Winter Wellness Book Club: How To Start One
Early this winter, I found myself staring out my frost-covered window, clutching a mug of tea. I realized I hadn’t had a real conversation with anyone in days. That’s when the idea hit me: what if I could combine my love of reading with my need for connection and wellness? The result was a Winter Wellness Book Club. It’s improved not only my winter but the winters of seven other women who joined me on this journey.
Introduction
Winter is often a time to slow down and retreat into our little human caves (usually the cozy bedroom for me). It takes more effort to stay social and connected.
Seasonal depression affects 10 million Americans. We are working against cold, dark, and even sugary comfort foods to stay well. The strain can be difficult, and a Winter Wellness Book Club can be a wonderful form of winter self-care.
In this guide, I’ll share the benefits of gathering with your close friends to share ideas about wellness. After reading this, you’ll feel fired up about starting a book club to focus on winter wellness this cold season.
What is a Winter Wellness Book Club
A book club gathers people to share thoughts, ideas, and insights after all reading the same book. Gathering with others gives you deeper insights and perspectives about the book.
The Winter Wellness Book Club is a wonderful spin on the traditional book club.
Gathering a mindful reading circle helps you get out of the house. It helps form deeper bonds, and learn something interesting and new.
The book selected will be on the theme of Winter Wellness. It can be either a novel or nonfiction but it will have ideas on how to stay well in the colder months.
Here are some ideas to pick from for your wellness reading group:
- A book on mental health or personal development
- A story that set in the winter season
- One that focuses on physical health or food
- Books on regulating hormones
- Any inspirational book to keep your mood lifted
You can either pick the book or the participants first.
How I started This Year
I had a list of books on my TBR (to be read) list. I made a small list and sent them over to a group of friends that I thought would resonate and also enjoy reading them.
As you can see from my text, I sent a few book suggestions and asked if anyone wanted to read one with me. It’s that easy!
The Mental Health Benefits of Winter Book Clubs
Winter can take a toll on our mental wellbeing. Shorter days and less sun often lead to seasonal blues. A wellness-focused book club can offer more than a reading group. It can be a supportive tool for mental health support.
Meeting with others to discuss wellness topics is packed with benefits:
Social Connection in Dark Times
Winter pushes us toward isolation. But your book club creates a consistent touchpoint for meaningful human connection. Unlike casual social media interactions, these face-to-face discussions about wellness topics create deeper bonds and genuine support networks. The simple act of sharing thoughts about a book can lead to vulnerable conversations about personal struggles and triumphs.
Mindful Learning Together
Reading about wellness topics is valuable, but processing these ideas as a group amplifies their impact. When someone shares how they’ve applied a concept from the book to their own winter wellness journey, it can spark inspiration for others. This collaborative learning environment helps members develop new coping strategies and self-care techniques specifically tailored for winter challenges.
Accountability and Structure
Winter months can feel formless, with days blending together. Your book club provides welcome structure and gentle accountability. Having regular meetings gives members something to look forward to and a reason to maintain healthy habits. The commitment to finish the book and prepare for discussion also helps maintain mental stimulation during a season when many feel mentally sluggish.
Safe Space for Winter Struggles
Creating a dedicated space to discuss winter wellness opens the door for authentic conversations about seasonal challenges. Members often find comfort in discovering they’re not alone in their winter difficulties, whether it’s disrupted sleep patterns, holiday stress, or managing seasonal mood changes.
How to Select Your Book Club Book
Think about all the factors that affect us in winter. It’s a season of quiet, retreat, solace, cold, dark and death.
Find a book that addresses one of these areas and provides insight, value or a new way of thinking about the idea.
Here is an extensive list of Winter Wellness Book Club ideas:
Who should You invite?
When you’re creating a group it’s important to invite people who will be a good fit with each other. Often in these types of group intimate stories and insights flow with ease.
Trust and comradery create the space for authentic and meaningful discussions.
The participants don’t all need to know each other beforehand. And they don’t need to be best friends.
Often the best insights are from people who are outside our inner circle because they have a different vantage point.
Do invite people who are open, welcoming and interesting.
I invited seven of my close friends that I thought would enjoy the book and have valuable insights. I choose people who like to connect and explore ideas.
When two of the members were sick, it left us with six at the meeting. That felt like a good number for everyone to get a chance to share and explore their insights.
Our first book club meeting lasted four hours, and we could have kept talking if we didn’t all need to get back to our families.
The discussion was interesting, lively and we were able to explore the topics in a helpful way.
Where Do You Meet For the Book Club?
Your meeting location for your Winter Wellness Book Club could be public, like a cafe or the library. Someone’s home on a couch by a cozy fire could also be a cozy book club venue.
Wherever you decide to meet, be sure that you have comfortable places to sit around a central table. Provide some warm drinks and light snacks, but keep it easy.
It might be fun to combine your book club meeting with sharing a meal. I love hosting soup nights in winter where everyone brings either soup or bread. It’s a very easy, cozy experience.
Just be sure not to let the analysis paralysis stop you from making the event. Big plans can be especially daunting in winter, and it’s the nature of the season for some people to miss due to illness.
How to Create an Environment For Sharing
There are people who relish the opportunity to share, and others that feel intimidated by it.
Creating ways to help balance both (and all those in-between) ahead of time. This is a helpful way to ensure you have a successful book club meeting.
Book Club Ice breakers can be a great way to get conversation flowing.
You can grab this fun printable dice rolling prompt sheet below. This is great as a conversation starter if anyone feels stuck about what to share. You roll the dice and use the prompt to share your thoughts. Then pass it on to the next person.
Wrapping It All Up With a Bow
Winter Wellness Book Clubs are a great way to connect with others and learn something new. You share ideas to help make the winter brighter and work through your TBR (to be read) list.
By following this guide to choose an engaging book, invite a group of interesting people and meeting at a comfortable spot to share meaningful conversation you’ll have a successful Book Club.
I hope you enjoyed these book club hosting tips and have a fantastic winter gathering.
