Make Winter Magical

In this episode, my guest Joann Yorkston and I talk about small actions that create magical winter days. From outdoor walks (even in the rain or snow!) to cozy scarves and daily rituals, we can choose to embrace the winter season, not just endure it.

Here are a few takeaways:

Intentionally seek joy in routines: Whether it’s wearing a favorite scarf, lighting a candle in the morning, or stacking your habits for an easier day, small choices can make winter (and life) feel special.

Nature heals, even on the bad weather days: Getting outside every day—even for 10 minutes—can be transformative. It’s not about perfect weather, but about noticing the beauty, breathing fresh air, and letting the outdoors reset your mindset.

You are worth the investment: Whether it’s buying outdoor gear you LOVE, carving out quiet moments for yourself, or building community through shared activities, remember: you’re worth the time, energy, and self-care that create a vibrant life in EVERY season

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Transcript

0:02

Welcome to the Live a Vibrant Life podcast. I hope our time today helps you live a brave, creative, purpose-filled life. My guest today is Joanne Yorkston. You said the most amazing sentence to me. You said winter could be magical. I've never heard that before, but I love it. So tell me a little bit about yourself. I currently live in Washington state and I grew up in Alaska. I've lived in Montana. I'm back in Washington I love it here. Mind you, it rains a lot during the winter. Is rain still magical? It's still magical. The rain is still magical. It's still, oh my gosh. It's how you start your day and what you look for in your day. I was doing it before, but not intentionally. I have really changed the way I've thought about my daily actions. I love that. I have not been to Alaska or Montana. My daughters have been to Montana. And describe the beauty. What's something about a Montana winter or an Alaska winter that you enjoyed? It's the outside. It's the winter. But it's also the people. I'm a really big people person. I work for an outdoor retailer and I talk to people all the time about outdoors. And that's kind of my biggest secret is just going outside. Whether you like it outside or not, it's just going outside. You either really dislike winter or you really love it. There's that hard middle ground, right? So the thing that I learned the most in Alaska and in Montana is that during the winter, it's dark. But when the sun starts coming up, when it's light, go outside, get out. Even if it's for 10 minutes, even if it's not where you want to be, put that scarf on. Put that fun hat on. Put that warm jacket on. Go outside. That is my biggest takeaway from all of that. Growing up we skied a lot, cross country skied not, not alpine, and I would get everything in my car and I would put all my stuff on and I'd go by myself. Montana has that too. Like, it's just, you be outside and you just, it's the quiet, it's the peacefulness. We have so much bombarding us during the day. Through our activities, through all the media that we have, the social media, everything around us is go, go, go, but outside makes us slow down. Yeah, that is beautiful. On my Facebook this week shared, we have some bobcats that live near us. They, the whole family came on Thanksgiving Day and we got to see like five of them. And then the other night they were out in my driveway and the camera caught them playing. You must have seen some pretty cool animals. I've seen moose and I've seen bears and I've seen, you know, even the occasional bobcat, not in, actually, I saw bobcats here in Washington, kind of dodging cars and, oh no, but just, but even like just deer and just being able to see wildlife out your, out of your window. Right. It's amazing. That can stop you in your tracks and just like, oh yeah. Yeah. Bring it in, right? Yep. No, we have deer that walk by and we've had a moose. Is there anything that you're like, when I put this on, it makes me a little bit happy? It could be a scarf, mittens, some kind of snow pants. No bad weather, just bad clothing. The good coats and the good boots and it's made winter much easier. I love that. Put on the fun scarf. Like anything that when you get ready to go outside and you do put these socks or whatever on it, it brings you that little bolt of joy. I have to say it's probably my scarf. It's that I'm going out. I think it's probably a couple things. I think it's that hat that I had knitted, which makes fun, right or just a hat that I have grabbed a scarf and my gloves, like the three most favorite pieces. Because I know I'm gonna be warm. Yeah. I know that not little pieces of me are gonna be cold. And that's kind of a big thing too. What I love is you just reminded us there is a way to buy a scarf that we enjoy putting on and maybe not keep the one that you don't like or get rid of the hat that when you put it on it's uncomfortable and find the one that you love. Don't keep it if you're, if you're scratchy, don't keep it. If it's not bringing you joy or you don't like the way it looks on, you, don't put it on. I only recently learned that. Now you think that would be so obvious, but I'm just saying it on the podcast because I didn't know that I happened to work for somebody as I'm growing my coaching company and she takes her pets out every day no matter what the weather is. And she said that like I just, I have the right clothes and watching you talk about the scarf you smiled as you said it. So that might be something to notice. If