Tending the Light

A supported wintering journey of care and hope

Tell me, my friend: is any of this true for you?

You struggle to find beauty and joy in the midst of the cold, dark season

Winter seems to drain your energy and make you feel isolated, or even hopeless

You’re burned out and in need of some rest and nurturing

Your own needs get lost within the stress and expectations of the season

If so, you are not alone. I’ve been there too.

I used to dread winter. Now I treasure it.

For most of my life, I struggled with despair and hopelessness as the days got shorter and the cold set in.

That changed when I decided to intentionally cultivate a more accepting relationship with wintertime.

In the dark season, we need more rest and nourishment, and our inner light needs special care and tending.

That’s why I created a supportive sanctuary for nurturing care and hope through the dark time of the year.

Join me on a journey of intentional wintering, where we gather together to cultivate warmth, care, and hope by tending the light within.

Tending the Light will support you to:

Connect to a community of care

Create space for rest and reflection during an often-stressful time

Love and care for your body through the challenges of the cold season

Nurture your inner light and set a clear intention for supporting it

Release what you’re ready to shed and plant seeds for new growth

Attune to the aliveness of the earth and the presence of beauty and magic

Light-tending is hope-tending.

For all of us who are committed to creating a more just, inclusive, equitable, and peaceful world, it's never been more important to tend to our inner light: our creativity, our sense of connection, and our hope.

Brené Brown and others teach that hope is not an emotion, but a practice that can be learned, refined, and strengthened — and that experiences of hardship and challenge can help us build our hope muscle. 

As I've transformed my own relationship with the winter season, I've also realized that wintertime, with its long, dark nights, is an especially potent opportunity to build our resilience and learn how keep our inner light alive through dark and challenging times.

What you receive

Guided support between winter solstice and spring equinox

Based on the pillars of community, connection to the earth, and care for the body/mind/spirit, Tending the Light provides 13 weeks of supported reflection, ritual, rest, and embodiment.

This includes:

Monthly live full moon circles
Journal prompts & affirmations
Guided meditations
Yoga nidra practices
Embodiment practices

These are designed to gently encourage well-being, generative introspection, rest, and connection to the rhythms of the season.

  • Setting our intentions, meeting our inner light, embracing the gifts of darkness

    • Reflection: Journal prompts & affirmations

    • Meditation: Winter solstice

    • Ritual: Winter solstice candlelight ceremony

    • Rest: Yoga Nidra: Dark night, inner light

    • Embodiment practice: lymphatic drainage for immune support

  • Guarding the thresholds, clarifying our vision, fortifying ourselves

    • Reflection: Journal prompts & affirmations

    • Meditation: Morning meditation 

    • Ritual: Honoring the seeds beneath (Imbolc)

    • Rest: Yoga Nidra: Evening meditation

    • Embodiment practice: Abhyanga self-love massage

  • Enlivening hope, connecting to flexibility and flow

    • Reflection: Journal prompts & affirmations

    • Meditation: Honoring the heart

    • Ritual: Tea ceremony

    • Rest: Trusting the flow of life

    • Embodiment practice: opening the neck and shoulders

  • Preparing for emergence, grounding, finding balance

    • Reflection: Journal prompts & affirmations

    • Meditation: Walking meditation

    • Ritual: Rebirth spiritual bathing

    • Rest: Quick recharge

    • Embodiment practice: self-massage for the sinuses

The curriculum

Bonus:The Solstice Box

Register by December 2
to receive a care package with extra support for your journey.

Every item in your Solstice Box is individually hand crafted with intention. Each box includes:

  • Reflection journal

    High quality Moleskine journal with a handprinted cover. Includes printed journal prompts and affirmations.

  • A handmade herbal body butter bar

    Contains: calendula, comfrey, olive oil, shea butter, coconut oil, beeswax, and essential oils of sandalwood, fir, and orange

  • A set of beeswax tea lights

    A winter essential

  • A custom winter wellness tea blend

    Fragrant, sweet, grounding, and warming. Contains: tulsi, rose, and cinnamon

PLUS an herbal bath blend from local maker Amor Linguae

Hi! I’m Monica Basile, PhD.

I love sharing gentle, compassionate practices for cultivating wellbeing.

As an artist, healer, and educator, I am passionate about helping people to experience beauty, enchantment, connection to the earth, and inner peace through honoring the seasonal and cyclical transformations of life.

The tools I offer within this course are informed by my work as a massage therapist, craniosacral therapist, Reiki practitioner, and midwife, as well as my own decades-long yoga and meditation practices.

Everyone is welcome here. I teach from an anti-oppressive, trauma-aware, body positive perspective.

Q & A

  • We meet every full moon via zoom to explore the theme for the month and share our journeys. Every month, a library of practices will be available -- a set of journal prompts and affirmations, a video embodiment practice, a guided meditation, a rest practice, and a ritual practice. These are all pre-recorded.

    Our full moon circles are:

    Dec. 14
    Jan. 13
    Feb. 12
    Mar. 13

  • Our full moon circles meet for an hour every month. You have unlimited access to the other course practices — they are there for you to work with as much or as little as you’d like, according to your own schedule and at your own pace.

  • There is no falling behind in this journey! This is a collection of supportive practices, rather than a traditional “class” that requires keeping up with. The practices are offered in an intentional flow to match the rhythms of the season, but you may work with the practices in any order.

  • YES! The practices I share here are designed to fit into a busy schedule. It’s amazing how much difference just a little bit of time can make.

    I know what it’s like to parent solo, to juggle multiple jobs and school, to deal with chronic illness, to live life on-call, and to be an essential worker in a pandemic. I created this program to be accessible for people with all kinds of schedules and commitments. This space is for you.

  • Yes! Please reach out to me at: monica@ravenandmagnolia.com

  • A good investment in my well-being

    “Tending the Light made winter more peaceful, grounded, and purposeful for me. It was a good investment in my well-being. It exceeded any expectations I had, and made this time something special. The affirmations and journal prompts are so thoughtful and uplifting, and I really enjoyed the variety of recordings. It really has inspired me to approach wintering differently going forward.”

    - Amanda

  • I felt held and supported.

    “The meditation and yoga nidra practices have become integrated into my routines. I also enjoyed our moon circle time. I felt held and supported. I loved receiving the materials at the beginning of this experience, and I am now practicing more gentleness and ease through the winter, especially transitioning at the beginning and end of the day.”

    - Alison

  • Helped me feel resourced physically and spiritually

    “Because of this class, I’ve moved toward a more accepting, curious, and permissive relationship with winter. I have deepened my relationship with myself and gained clarity through exploration with the journal prompts. The variety of offerings helped me feel resourced physically and spiritually overall.”

    -Emily


Registration is closed for this year.

Get my free guide to mindful wintering

A set of everyday tips and practices for working with the gifts of the dark season

Season’s blessings to you!