Winter Solstice, Old and New

Posted by Feride on Sunday, 21 December 2025

3 min read

21st December marks the Winter Solstice for 2025 in the Northern Hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year and, (astronomically). the start of my favourite season, Winter. The Winter Solstice actually occurs at a specific time when the Northern Hemisphere is at its furthest point away from the Sun. For 2025, this is at 15.03 today. From then onwards, there will be more daylight each day. Personally, I love the dark mornings and evenings, whilst many are excited for the forthcoming longer days. Either way, it gives us all a change to reflect on the past year.

Bringing much history and tradition, the Winter Solstice is often celebrated by many cultures around the world, with ancient stories of the victory of light over dark, celebrations marking the rebirth of the sun with candles and fires, evergreens, holly and ivy decorations and feasting and exchanging presents. People gathered (and still do) at Stonehenge to connect with nature and watch the sunrise.

In Nordic history, the tradition of Yule signifies a time of change from one year to the next. People celebrated with the lighting of the Yule Log symbolizing warmth and the return of the sun and longer days ahead, decorating homes with holly, ivy, and mistletoe to represent life enduring through winter, and feasting with family and community.

For a modern-day twist to the celebrations how about blending old and new:

A walk in nature: taking a long winter walk, enjoying the change of season, seeing the abundance of evergreens, holly, ivy and mistletoe around us. Maybe aligning with tradition by decorating our homes with these plants from our own gardens or making a centrepiece for our table.

‘Tis the season to be jolly…’ yes, it is, but it’s also a season of change as the dark turns to light, a time to reflect on the year that has almost past and the year that is to come. Sensing the changing of the energies in the season. Cultivating gratitude for the abundance that we have been blessed with.

Taking a quiet moment with a nice cup of tea, hot chocolate or some mulled wine, watching the sunset and sunrise from home, and just letting our subtle energies settle into calmness, bringing inner strength to carry us through the forthcoming busy Christmas season.

If you are doing yoga, maybe start with a slow Sun Salutation, energising the body and creating that inner fire energy whilst connecting to your breath to movement, exhaling to release those emotions that you no longer need and inhaling to draw in new positive energies. Following with some standing, grounding and strengthening poses such as Tadasana (Mountain Pose). Virabhadrasana I, II and III (Warrior Poses) and Vrksasana (Tree Pose) drawing upon our inner strength to carry us forward into the next season with renewed energy. And then finishing with some nice restorative poses such as Supta Baddha Konasana (Supine Bound Angle Pose), Balasana (Child Pose), Supta Matsyendrasana (Supported Supine Twist) and Savasana (Corpse Pose), allowing our body to release any tension that we are still holding on to, visualising any worries drifting away with the season so that our mind is refreshed and we feel renewed.

May your hearts be filled with the blessings of the Season.