you don't like your outdoor clothing, maybe get some that you do like. Be warm. I think that's my biggest thing is just getting people out. I love that so much. Always. And part of why you want people to go out is you think winter can actually be magical. I don't think many people, except for the people who love the winter sports, and they're like, yay, the snow is right. Go skiing. But I would say there's a lot of people that maybe don't have that thought. You know what's interesting is I don't just have outdoor, um, rituals either. Like I have indoor rituals. Um, I have a lamp that I have that is a happy lamp, that, simulates the sun coming up, right? And so I sit down, I sit in front of that for like half an hour, 45 minutes every morning. That's really helped I also light a candle in the morning but I don't light that candle during the summer for some odd reason. Yeah. You know, I was thinking about that. I don't really do that, but during the winter, I light that candle and I sit and I, journal. And I do that stuff during the summer too. Right. But. I was just thinking as you were saying that what is I, what do I do in the winter? And yeah, that's one of the other pieces. I think a lot of us can recognize, okay, maybe during the Christmas season you make your life magical with the pretty Christmas lights and the less bright lights. Let's decide for the next few months this idea of Hygge. You can make winter magical so you can find a scarf that brings you great joy. Yeah. You can light a candle. Mm-hmm. Anything else come to mind about how we can make winter magical? I think just also. Planning what maybe the next season's gonna bring. Of course being present in the moment, like, we want to be present, right? But also thinking about, spring and planning your garden or like maybe thinking about that hike that you're gonna do. That's big for me as hiking is a huge part of who I am. Thinking about the hike that you're gonna do when the snow thaws. I think it's having something to look forward to. Because we know this dark is not gonna last. Right. And living in Alaska, one of our biggest traditions is the winter solstice. Okay. December 21st comes and we know that sun is coming back, and so we celebrate, the longest day because we know it's gonna get better. So every day. You see it, you can see it outside that the sun comes, even sooner. So that's something. Here are things that you can look forward to in January. Have a dinner party. Valentine's Day, make it special. Mm-hmm. We can decide today to make winter magical. Going outside and looking for animals. There's sitting with your journal and planning out your garden. Anything else that you think could make winter magical? My biggest thing is just getting out every single day I walk. Pretty much every day, and it's a mile. It could be 10 minutes, whatever. But I also find that once I get out there, I go further. I go longer when I'm out there, and it really is that mental stimulation of just breathing the outside. And some days it will be raining so hard that I'll come in and I'm just like, I bend over and the rain just falls outta me on my floor. Right. But then there's some mornings when it's not raining at all. Mm-hmm. And it's gorgeous and it's a sunny day. You have to dress for the weather of course. That's so beautiful. Making that intentional decision to get out every day. Having something intentional and grounding in the morning serves you. What are some of those tools you use in the morning? We have a journal. We have a journal prompt, and we have a meditation through Cathy that we do every morning, and that pops up quite early and so I'll do that probably before I get outta bed. But then sitting and really being quiet it's my form of meditation. It's just not racing. To open my phone every morning is a huge part that has helped me think about my day differently, but also getting up in the morning and, and actually believing truly believing that I'm gonna see the miracles of today. I love that. Yeah. And you know, it's not, I'm not, you know, trying to, you know, make it woo woo or anything, but truly there's so many miracles. I agree. We miss. And part of it is the intention of looking for them. Somebody else that I was speaking to said, you know, take the time to go back through your camera. I've seen people say, you know, every day, go back a year or two years and get rid of some of the extra pictures, but at the same time, notice what happened and you forgot. Life happens and you forget to look for that miracle. And life happens. And you know what's funny is I was even like, I walked. So many days in Montana, there was a lot of things that were going on on in my personal life, and I would walk every single day and I had someone pull over and check. I was walking one morning and she pulled over and she said, you know what? I've seen you walk in every single weather. Through the season this year. And I was like, what? People are watching me? I'm just this little old me. And she's like, you're so inspiring. You inspiring You inspired me to go walk. Mm-hmm. And I just about, I was like almost in tears. Yes. How do you want to feel today? How do you want to feel? Right? Yeah. And I ask myself that every day. And I learned that a few years ago. In 2020, I attended the Life Coach school and learned for the first time in my life that my thoughts were creating my feelings. I spent my whole life being in this codependent people pleaser energy. Yes. Thinking other people were creating my feelings. Yes. And so one of the suggestions was like, you