Episode 8: The Power of Rest and Retreat with Katherine May
Dec 21, 2021
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On this episode, Katherine May discusses the power of rest and retreat during difficult times, embracing 'wintering' for personal growth. Topics include work addiction, illness, guilt, and transforming through hardships. She explores self-care, resilience, and embracing discomfort to build inner strength, along with reflections on past ambition and present realities. The importance of prioritizing rest, self-regulation, and finding fulfillment through stillness is also highlighted.
Embracing 'Wintering' periods allows transformation and unexpected life outcomes.
Balancing digital connectivity is crucial to avoid negative impacts on mental health and well-being.
Deep dives
Wintering: Finding Strength in Adversity
Wintering explores the concept of facing difficult times and finding strength in resilience. Catherine May, the author, delves into how life's unexpected challenges can lead us to moments of 'wintering,' a period where we transform and emerge differently. By sharing personal experiences and insights, May highlights the importance of self-reflection and growth during tough times.
Digital Age Challenges and Self-Regulation
May discusses the impact of the digital age on our lives, highlighting the challenges of constant connectivity and information overload. She emphasizes the need for self-regulation and finding a balance in navigating the digital world to avoid negative consequences like addiction, sleep disturbances, and social issues.
Importance of Slowing Down and Listening
The podcast conversation emphasizes the significance of slowing down, listening to our inner voice, and recognizing the value of rest and reflection. May shares how taking breaks and engaging in mindful practices like meditation can help individuals tap into their true needs and priorities, fostering a sense of calm and self-awareness.
Embracing Emotions and Resilience
May stresses the importance of acknowledging and embracing emotions, especially unhappiness, as signals that something may be wrong. She discusses the concept of building resilience through intentionally facing discomfort and challenges, highlighting that resilience can be nurtured through intentional practice and self-awareness.
Katherine May is a mother, nature lover, writing teacher, and a New York Times best selling author. She’s also been knocked down many times in her life and found a way forward by embracing the coldest passages of life.
Katherine’s personal struggle is the subject of her most recent book Wintering, which has influenced many with wisdom about the power of rest and retreat to help us through difficult times.
On this episode of Reconsidering, we talk with Katherine about work addiction, illness, guilt about not being productive, and how sometimes we have to accept a period of “wintering” to transform and come out the other side to a life you may not have anticipated.