0:02 The winter [music] solstice is trying to
0:04 tell you something and you're probably
0:05 ignoring it without even [music]
0:07 realizing it. If you're like most
0:10 people, you're feeling more exhausted,
0:13 maybe a little on edge, more emotional
0:16 honesty [music] this time of year, and
0:19 maybe feeling the grind of the holiday
0:20 stress. These [music] things are
0:24 especially true for sensitive bodies,
0:28 and intuition is [music] much higher
0:31 this time of year. For years, I've been
0:32 studying what happens to sensitive
0:35 systems during seasonal [music] and
0:39 cosmic shifts across history, sematics,
0:41 the limits of [music] science, and the
0:43 patterns are undeniable. You're feeling
0:47 what your body is designed to notice. In
0:50 this episode, I'm going to show you why
0:52 the solstice lands so much harder in
0:53 sensitive bodies [music]
0:55 and how to work with it instead of push
0:58 through it. You'll discover ancient cultures,
1:00 cultures,
1:03 what they understood and what we forgot,
1:04 what science measures and what it
1:08 doesn't, and the four psychological
1:10 shifts in your [music] sensitive body
1:13 that happen this time of year. And I'm
1:14 going to end [clears throat]
1:16 with a simple [music] sematic ritual
1:19 that you can use to reset your system
1:22 for the return of light. Before we get
1:23 begin, let me introduce [music] myself.
1:25 I'm Amanda.
1:27 For most of my life, I've been studying
1:28 what happens [music] in the places where
1:31 science gets quiet.
1:33 I work with sensitive, high-erforming,
1:35 deeply intuitive, but maybe not
1:37 understanding that they're deeply
1:40 intuitive people. The ones who feel
1:42 seasonal shifts in their body. They
1:44 notice emotional undercurrents before
1:47 there's language for it. And they have
1:49 often been told they're too much or too
1:53 sensitive for the world that we live in.
1:55 My background bridges structured systems
1:58 and subtle ones, science, sematics,
2:00 nervous system work, and the ancient
2:02 wisdom traditions that paid attention to
2:05 the body long before we had instruments
2:07 to measure it. Over the years, I've
2:09 noticed something very consistent.
2:11 Sensitive bodies don't break during
2:13 darkness. They respond. And yet, modern
2:16 culture teaches us to override the very
2:19 signals that were meant to guide us,
2:21 especially during moments like the
2:22 winter solstice.
2:26 This episode exists because too many
2:29 sensitive souls are pushing through what
2:31 their bodies ask them to honor. So if
2:33 you've ever felt exhausted,
2:36 introspective, emotionally honest to a
2:39 fault or unusually intuitive this time
2:40 of year, you're exactly where you're
2:43 supposed to be. Let's talk about why.
2:47 Winter solstice is the oldest and most
2:50 globally celebrated holy day in human
2:53 history. Let me say that again. Winter
2:57 solstice is the oldest and most globally
3:01 celebrated holy day in human history.
3:04 Long before Christmas, before Hanukkah,
3:07 before Satinelia, before Ule or Dongshi,
3:11 before astronomy became mathematics, and
3:13 before science tried to explain away the sacred.
3:14 sacred.
3:17 Why? Because every living thing,
3:20 animals, trees, humans are regulated by
3:23 light. And the solstice marks the exact
3:26 moment when darkness reaches its peak,
3:30 the sun pauses in its path, and the
3:33 light begins to return. Our days get
3:35 longer. Even cultures that never
3:38 interacted came to the same conclusion.
3:40 This night matters. Ancient global
3:44 solstice celebrations included,
3:47 let's see, Egypt with the rebirth of
3:51 Horus, Rome with Saturnalia,
3:54 Norse lands with Ule, Persia had Yalda
3:59 night, China had the Dongshi festival,
4:02 the Americas had the Mayan ceremonial
4:04 time, and what I'm learning from my
4:07 indigenous sheima Maria,
4:10 the long night ceremonies.
4:15 She just recently sent out a notice of
4:17 what she does during this time and it
4:20 completely tracks with what I'm sharing
4:22 in this episode.
4:24 This is as close as humanity gets to a
4:27 shared holiday. Why? Because no matter
4:30 where you live, the sky told you this
4:33 night was different. So did your body.
4:35 Here's the astrophysical part. The
4:37 solstice is the moment when Earth tilts
4:40 farthest from the sun in the northern
4:42 hemisphere, giving you the longest
4:43 stretch of darkness. In the southern
4:46 hemisphere, they're in spring or excuse
4:49 me, summer solstice. So, they're
4:50 experiencing the longest day of the
4:53 year. We've measured the angle. We know
4:57 the time. We have the math. But science
5:00 stops short. Science measures light. It
5:04 measures our body and it measures our
5:07 mind. But does it measure them together?