know, you can put on your feelings, like you put on some clothing. Like today I want to feel committed. Today I want to feel energized. Yeah. Well, what do I want to think on purpose? Part of what creates the circumstance that allows you to think these thoughts is being in community with people like we are Absolutely. Is going for those daily walks. Absolutely. Is noticing. Wow. Winter is magical. So, yeah. So if somebody was gonna connect with you and wanted to learn more about walking and you know, all the different tools that you've been using. What would you say your rituals during the day look like that might inspire somebody else? Is it only in the morning? Is it pausing during the day? What are some of the things? I'll tell you one of mine while you're thinking. Yeah. I got sick at the beginning of January for two weeks, and at the beginning of it, even though I didn't test positive for COVID, I lost my smell. And I promised myself if my smell came back, I was gonna on purpose, smell things again. Mm-hmm. And so my very first orange that I could smell again was so powerful. And so every day now, I look like so silly probably, but I just sit there and I just smell my orange every single day. And I feel like it's becoming part of a ritual for me. What if some of the small practices you've brought into your life to keep this magical inspired energy? I think it's just a a few of the things that I have already touched base on, Getting up. Um, of course, before I get outta bed, I really, I think about, how do I want this day to look? The very first thing before I touch my phone, before I do anything, I wake up and, days are harder than others, is kind of thinking about where I want to be that day. And then putting my walking clothes on. Mm-hmm. In my bedroom. Yeah. Before I go into my living room. I love that. And then I don't have to go back to figure it out. Right, right. I had everything ready to go, but, and also having the things that I need for my morning practice in the same place. Mm. My candle is there. My journal is there. Everything is ready to go. When I sit down, I just have to sit down with my coffee, which I do every morning. I think it's we talk stacking habits kind of a thing, and that's really what it is. Then you're not kind, scattered. When you start your day. Well, I think a lot of us are more mentally depleted than we realize. So all of the decision fatigue you just took away, these are walking clothes. They live here. When my girls were little, they used to go to the same school and on Thursdays they had pe. And so everybody had to wear four pieces of PE clothes, short shirt, sweatshirt, sweat pants, and I learned to do. One load of laundry when they got home on PE day and put them in one place because it was so much decision fatigue to figure out where would everybody put everything much. So you're saying, Hey, if you want to walk every day, put everything together. Yeah. Make sure that that scarf is something you actually want to wear. If you want to have time in the morning that's special with a candle in a journal. Keep it together. Um, how about in the afternoon and the evening? Have you found any small practice steps that keep you aligned, or do you notice that's an area you want to put some more intention to? I, I need to put more intention in there. Me too. Mostly, mostly because I work retail and so my hours are not the same every single day. Yeah, they're not. So I need to have a little bit more of a wind down ritual. Sometimes I run home and I make dinner, or sometimes I'm past dinner, so my kids have already made their dinner. I have teenagers and so, you know. I think that's someplace that needs to be, you know, thought about intentionally. I'm glad that, and I love having podcasts where we both admit this because no one is up here saying, Hey, follow me. I love Cathy's intention, as always said. Just come with me. We're all on this path together. Yeah. Um, my daughters have given me a few things to make my evening routines a little more enjoyable, and that includes like, they send me really nice skincare. Oh, I love that. That I would never buy myself. And like, can you intentionally do that? And then I've created a really great evening practice for me, which is I do an Epsom salt bath almost every single night with battery operated candles, and I cannot recommend it anymore because if you buy them like at Kohl's or whatever these days, they come with a little on off switch, so you're not even like turning everything on. Mm-hmm. It makes me so happy to have that time of my day set apart for me. And I feel like it's just, it takes away a lot of the, like angst gives me time to think. Having morning rituals, afternoon rituals, evening rituals, noticing that, hey, you're worth taking these small moments that create what I call. Peaceful productivity. It's my goal as a coach to help people not live exhausted, overwhelmed, frustrated lives, which is what I lived for so long. Yeah. But to find a way to a vibrant life, which I think has the ups and the downs, but you add in these magical moments. So is there anything that you're intentionally doing right now that makes your life a little more peaceful in the productivity? I think taking intentional breaks is a huge thing and I learned that after, my divorce and I absolutely love to travel, like travel is like a soul thing for me. And, um, I don't get out. I don't. Get as much as I would like. And so I intentionally take breaks and I don't necessarily, take these long trips or anything. But I will go to my favorite coffee shop, go