there's something
astrological going on.

Maybe it's the result of macro
political conditions or some of

the news that we are surrounded
by, and even if we don't watch

or listen to the news, we still
are influenced by the energy of

what happens around us.

That's something I'm very aware
of as someone who doesn't

consume news, and yet somehow I
still seem to know what's

happening, so somehow it reaches
me and and so this concept of

wintering feels like maybe it's
something that not only we can

pay attention to at this time of
year um, as I record this, it's

the very end of November.

But also, I think I might have
shared before my own sense that

I go through a cycle every few
weeks, maybe following the

patterns of the moon, maybe not.

Who knows where my energy lifts
and I am energized and creative

and outward facing, and where
my energy softens and drops, and

I feel more inclined to be
inward facing, self-reflective,

maybe feel more comfortable
doing organizational kind of

admin type tasks rather than,
you know, the kind of like the

energy sort of flowing outward.

Um, and you know, and I'm sure
this is the same for all of us

to some degree and maybe one of
the things that we notice as we

become more and more self-aware
is the impact of these patterns

or the shape of these patterns.

And and so this week, um, I'm
recording this on the day that

the episode normally goes live.

It normally goes live on a
saturday, and then I send out my

email to all of the incredibly
beautiful souls who are part of

my community, my email community
.

If that includes you, how
delicious.

If that doesn't yet include you
, you are so welcome.

So I send, I send the email out
on a Sunday and share a little

bit about what the episode is on
.

And I think perhaps maybe part
of my own wintering was this

sort of soft, like a deep sort
of bed of snow, this soft

feeling of I don't know what to
speak about this week.

Ordinarily I'll have a fairly
clear plan.

I'll understand there's a theme
that's really rising up within

me and and this time that wasn't
there.

And and actually this time that
was okay.

And I actually just thought,
well, maybe there isn't a

podcast episode this weekend,
maybe maybe that's okay.

And again, if you've been part
of this journey, this uh, this

beautiful journey, for some time
, then you'll know that that is

a uh, softly one, uh frame of
mind for me.

You know I have a story about
the show must go on and and it

felt very releasing, very
comforting to trust that it was

okay if, if there's nothing to
say, there's nothing to say, we

don't have to make noise just
because we have some rule,

unwritten rule inside us that
says oh, now is the moment for

making noise, and yet here I am.

And yet here I am making some
noise of some kind.

But as I was sitting down in the
house earlier today and I just

really had this urge to come and
connect with you, to come and

speak with you, maybe not about
something specific, maybe simply

just a point of human contact,
a point of human connection, a

place to say it's okay if we
don't know what to say, um, and

and with that, as I was waiting
for my um, oh, slightly, uh,

slightly sleepy computer to to
wake up and, um, uh, open up all

the, the programs that are
needed in order for me to do

this recording and do the
editing and make it go live, I

idly pulled one of my journals
off the shelf that's next to me

I have them all gathered there
and flicked through some pages,

and there were a couple that I
thought, oh, maybe that would be

interesting to share, maybe
there's something there.

And then I came to a page which
seems to actually relate to this

concept of wintering, but not
in a seasonal sense, the concept

of wintering whatever the
weather is outside, and I think

I can remember writing this and
yet the words in it are feel

very new to me and it's I
realized as I was reading it

through that it is something I
wrote before we moved here,

before we moved here to to the
farm, and it's really a piece of

visioning about the space that
we held in our hearts, that we

knew it was in our gift to
create, about the solo retreats

that we offer here, this space
of deep rest, deep calm,

reflection, reconnection, um, in
our, our beautiful little um,

we call it the summer house now,
not because it's again nothing

to do with seasons, but because
it's light and is filled with

that warmth, of some of that
internal warmth that seems that

when people leave here, that's
the energy they carry with them.

And yet also there is something
of the sense of wintering when

someone comes here, because it
is a sense of folding in and

being still and being safe
within themselves, held in this

land and in our care.

Well, I'm looking forward to
listening back to that that.

I'm not really sure quite what
those words were, but hopefully

they made sense.

As I said them um, and and I
seem to recall there was um a

friend who who suggested that I
journal.

I think I was talking to him
about what it is that I had in

my heart, that um I really
wanted to move towards, and he

said he said, oh, it said that
sounds like something to journal

on, and and so I did, and I
remember sharing these words

with him afterwards and uh, and
it was a very moving, uh, very

moving, uh, experience of
sharing that with him, and I was

very grateful to him for
helping me see the way to

articulate how to write and, of
course, of course, the place to

turn to was my journal and, and
so I'd really love to to read

these to you, and so I'd really
love to read these to you.

