Why Inner Winter? Why did I create this community?

I came across this concept of inner winter recently, and it couldn't be more true in describing what I've experienced in the past couple of years.

I definitely feel like I've been in the phase of like 'winter' for the past couple of years.

It's a word that just popped up to me recently, as I've found myself drawn to Scandinavian songs, artists, and traditional music all of a sudden. (esp. This song called Dvaledraumar from Wardruna and Jonna Jinton https://open.spotify.com/track/1Bjizii6p7DwtZo8U9pz2l?si=19d5234588d844a8 activated my inner winter so much, I literally cried when hearing Jonna's Kulning at the end as my soul is screaming, "I'm so ready for the Spring!") The place where words 'cold and winter' couldn't be more accurate to describe the Nordic landscape.

So, I was wondering, "What is this attraction trying to tell me or communicate to me?" and then this 'Inner Winter' word just popped up in my head.

I researched the definition, and I found the meaning written by Rebecca Campbell. My favourite mystic!

These are some sentences I pasted from her website so you could see what inner winter means.

"Winter is the phase of initiation, renewal and rebirth."

"This could be a phase of deep healing or personal growth. You might feel like you are diving deep into your psyche and discovering many more layers within yourself, healing from past experiences or crossing a threshold into a new phase of your life."

"When we are experiencing an Inner Winter, we can feel a bit lost at sea. Half one thing and half another."

"The Inner Winter is a time for listening. Make sure you allow yourself to listen to the whispers of your soul and don’t judge what comes through. It may not feel like it makes sense at first, but if you rush the process and try to force it to make sense, or try to grasp hold of it too quickly, you may lose the connection with yourself and the wisdom that is trying to speak to you."

I suggest you read the full version here at Rebecca Campbell.me :

This is why I feel like the word "inner winter" is exactly the word to describe this community.

Originally from Thailand, I have very little idea about how winter can hold me where everything seems like dying or retreating into the caves - the plants, the trees, animals hibernating. When I came here to the other side of the world to the UK, I absolutely frightened by the extreme cold of winter at first (you know I'm from Thailand so I am always cold). However, over time, I began to see the magic, beauty of winter. Especially during my first Scottish Highland trip in February 2024. I was stunned by the beauty of the dark mountains, the crisp, cold air, and the stream flowing from the top of the mountains endlessly and abundantly. It was a scene that I did not expect to find in the winter season. I did not expect to find this absolutely beautiful sight in winter.

And then I began to open my heart to feel the energy of winter more and more. And I've found that it's very beautiful how she can hold me during this transformative, isolated, going deep within time of my life. Coming from the sunny places and everything is vibrant people going out, to always do something, to savour the sweetness of life to the fullest, to always be more and do more, (over)consuming all good stuffs, bloom quickly and as much as possible all the time, I sometimes feel pressured and overwhelmed from those things especially when it's this season of my life where it's all about shedding, releasing, tune in to your heart portal in this stillness, less movement era. Winter doesn't pressure me to be anything or feel obliged to move around and enjoy life as much as possible. She holds a space for me during this transformative time for her wise wisdom to flow through. Even though it feels a little bit longer than what I initially expected (it turned out to be 1.5 years), it was exactly what my body and my soul needed. I enjoyed my a little bit long winter season of my life, this darkest nights of my soul without feeling pressured to constantly bloom or bloom quickly like I used to feel before when I didn't tune in with This Winter Goddess Energy.

I believe many of us are going through this inner winter season of our lives. But sometimes, we don't know how to express this to people around us or to the world because it seems like many of us in our society seem to be blooming all the time. It seems like the ones who are able to show how they bloom beautifully all the time are constantly rewarded by our society or social media. And we feel like there is not much space for winter to be, for her wisdom to really flow through us. Each seasons have her own pearls of wisdom if we really allow her to be there for us when it's time.

This is why I created this community. This community where people who go through this unexplainable, non-linear, retreated-within, transformative time of their lives and can feel more held and acknowledged. To know that they are not alone in this. And going through the inner winter season wasn't something strange at all; instead, it just means we surrender to our cyclical being of nature, the cycle of Mother Nature, the cycle of our lives, and we're not resisting, controlling, or manipulating our true nature.

I hope that this community will be a safe space supportive space where everyone is just like friends sitting side by side, no need to say anything much, just be there giving loving and supporting energy to each other. You can simply be. No need to feel pressured in contributing or interacting (but if you wish, you're welcome:)) as You Are in your Inner Winter Season. It's more about stillness, tuning in, going deep.

Why does it have to be in this format? Why not publish all of my content on mainstream social media platforms like Instagram, Youtube, etc?

I explained that in this video.

What I plan to do.

I plan to do it as small clip videos, sharing like snippets, similar to when you're watching Reels. It will be in-the-moment in my daily life, spontaneous, and casual styles since I've found that I could share more authentically rather than trying to perfect it in the most well-crafted video. And I'll upload maybe 1-3 times/fortnight. I'll figure out the pace that feels sustainable to me to share, sharing from the heart rather than being a producing content machine.
At this point, the majority of content is in English, some in Thai คอนเท้นต์โดยส่วนใหญ่เป็นภาษาอังกฤษ และมีภาษาไทยบางส่วน

**I knew that Inner Winter could refer to the time of menstruation, but I feel that this word still encapsulates the experience I encountered very well, so I chose this word. It's winter, but winter IN my heart, mind, soul, and body. It's inside me. It's the cycle of my life that sometimes doesn't match with the actual current season on earth. However, Mother Earth's seasons teaches us/become a role model to us how we can surrender to our inner seasons. The outer seasons can also help usher us into the phase of our inner seasons as well. You can choose your own words to describe this experience as well or call Inner Winter any other name that feels right to you.

If this feels right in your heart and soul,

Join the Inner Winter Tribe here