to my favorite bookstore. I go to my favorite place in a couple towns over that. I love to go to these soaking baths. Yeah. Um, and I intentionally do those. And I even have, you know, people ask me, have you done this lately? And I'm like, oh, no, I haven't. Especially my best friend. She's like, have you gone lately? I'm like, no. And she's like, you seem kind of antsy. Mm. So taking those intentional breaks, breaks, you know, and not having any one. Asking something of your time. I know that's really hard as a new mom, as a middle, you know, as a, as a tween mom, as a middle school mom. But I think those are things I did not do for myself. And I'm learning that now as a mom of. Young adults. I agree. And I learned this as my children were becoming young adults as well, and they actually got a much better mother because I was able to not be constantly overwhelmed and frustrated. Yes and yes. I love that they are able to then take these tools that we've learned and adapt and make them their own. So my girls travel a lot. One of them is in sales and travels a lot. They use the airport as one of those places of a break. Like you can have a nice coffee and sit near a window. Like you don't have to live in angsty energy, right? You can decide, and I think the Artist's way is one of the best books out there on how to do what you're calling these breaks an artist date. You're worth it. You don't have to wait for somebody else to take you out. Go find that coffee shop. Go find that town you want to go visit, go for that walk. But creating productivity from a place of peace is not just another, you know, self-development tool. It's actually the way for you and I to live the lives we live, where I would say more of my life has joy now. And in the past when I was constantly running, I was so resentful and I was always, always overwhelmed. Always, always. And I think the other thing is we lose our community sometimes when we get so busy. Yeah. And I have no, I have learned that, um. Especially women my age. So I'm, um, early fifties and so many women my age have, you know, their kids are gone or they're, you know what I mean? They're in this different, this different life now. And I find that I, I ask women all the time, my age, and I work at a place where I talk to them all the time. And, you know, I've met a couple of my closest friends, um, by doing this. And, you know, I even like. Asked my dental hygienist, Hey, do you want to go hiking? Yeah. She's like, uh, yeah. And so, there's a couple of us, we go hiking now and we go walking. It's really is just, um, finding community and you're being really intentional in creating community. So each of us has something. That other people are like, wow, that's great. Teach me. I'd love to learn more. Yeah. And I wanted to have this podcast for that reason, to bring voices on that I love having the conversation with, and maybe no one had met somebody like you before that said, Hey, you can decide to put on good clothes. You're worth the investment. You can decide to go out every day no matter what the weather is, because it's something that. You look back over the course of a year or two years, and you're so glad you did the rainy walks, you didn't give up on the rainy days. And so you have already chosen to take this life energy, these gifts that were given to you, and put them intentionally in a way that you can connect with people. Do things like go hiking. Is there a an Instagram page where people can follow and see what you're doing? Yeah. I do, um, TikTok. Isn't that funny? Nice. I didn't know that. Oh, you do have a TikTok. So my TikTok is called Thrive in Rome. Nice. And I do, I haven't been doing a whole lot lately. I've been a little bit busy because, Christmas is a really busy retail time. So I'm pretty busy there, but that's where I share a lot of my outdoor, this is the things I'm doing. I'm playing around with some things that I'd like to try next. Community to me, you know, we just need it as we get a little bit older. I agree. Need it. It was the heartbeat behind me creating this as well. It was, yes, being in my fifties, seeing people like me would put a lot of energy into their children, and I love that my children live far away, have these really wonderful lives, and they know that I'm okay. I'm not chasing after them. They're not worried that I'm bored. I'm like, I can't sleep some days. I'm so full of excitement about the things that are to come and they love that for me. Yeah. We want to be encouraging other women find whatever that is. And maybe one place where you have the time to think and to dream is by walking and going outside. Yeah. In the middle of winter because it can be magical. Any last thoughts before we end for today? I want women to know that they're worth it. Mm. They're worth those moments. Yeah. When I first started working out again I joined a gym called Nine Round. And after you did so many workouts, you got to write on one of the bricks in the building. That was what I wrote. My first workout there, I had this daughter and that and dinner and all that and I was so angsty. And she's like, you're worth 30 minutes. You are, and that sounds so simple, but it was profound and life changing for me. Yeah. So if someone's listening to us, they're gonna follow you in TikTok to remember they're worth it. Whatever it is that they want to do. Yeah, I hope that I get them out. I hope so too. I hope you're getting me out, so I'll send you a photo when I go out. But thank you so much for being here today. Thanks, Kelly. This has been the best.