I think you know, in one way,
maybe they help explain what it

is that we're doing here, what
it is that people who come here

for a solo retreat can
experience, can envision when

they come, envision when they
come, um, and and I'm reading it

because I also sense that this
is something that we all hold

within us and and our, our
challenge, our opportunity, is

to each find the pathway or the
support, the guides who can help

us find this place within us.

And, of course, if, if this
resonates with you and if, if

you feel that maybe, um, I am
sort of part of that for you, or

we here, anton and I, are part
of that for you, then please do

reach out and and I can share
more about what it is to come

here and to do this, this deep,
inner, reflective work.

I'll include a link in the show
notes for you as well.

If you would like to have an
understanding of how to come

here or what here even is, um,
then, yeah, then, uh, take a

moment to to explore that as
well.

And and if there is somewhere
else that you sense, oh, that

you know following the, the ways
of the, the trees and the

plants and the animals, and, and
you know, hunkering down and

you know losing some of that,
that outward display, the leaves

of our trees, that we are, um,
and and focusing on, you know,

the, the deep roots that we have
in the earth, and really

focusing on how we nourish
ourselves during this time of

wintering, whether that is, you
know, november, december,

january, february, you know,
during those months, or whether

that for you, is in the height
of the summer season If we feel

the need to retreat, and I say
that in the most glorious sense

of that word to turn inward,
then I think one of the most

beautiful things we can do is to
honor that.

So, so I'd like to to share
this, this journal entry, with

you and just let it wash over,
you see if it resonates.

And I send you so much, and for
whatever season you are

experiencing within you right
now spring, summer, autumn,

winter, whatever it is that you
are sensing, whether the energy

is rising or it is falling back.

Okay, my darlings, I'm going to
send you a hug and a wave so

that when I get to the end of
the reading, you'll know that

that is the close.

All right, my loves.

Oh, just before starting, I
also realized that I think at

some point I've really lost my
way with the numbering of my

days on my journal, because this
is day 457.

And I'm sure that in my most
last journal I've stopped

writing the number of the days
in my journaling now I don't

record anything like that
anymore, but I'm fairly sure I

was only up to day four, six,
eight, and I'm many, many books

further on.

So somewhere along the line my
numbering has got a little bit

distracted.

But I know that this was
written sometime in sort of

early 2021.

So maybe nearly kind of four
years ago.

So the reading, or the writing,
begins the heart space, our

place.

A place where people come to
feel their own inner healer.

A place where people come to
feel their own inner healer, a

place of love and compassion, a
place of nurturing and movement.

A place to shift stuck memories
, behaviours and beliefs.

A place to pay the most
delicate and attentive mind to

yourself.

A place to feel what it is to
be your own parent.

A place to turn toward what
matters, what hurts, what feels

uncomfortable, to turn toward
the things you have distracted

yourself from in the past.

A place to feel whole and
expansive.

A place to see those little
parts of you that are asking to

be loved.

A place to do nothing, a place
to be everything, a place for

silence, a place for laughter, a
place for tears, a place for

talk, a place for stillness, a
place to release energy, a place

that is all that you need it to
be.

A place to trust you will
receive whatever you most desire

in this moment, right now.

A place where, when you return,
the colours seem different, the

trees a fresh shade, the sounds
a little clearer, where you

sense your own need and trust
that it may have changed and

trust that it may have changed.

A place to feel welcomed, a
place to be alone, a place to be

guided, a place to work out
your own path, a place for all

and nothing at all.

A place, a simple, kind, clear
space, just for you, here and

now, as you are.

A place that holds you and
releases you entirely yours.

A place that expands the space
inside you to make room for all

that you are.

A place that you create.

A place not reliant on anyone
or anything to be entirely what

your heart most desires or
anything to be entirely what

your heart most desires.

A place of rest, a place of
peace, a place to feel restored,

a place to leave refreshed, a
place to remember with fondness,

a place to return to whenever
it is time, a place of love, a

place of knowledge, a place of
sharing.

This place we are creating,
this place is in my heart.

This is my heart's space.

I feel it through my whole body
.

The green expanse that
surrounds it, the light that

fills it, the earth that grounds
it, the love that surrounds it.

It, the love that surrounds it,
the sky that adorns it, the

peace that suffuses it, the
presence that abides with it.

Oh, I love this place and I
share it gladly with you.

This place is here, this place
is now, this place is within and

without.

This place is love.

Thank you, thank you.