Winter is a beautiful time of togetherness and tradition for some, and it can also be a time of difficulty and loneliness. The days are short, the weather is moody, and things are generally just a lot less bright than usual. This winter meditation script is all about finding peace in difficult or trying times.

The reality is that it is not just winter that brings difficulty or challenges into our lives. While you probably came across this winter meditation because of seasonal reasons, it is applicable year-round.

Life has storms. Lots of them. Sometimes we emerge grateful for the lessons we have learned, and sometimes we emerge scarred and a little more guarded than we were before. Sometimes they lead to a bit of both.

This winter meditation is meant to help you while you are in your storm, to recognize the good alongside the bad, and find your inner resilience. Viktor Frankl wrote in his quintessential book, Man’s Search for Meaning, “When we are no longer able to change a situation–just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer–we are challenged to change ourselves.”

We cannot change the fact that life has heartbreaking challenges any more than we can change that winter has storms. But we can still find peace in difficult times. This meditation is meant to help with that.

Winter Meditation

First, a quick word on meditation. If you are already an experienced meditator, feel free to skip on down to the next section. But if this is your first time meditating there are some helpful things to keep in mind.

Perhaps the most important thing to know is that it is common for people’s minds to wander while meditating. If you find yourself lost in thought that has nothing to do with storms, peace, or winter meditations, well, you are normal.

Meditation is a skill that takes practice, and most brains have years and years of practicing constantly leaping from one thought to the next, not staying in one thought and sitting with it for a while.

Or if they do, then it tends to be rumination about something that is going wrong or a mistake that you have made. Meditation is kind of like rumination in that you are dwelling on and exploring one thing or idea, but in a light and imaginative way rather than a heavy and exhausting kind of way.

So, if you find yourself thinking about life things instead of about winter meditation things, that is okay. When you notice yourself doing it, just acknowledge that your mind has wandered and bring your thoughts back to the meditation at hand.

Also, keep in mind that you do not have to follow this winter guided meditation script word for word. Once you have read it a time or two, feel free to use your imagination to picture it on your own. It is a great foundation for building something uniquely yours.

Prepare for Your Winter Meditation Script

In preparation for this winter snow meditation script, try to find a comfortable place where you can be for a bit without getting too hot or cold. It is helpful to limit distractions. Remember, it is natural for your mind to wander while meditating, and limiting distractions helps it to wander a little less.

Find a position that is comfortable, without crossing your legs or arms if possible so that you will not need to uncross them later. Once you have read through the script once or twice and are able to meditate without it if you want to, feel free to close your eyes to limit visual distractions as well.

Begin to settle your thoughts and emotions by focusing on your breathing. Breathe in and out, noticing the way your lungs swell and your abdomen rises and falls. Once you have found a comfortable rhythm with your breathing, feel free to begin your winter meditation.

Winter Meditation Script: Finding Peace in Storms

Begin

As you breathe, bring to mind the last time you were outside and felt a bit of chill in the air. Remember the way it felt, the way your skin prickled with the cold, and how you could taste the iciness of the atmosphere in the back of your throat.

Remember the soothing weight of your clothing, the texture of the fabric against your arms and neck, and the way it provided you with shelter from the cold. The warmth of summer has gone, taking the comfort of autumn with it, but the world has not relinquished all of its warm and comfortable things.

You can still experience the reassurance of fire as its logs crackle and pop, the beauty of snow sparkling in the sun, and the filling warmth of hot chocolate on cold nights. The world is cold, the winter is dark, but you are not without joy. You are not without peace.

Imagine for a moment, the hush of the world after a fresh snowfall. The way the snow blankets everything, muffling the loudness of all the life happening underneath it. Snow has the potential to freeze and to slick, but it also has the potential to soothe and inspire.

Imagine the snow, and accept it. Accepting snow does not mean loving snow, it just means acknowledging its presence in the world and allowing it to exist. Even, perhaps, finding some beauty in it every now and then.

Deepen

As you imagine the chill in the air and the beauty of snow, bring back to mind the coziness of sweaters. Perhaps your winter storm is mild, only requiring a light layer to stave off some of the day’s bitterness. Or, perhaps your storm is a blizzard and your sweater is one layer among the many required to keep you warm.

Imagine the kind of sweater you need right now, starting with how thick and solid a layer it is. As you build it in your mind, feel the weight of the fabric on your shoulders, the way it hangs off your frame or clings tightly to you.

Next, notice the way the fabric feels against your skin. Perhaps your sweater is thick wool, a little scratchy but infinitely warm. Or maybe it is cashmere, gentle and reassuring with its cloud-like softness.

You can make it any fabric you need, any texture that reassures you that there is still some calm, still some safety in the world. However your sweater fits and feels, it is more than a functional barrier against the cold. It is a reminder that you have access to good and soothing things even in the worst of crises and storms.

Internalize

As you imagine the way your sweater feels, bring to mind some other things that give you a sense of comfort. The laughter of a loved one, a beloved book or movie, the way you know exactly how to get to your favorite bakery or park.

Your life has brought you many lovely and good things. This does not change the storms that your life has also delivered, just like the storms do not change the good. Both have been present and will be again and, no matter the storm, peace is available to you.

As you bring these bright and soothing moments and memories to mind, imagine each one as a strand of yarn or thread in the sweater you are wearing. They come together to bring you warmth, to bring you safety, to bring you protection from the gusts and gales of the storm.

Soak in the peace of this moment, of knowing that no storm can rid you of the peace that exists inside you. Sometimes that peace will be stronger and more present, and other times it will be softer and more of a memory, but it will always be something you can summon like the feeling of warmth from a sweater.

Feel the sweater, feel its coziness and its protection from the cold, and know that you can always bring it back to mind when you need it. Remember the memories and feelings that you have woven into its fabric, knowing that they are also always available to you.

End

Eventually, as you are ready, begin to bring your awareness back to the world around you. Perhaps it is cold like the winter world you have brought to life with this winter meditation script, or perhaps it does not feel like winter at all. Let your senses ground you back in the present, in the way your surroundings feel, smell, and sound.

You might stretch, flutter your eyelashes, or shake your hands or feet to solidify your presence and ready yourself for returning back to the demands of the day. But before you go, finish this meditation as you started it, with your focus on your breath.

Feel again the way your lungs expand as you breathe, the way that a deep breath wakes your mind up a little and helps ease any tightness in your chest. You are breathing, you are alive, and you have and will continue to find moments of peace in your storms.

Thank you for making this meditation part of that experience.

Not ready for it to end? Check out more meditations below:

Autumn Meditation for Moving Forward & Letting Go

Spring Guided Imagery: Respite Between Extremes

Night Sky Meditation for Rest and Rejuvenation

Guided Meditation for Kindness: Widening Your Lens

Guided Meditation for Courage: You Are Capable