5:11 It doesn't measure how this particular
5:15 holiday, holy day, winter solstice,
5:18 affects the body, affects the psyche.
5:21 And they especially don't measure how it
5:24 affects the soul. Your sarcadian rhythms
5:27 shift. Science. Your hormones shift.
5:30 More science. Your emotional processing
5:33 shifts. Science. Your energetic
5:37 boundaries shift. Jod dispens.
5:40 All of this is especially true if you're
5:43 a cosmic sensitive. Sensitive bodies run
5:45 on lower thresholds. They notice things
5:47 others miss. They feel solar changes in
5:51 their fascia, in their nervous system,
5:54 and in their mood before their brain has
5:57 words for it. Your body doesn't lie. It
5:59 tracks light. even if you're not
6:01 consciously aware. Here's what happens
6:03 in a sensitive body between December
6:07 19th and the 22nd, which is coming up.
6:09 Our melatonin spikes. Your body your
6:12 body is literally inviting you to rest
6:16 more. Your cortisol dips. Melatonin and
6:18 cortisol work in opposites. This is the
6:21 natural exhale of the year. Unless, of
6:23 course, you're overriding it with
6:25 caffeine, hustle, and holiday stress.
6:28 Our intuition heightens. Your lyic
6:30 system becomes more active in the
6:31 darkness, meaning you have deeper
6:34 reflection. You become more creative.
6:36 Your intuition gets heightened and
6:40 dreams get more intense. Or for those of
6:42 you who don't even dream, maybe you're
6:44 having dreams this time of year. And
6:47 then last, your nervous system becomes
6:51 honest. Anything you've been suppressing
6:54 will rise to the surface, not to punish
6:57 you, but to complete a cycle. Sensitive
7:00 bodies feel these shifts amplified.
7:03 That's not weakness. That's attunement.
7:05 You were built to notice what others
7:09 ignore. Across every solstice tradition,
7:11 the theme is the same. Darkness is not
7:14 the enemy. Darkness is where the next
7:17 version of you is justestating. Humans
7:21 gathered, feasted, prayed, sang, and
7:24 kept fires lit on this night. Because
7:26 you don't move from darkness to light
7:30 alone. You don't transform in isolation.
7:33 You don't rebirth without witnessing.
7:36 The solstice is a cosmic reminder. Your
7:38 darkest moments were always the
7:41 beginning of your return to light. And
7:44 this night, this exact one, is the
7:47 energetic handoff. So, here's what to do
7:50 for a little seatic ritual. I call it
7:53 the sensitive body solstice reset.
7:57 First, if you can go outside in the
8:00 darkness, shut off any lights that are
8:03 around you. Try to find the darkest
8:06 space you can find. And if it's snowing
8:08 and you don't feel comfortable being out
8:11 in the snow since it's winter, stay in
8:13 your house. Turn off all the lights.
8:15 We're going to be here for 2 minutes.
8:18 We're letting our body register the
8:21 dark. We're getting quiet. We're
8:24 allowing whatever needs to bubble up.
8:27 Bubble up. And then I want you to say
8:31 out loud, "Light returns to me now.
8:35 Light returns to me now." A simple
8:38 prayer, a simple affirmation. Then place
8:41 your hand on your belly and over your
8:45 heart. and feel the shift. If you're
8:49 outside, ask Mother Earth to show you a
8:53 sign. If you're inside,
8:57 ask to be shown a sign. Feel the shift
9:00 in your body. Feel the shift around
9:04 [music] you. Wait for that sign. And
9:06 then turn the lights back [music] on and
9:10 write the answer to this one question.
9:11 What part of me is ready to come back
9:14 into the [music] light? If this episode
9:17 helped your body exhale, if it helped
9:20 something [music] click inside you,
9:23 trust that you're not imagining things.
9:26 You're not too sensitive. You're tuned
9:27 to the [music] same rhythms ancient
9:31 cultures built their whole lives around.
9:32 And if you want support moving through
9:34 this [music] coming season with
9:37 attunement, clarity, and empowerment,
9:39 the new cohort of immersion, mentorship [music]
9:40 [music]
9:43 begins January 9th. You can explore that
9:44 at bodywisperhealing.com/services [music]
9:48 or find it in the show notes. Until next
9:51 time, [music] honor the dark, welcome
9:53 the light, and trust your sensitive
