December Newsletter – Returning to the Light 🌕

A Therapist’s Note: Renewal in the Darkest Days

As December unfolds and the days grow short, we approach the turning point of the year — the Winter Solstice. This is the time when darkness reaches its deepest stillness, and light slowly begins to return. In my own life, through times of loss and deep transformation, I’ve learned that these cycles are not just seasonal, they live in us. There are times when life feels like endless night, and yet the light always finds its way back. These final weeks of the year are not only for endings but for gentle beginnings. They remind us that our inner light is never extinguished. It only rests, waiting to be rekindled. With compassion and hope,

Amanda Sanford | Therapist | Creative Facilitator | Nature & Soul

Honouring the Turning of the Year

The Winter Solstice happens around the 20th or 21st of December and marks the longest night and the shortest day. From this point forward, the days slowly grow lighter. This turning reminds us that rest and renewal are partners, not opposites.

A Simple Solstice Reflection

Light a candle on the evening of the solstice. Take a few slow breaths and whisper a quiet thank-you to yourself, to this year, to the lessons and the love that carried you through. Notice how even one small flame can fill the darkness.

Nature & Creative Connection: Release and Renewal

In her work on the Creative Connection, Natalie Rogers emphasises that the creative process helps us move toward self-understanding, emotional freedom, and a deeper sense of inner connection, allowing us to access, express, and transform what lives within us.

At the Solstice, when a small flame pushes back a long night, we are reminded that creativity works in the same way: a gentle act of expression can shift how we sit with ourselves. In welcoming the returning light, we also welcome what is ready to emerge in us is softer, clearer and more free.

May your creative reflections honour both your courage and your tenderness. The light returns slowly, not all at once. So can we. One small, intentional act at a time.

Step 3 – Reflect and Choose Your Path

Revisit your November nature altar or eco art. Look at the wishes and dreams you placed there weeks ago. With compassion, reflect on each one:

• Which feel ready for release and to let go of?

• Which need repair and gentle tending or understanding?

• Which are ready to rise and to move forward with energy and action?

Step 4 – A Solstice Ritual of Renewal

Take your artwork or parts of it into nature. To a woodland, garden, park, or even a pot of soil. Gently return the natural materials to the earth. As you do, offer gratitude for what the year has taught you and trust that everything released becomes nourishment for what’s next.

You may wish to light a candle and say:

“I welcome the returning light. May it bring renewal, healing, and gentle growth.”

Creative Reflection for December

Create a piece of art, poem, or collage that captures your experience of light returning after darkness.
Ask yourself:

• What new clarity is emerging?

• What truth am I ready to live by?

• How do I wish to grow in the year ahead?

Closing Reflection

“When we honour the stillness, we make space for light to return within us and around us.”

May your solstice be gentle, your rest deep, and your heart ready for the quiet joy of returning light.

Resources for You

• Meditation: “Metta for Renewal” a guided loving-kindness practice

• Creative Prompt: Create a collage or mandala inspired by the returning light

Work with Me

If this season is awakening something you’d like to explore with support, for grief, renewal, inner peace, or the courage to bloom at your own pace, I offer free introductory consultations. You don’t need to walk the year’s final stretch alone.

To connect, simply reply to this email or reach out through my website. Holding space for your story is where the work begins.

If this season is calling you to reconnect, heal, or reimagine the year ahead, I invite you to join one of my upcoming online Creative Sanctuary groups
Visit https://www.natureandsoul.co.uk/online-creative-therapeutic-groups-uk or contact me directly for a free consultation to explore what support might best serve you.

Further reading for this theme:

• The Creative Connection: Expressive Arts as Healing – Natalie Rogers

• Wintering – Katherine May (for understanding the emotional wisdom of dark seasons)

• The Wild Edge of Sorrow – Francis Weller (for grief, ritual, and belonging)

Gentle beginner practices:

• Try 2 minutes of journal writing instead of a full entry by starting with: “Right now, I feel…”

• Don’t aim for perfect art, simply place one mark, one word, or one circle on a page and begin there.

• Remember: reflection is healing even when unfinished.

Journaling - if you have yet to begin:
If the thought of journalling has felt overwhelming, you are not alone. Many of us long to write but don’t know where to begin, or fear we’ve “left it too late.” You haven't.

A journal does not need structure, neat handwriting, or emotionally polished sentences. It only needs a starting point. Even one of the following counts as beginning:

• A single word written on a page

• A scribble, symbol, or date

• A sentence fragment

• A letter you never send

• A list of things your body is tired of carrying

If you choose nothing else, begin here, today:

“I’m starting in the middle, because the beginning felt impossible.”

That, too, is a truth worth holding.

Warmly wishing you a peaceful new beginning,

Amanda

Never miss a reflection

Feel free to share this link with anyone who might need gentle support as we move through the year’s darker, renewing season and into 2026

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