1208: Winter As Medicine For Anxiety How Cold Snow And Slowing Down Support The Nervous System
The Anxiety Coaches Podcast
Gina Ryan
4.6 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 4 January 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In today's episode, Gina shares her thoughts and feelings about the cold winter snow, and how harmonizing with the seasons can help us support our nervous system health. The episode will help you turn into the wisdom of the earth, ground yourself in the present moment, and find more space to breathe. Listen in and turn the cold winter day into the perfect setting for rest, healing and reflection.
Please visit our Sponsor Page to find all the links and codes for our awesome sponsors!
https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.com/sponsors/
Thank you for supporting The Anxiety Coaches Podcast.
FREE MUST-HAVE RESOURCE FOR Calming Your Anxious Mind
10-Minute Body-Scan Meditation for Anxiety
Anxiety Coaches Podcast Group Coaching link
To learn more, go to:
Website https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.com
Join our Group Coaching Full or Mini Membership Program
Learn more about our One-on-One Coaching
Find even more peace and calm with our Supercast premium access membership:
For $5 a month, all episodes are ad-free! https://anxietycoaches.supercast.com/
Here's what's included for $5/month:
❤ New Ad-Free episodes every Sunday and Wednesday
❤ Access to the entire Ad-free back-catalog with over 600 episodes
❤ Premium meditations recorded with you in mind
❤ And more fun surprises along the way!
All this in your favorite podcast app!
Chapters
0:26 Embracing Winter's Lessons
2:23 Winter's Impact on the Nervous System
5:29 The Gift of Patience
6:49 Rest as Restoration
7:44 Physical Benefits of Cold
9:45 The Calming Power of Snow
10:59 Community in the Cold
12:01 Self-Trust and Wisdom
13:19 Winter as a Teacher
15:14 Reflecting on Winter's Gifts
Summary
In this episode of the Anxiety Coaches Podcast, we delve into an unexpected topic: how winter can serve as a powerful ally in managing anxiety. I'm Gina Ryan, and I reflect on my personal journey as I navigate my first winter in Central New York after spending over two decades in the perpetual warmth of Hawaii. Moving from the lush, vibrant landscapes of Hawaii to the cold and snowy winters of New York has been a challenging yet transformative experience for me, sparking insights on the health benefits that winter can offer our nervous systems and mental health.
I begin by discussing how the cold weather presents a mild, steady stressor that can unintentionally bolster our nervous systems. Each encounter with the cold, from the first sharp breath of freezing air to the challenges of navigating snow-covered pathways, acts as a form of natural exposure therapy. Instead of succumbing to panic, we are encouraged to build resilience and presence, fostering a sense of calm amid discomfort. This winter, rather than viewing the season as something to endure, I invite listeners to consider how it can teach us tolerance and mental strength, emphasizing compassion for ourselves as we adapt to environmental challenges.
Moreover, winter grants us permission to embrace rest and reflection. I observe how nature instinctively slows down during this season, from the hibernation of wildlife to the way the trees withdraw. This natural pause offers us the rare opportunity to step back from our relentless productivity and find restoration in stillness. I share my own experience of improved sleep rhythms and a deeper emotional processing that arises when life becomes less hectic. In a world that often glorifies busyness, winter stands as a testament to the power of slowness and presence.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the anxiety coaches podcast, a relaxing and informative show where we explore anxiety, panic, and PTSD, sharing how you can overcome them for life. |
| 0:23.1 | Aloha. |
| 0:24.2 | Welcome back to the Anxiety Coaches podcast. |
| 0:27.6 | I'm your host and coach, Gina Ryan, and I am so happy to be with you again today |
| 0:34.1 | as together we can consider the many ways to bring your mind and body back to its |
| 0:40.5 | natural peace and calm. In today's episode, I want to talk about something a little unexpected, |
| 0:48.0 | what winter can actually do for us. I'm talking about winter as medicine for anxiety, how the cold, the snow, and slowing down |
| 0:59.1 | can actually be supporting our nervous system. I'm recording this from the snow belt of |
| 1:05.8 | central New York. There's ice and snow, cold, freezing rain, more snow, short days, long dark nights, |
| 1:16.0 | and that's different for me. |
| 1:18.3 | That's a big change because I spent the last 21 years of winters in Hawaii, the last 21 years |
| 1:26.6 | altogether in Hawaii with the warmth, the ocean breezes, |
| 1:31.4 | flowers and green everywhere, even in December, January, and so on. Now, here I am this winter, |
| 1:40.5 | back where I grew up, but this time I'm a little bit older than the last time that I had a |
| 1:47.1 | central New York winter, and I won't sugarcoat it. Winter is harder now. My body notices |
| 1:53.7 | things that it didn't before. But something else is happening too. I can feel myself growing, healing, and expanding in ways that I |
| 2:05.1 | didn't expect. So instead of another conversation about how winter is something to survive, |
| 2:11.6 | I want to explore what winter might actually be offering us. Because so many people live in cold climates and have |
| 2:21.2 | for thousands of years. We evolved to be able to handle the cold and the dark. So I want to let you know |
| 2:30.4 | that I went looking for the potential benefits besides what I was already feeling and |
| 2:36.3 | intuiting. And it turns out I was right on with what I was feeling because there are real |
| 2:42.9 | health benefits to this season, especially for our nervous systems, our mental health, and our sense of inner strength. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Gina Ryan, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Gina Ryan and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.