Winter can be a dark, gray and cold season folks may dread. This book shares practical tips readers can use to prepare for the season and enjoy every moment of it.
I like the author's insights into life above the Arctic Circle. And she travels around the world to study wintertime activities and mindsets. Through her research, she shares tips that can help anyone who faces a “wintertime mindset” thrive.
Some of my favorite tips:
Prepare a nest that supports indoor winter relaxation, renewal and rest.
Embrace a positive mindset that notices and reframes negativity.
Spend at least 15 minutes outdoors every day.
Take an awe walk and wonder at the beauty of winter.
Engage in low-arousal positive activities like puzzles, reading or crafts.
Take a family nap or try to stay horizontal as long as possible at least one day a week.

his was a fascinating read. I’m a little bit worried that this book won’t get the exposure it should get, because the people who need to read it might not. After all, people who hate winter might not understand that there’s an alternative. And they also might not understand that learning to love winter can help them with their mindset in so many other ways.

The author of this book teaches a class at Stanford called mindset matters, and she did a lot of the research for this book in Tromso, Norway. I picked it up when I was offered a free copy because I’ve recently planned a winter trip to Tromso and it peaked my interest. I was hoping that the book would address both attitudes toward winter and also attitudes toward dark times in ones life, and it doesn’t do that directly, but it’s there if you search the nuggets of wisdom.

Changing my attitude towards winter is not some thing I’ve really ever thought about, but now it’s fascinating to me. Even living in California, I feel like this book will help me so much when daylight savings hits. The exercises and suggestions at the end of each chapter are really great. And as a therapist, this book would be really fascinating for someone who legitimately suffers from seasonal effective disorder. This book is just very enjoyable to read.

Winter both captivates and confounds me.

In some ways, I love winter. I love the intimacy of it. I love the mystery. I love the chill and the wonder and the darkness.

But yeah, there are practical matters to consider. I'm a wheelchair user living in a Midwestern city that most definitely experiences all four seasons. Indianapolis is sort of in-between those cities that experience really intense winter seasons and those cities that barely experience a snowflake.

In some ways, it's the most challenging way to experience winter because my city is good but far from great at facilitating winter, an issue that Dr. Kari Leibowitz talks about in her book "How to Winter: Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark, or Difficult Days." She addresses the fact that part of what helps us switch into a wintertime mindset is when our environment facilitates peace within those winter blues. It's a lot easier, and as a wheelchair user I feel this, to embrace winter when the roads are paved, the sidewalks are cleared, and I don't have to worry about getting stuck in my wheelchair simply going to work.

There's much to appreciate about "How to Winter," a weaving together of mindset science, original research, and cultural insights. I was most enchanted by "How to Winter" when Leibowitz was immersing us in the cultural insights and experiences she's had along the way of her unique and extensive research.

Because I live in a city that is on the border of winter wonder, the dread of the end of Daylight Saving Time is strong. Heck, even mentioning Daylight Saving Time seems to put my fellow Hoosiers into a grump. We mostly make it through the magic of the holiday, however, by the time January rolls around melancholy seems to set in and hang around until the first signs of spring.

Leibowitz gently nudges us toward an enjoyment of winter - not just tolerating it or enduring it.

"How to Winter" plants us within Leibowitz's initial move to the Arctic Circle, a place where the sun doesn't rise for two months each year, as she begins with a plan to research the season's negative effects on mental health. Instead, however, she encounters a surprise - those around her actually look forward to this with equal parts delight and enthusiasm.

There's nary a fear to be found.

As her own perspectives shifted, Leibowitz reshaped her research and began years of traveling to some of the coldest, darkest, longest, and most intense winters.

She discovered the power of "wintertime mindset." "How to Winter" serves up research, culturla immersion, and very practical strategies for developing a "wintertime mindset."

"How to Winter" is a comprehensively researched yet accessible exploration of how we can truly harness our mindset so that we don't just survive but actually thrive on cold, dark, and difficult days.

I live in New England and went to college in Syracuse. I'm used to brutal winters. I had not heard about Leibowitz's Wintering and was extremely interested in this topic. I found it fascinating and full of practical information for changing one's mindset regarding the season of winter. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.