5 Simple Ways to Create a Solstice Ritual

5 Simple Ways to Create a Solstice Ritual

A gentle guide to honoring the winter solstice with presence, symbolism & self-care

The winter solstice is one of the most meaningful seasonal transitions we experience—a turning point that invites us inward, grounds us in reflection, and reminds us that light always returns. Over the years, this season has become one of my personal favorites.

Winter has shifted the way I experience my life. I have more gratitude for the “summer seasons”—the bright, easy, expansive times—because I know they’re beautifully temporary. And I have more hope during the seasons of wintering—the quiet, heavy, introspective chapters—because I’ve learned those seasons are temporary too.

Honoring the solstice has taught me to create space for grief, endings, and big emotions. When we give those feelings a place to settle, we naturally create more room for joy, creativity, and energy when our next “summer” arrives. Just like the wheel of the seasons turns, so does the wheel of life: grief and joy, darkness and light, rest and renewal.

Rituals help us process these transitions in a tangible way. Humans are naturally ritualistic—and simple practices support nervous system regulation, deepen mindfulness, and bring intentional meaning to this powerful time of year.

If you're looking to create your own winter solstice ritual, here are five simple, accessible ways to bring more presence, warmth, and symbolism into your experience.

1. Welcome the Return of Light

Light is the heart of solstice rituals. Add a tea light, candle, or soft string lights around your home. Even watching a flame flicker can feel grounding and symbolic.

The winter solstice marks the return of the light after the longest night of the year.
Let the flame represent hope, clarity, inner guidance, or anything you want to nurture in the months ahead.

This small act creates a mindful, sacred atmosphere for the rest of your ritual.

2. Invite Warmth Into the Body

Warmth is deeply regulating for the nervous system and plays an important role in winter wellness.

Wrap up in your coziest blanket. Wear warm wool socks. Sip something soothing.
I love Golden Milk this time of year—grounding, supportive, and deeply nourishing.

You can also explore gentle movement or qigong, imagining warmth in the fingertips spreading through the hands and body. This simple visualization supports relaxation and helps your energy shift from the inside out.

3. Add a Natural Element for Symbolic Release

Using natural materials is a timeless solstice tradition. Choose something you can hold and eventually release:

  • A small yule log or piece of wood

  • Rosemary, sage, or cinnamon sticks

  • Flowers or rose petals

  • Evergreen branches

  • A handmade, decorated yule log (my personal favorite practice)

Decorating a yule log or arranging natural elements can become a ritual of its own—creative, intuitive, and deeply grounding.

Choose something you can gently deconstruct or symbolically release:
Burn it, crumble herbs in your hands, pull petals to create ice art, or simply return items to the earth.

Before releasing, exhale into your item or silently place your “letting go” intention inside it. Then, with love and honor, let it go.

This somatic practice supports emotional processing and is a beautiful symbolic release ritual.

4. Engage the Senses Through Scent

Scent is one of the most powerful tools for mindfulness and memory. It anchors you into the moment while creating new, positive associations with winter.

Try a simmer pot with oranges, clove, and rosemary, or diffuse grounding winter blends like:

  • Pine

  • Fir

  • Cedarwood

  • Orange

  • Cinnamon

These natural aromas create a sensory ritual that supports calm, presence, and emotional balance—key elements of wintertime self-care.

5. Sit in Intention & Presence

This is the heart of any winter solstice ritual.

Breathe with your items. Sit in stillness. Place your hands over your heart or on your warm mug. Let your body soften.

Reflect gently:

  • What is ready to be put to rest?

  • What am I grieving, honoring, or releasing?

  • Where is the light beginning to return within me?

  • What seeds am I planting for the next season of my life?

Then take a small symbolic action—burn, release, deconstruct, or bless your chosen item.
This closes the ritual with clarity and intention.

A Gentle Solstice Invitation

Your solstice ritual does not have to be perfect, complicated, or time-consuming. It simply needs to be intentional.

These practices are meant to help you slow down, reconnect with yourself, and honor the natural rhythms of your inner world. They are beautiful additions to your winter wellness routine and meaningful ways to support your nervous system through the darker months.

Try one or all five, and I’d love to hear what rituals you create, what you release, and what you are welcoming in as the light begins its slow return.

Wishing you a peaceful, hopeful, and heart-centered solstice,
Kinzie – Healing Routines

Kinzie Eckstein