A Season to Pause, Breathe, and Return to What Matters

A Holiday Reflection for Occupational Therapy Practitioners

The holiday season often arrives carrying a mix of beauty and weight. There is warmth, light, and togetherness but also full calendars, emotional complexity, and a pace that can pull us away from ourselves. For many occupational therapy practitioners, this time of year can feel especially layered as we continue to hold space for others while quietly navigating our own nervous systems.

Just recently, we passed the Winter Solstice. It is the longest night of the year and a powerful seasonal marker. While it may have already come and gone, its meaning lingers. The solstice reminds us that even in the deepest darkness, the light begins its return. Not all change is immediate or dramatic. Sometimes it is subtle, gradual, and almost imperceptible at first which is much like regulation, healing, and growth.

Poet Mary Oliver captured this gentle truth beautifully when she wrote:

“You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves…
You belong to the family of things.”

This season offers an invitation not to do more, but to return.
🌲 Return to breath.
🌲 Return to rhythm.
🌲 Return to the natural world that so effortlessly reminds us how to slow down.

Nature does not rush this time of year. Trees shed their leaves without apology. Animals conserve energy. The earth rests. There is deep wisdom here, especially for those of us in helping professions. As OTs, we know that regulation, participation, and connection do not emerge from pressure. They emerge from safety, presence, and attunement.

Hope in this season does not have to be loud. Sometimes hope looks like noticing the quiet strength of winter light, the crunch of frozen ground under your boots, or the simple act of stepping outside between sessions to take a few steady breaths. Love, too, does not require grand gestures. It can live in small, steady moments like warm hands around a mug, shared understanding with a colleague, or offering yourself the same compassion you give your clients every day.

The days ahead will slowly lengthen. The light will return in its own time. This is not a season of forcing growth, but of trusting what is quietly unfolding beneath the surface.

You might gently ask yourself:

• What rhythms support me right now?

• Where can I soften expectations for my own self and others?

• How might nature help me restore as I move into the new year?

Even brief moments outdoors like standing beneath bare branches, watching the sky shift colors, listening to wind or birds can support regulation and remind us that we are part of something steady and enduring. Nature asks nothing of us except to be present. And if you are a nature based practitioner, pause and enjoy the nature moments for yourself between clients or at the start or end of each day. Turn your face to the sun and inhale and exhale.

As occupational therapy practitioners, our work is deeply embodied and relational. We understand that healing does not come from pushing harder, but from creating conditions where growth can emerge. This season, may you offer those same conditions to yourself.

May you honor the quiet wisdom of winter.
May you trust the slow return of light.
May you remember that you belong ~ to nature, to others, and to yourself.

Wishing you a joy filled holiday season.

🌲 Lisa Haverly

Nature Superhero Network

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