5 Witchy Tips to Stay Well This Winter

Posted on January 5, 2024January 5, 2024 by Shanna S Mathews-Mendez

I’m sure you’ve seen a million articles and posts about how to stay well this winter, or how to recover from a winter illness. And those are all well and good, but do you have your witchy tips for staying well in hand? I bet you don’t. No, I’m not talking about running out for tinctures and oils, and I certainly am not advising blood sacrifices under the full moon (I’m not that kind of witch).

Instead, I’m offering advice our ancestors would have given you or simply would have modeled for the rest of the village. Witches have long been the women (and a few extremely wise men) who have lived intuitively. We live by the season, we pay attention to the critical rhythms of nature, and we work with the earth and the universe. Sadly, many in our modern communities have themselves convinced we can conquer nature, or at the very least beat her back.

We cannot.

Rather, we can adapt, shift, and move with the energies that created us, that co-create with us, and that make real magic. And this winter, as with all winters, some of the most important magic is staying well so we can fully enjoy this enchanted season.

1. Get Outside and Move

Of course, the first tip I’m going to give everyone no matter what is to get outside. Almost everything anyone is struggling with can be improved upon by getting outside. Countries in northwestern Europe put babies outside to nap in the snow. Spanish flu patients were rolled outside on their cots to get sunshine, and their conditions improved. You can find stories from around the world and throughout history that support spending more time outside all year round.

It is only in the United States in recent decades that the push to spend more time indoors has invaded our lives. Children in this country now spend less than 10 minutes a day playing outdoors. And adults likely spend even less than that getting fresh air. So, of course, we see depression and anxiety rates skyrocketing, obesity rates increasing, and chronic illnesses becoming the norm. There are other factors involved, of course, but I would argue that the lack of time outside in nature is a contributor — a large contributor.

So, if you’re hoping to stay well this winter, don’t just sit there, get outside! Take a walk around the block for starters. Go build a fire in your pit. Hike in nature. Or just bundle up and read a book with a hot cup of tea. The more time you spend outside, the better for your health — mental, physical, and spiritual. Take every opportunity you can to get more time in nature, no matter the weather. And by the time sunnier days arrive, you’ll be so resilient you won’t even recognize yourself!

2. Eat Nourishing Foods

You’ve likely heard all the jokes about packing on winter weight or eating the extra calories for winter. And while I’m not going to body shame anyone or argue for the benefits of disordered eating, I will say that the push to consume extra calories isn’t intended to get you scarfing down cakes and cookies all winter long. In fact, plenty of evidence shows that what we often think of as fall and winter illnesses are actually sugar epidemics.

Think about it, we start munching candy for Halloween, then we celebrate overeating to the point of busting our buttons for Thanksgiving, and the entire month of December is one whole baking fest. Sugar is a major contributor to inflammation, and, as you may or may not know, inflammation is the root of all illness. Again, I am not advocating deprivation. Instead, I am advising moderation, and that the foods you focus on be nourishing ones.

Soups, stews, sauces, and gravies are the name of the game this season. Use them as an opportunity to get critical macronutrients and micronutrients into your body to offset your holiday sugar fixes and keep you well. Garlic, onions, peppers, sweet potatoes, kale, carrots, rosemary, brussels sprouts, and other winter plants are great for hearty, meaty stews and soups and can be blended into gravies and sauces as well. For your sweet fix, enjoy winter fruits like persimmons, clementines, or apples that can satisfy your cravings and pump you full of vitamin C. It’s a win/win.

3. Drink All the Tea

If you’re not a tea lover, now is the time to explore the herbs from your local shop and become a tea witch. It was my first move into witchcraft after a long hiatus, and it became a game of sorts for me. As a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, I delighted in finding all my local herb shops to wander through, picking up crystal bracelets and incense sticks along the way.

All you really need to make tea is the ability to boil water and a strainer. I went a bit crazy and bought myself a special tea infuser kettle to place all my herbs into and started experimenting with various combinations. You can start simply with lavender and chamomile, two very mild and restful herbs, perfect for long winter sleep. Then build up from there. For energy, look to ginger and turmeric as bases and add on from there. The herbs you put in teas have powerful healing and wellness properties from cancer-fighting to immune boosting and everything in between.

I will advise you to start slowly if you don’t already work with herbs, and only integrate one herb at a time, in small doses, every few days. That way, if you have a reaction, you’ll be able to trace it back. Remember that the difference between medicine and poison is often in the dose. Belladonna is an amazing sedative and a deadly killer. I once took valerian tea and had intense, vivid, lucid dreams all night long. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

4. Sleep Deeply

Winter is an ideal time to catch up on sleep and start a new healing practice. One of the most powerful healers on earth is sleep. I only place it here, fourth on the list, because it can be challenging for man people to simply say, “I’ll sleep more.” Rather, getting outside and moving your body more, eating nourishing foods, and drinking calming teas may need to come first. Then, you will find your circadian rhythms resetting and your body more willing to sleep more and more deeply.

I have noticed that when I do get sick, it is often following a bout of lack of sleep, either because one of my kids has been sick and I have been up with her or because I have been burning the candle at both ends, up late writing and then up early with kids. Or a combination of all of the above. In contrast, my whole household can be sick, but if I’m getting all my sleep and meeting my own self-care needs, I can usually avoid it.

If you struggle to fall asleep, try turning off all devices two hours before bed, stop eating, and read yourself to sleep with a physical book and a low light. If you struggle to stay asleep, try getting up and outside with the early morning light. It helps set the expectation in your mind for deep sleep that evening. And when you do wake up in the middle of the night, don’t stress out about it. Don’t touch your phone. Turn on your book light and enjoy some light reading until you fall back asleep. Learning to sleep well is a long road for many, but you can get there.

5. Build Your Meditation Practice

Finally, a deep spiritual practice is essential to staying well and healing well if you do get sick. The benefits of meditation have been lauded across cultures and have been celebrated for millennia. Meditation helps clear your mind, relieve stress, and focus on what matters in life. And it doesn’t have to be a yearlong retreat in a cabin in the woods (my own personal goal) or even an hour a day.

Start by setting 5 minutes aside in the morning before you start your day. Do a bit of light yoga to wake up your body and mind, and then lay in corpse pose on your mat and clear your mind. You can build up to 10 minutes a day, and ultimately a good goal is to meditate for 20 minutes each day. But take your time getting there.

As a woman who loves to help guide other women back to themselves, I will encourage you to wake up 30 minutes before your kids wake up and get your meditation practice in. You will also likely find your overall stress levels reduced and guess what’s a big contributor to illness — stress!!! So do this for yourself, for your winter wellness, and for your long-term self-care journey. Meditate.

In the end, your wellness is always in your hands. I don’t say this to blame or shame anyone — no, I’m not saying your sickness is your fault. I am saying your sickness or wellness, your health, is your responsibility. Take these witchy tips for wellness and add them to your resolutions for a full year of total health, and by next winter, you’ll be teaching others to do the same.

And so it is and so it is and so it is.