Wintering Well

Nick Welsh, Shop Manager of The Iona Community Welcome Centre on the Isle of Iona, shares her monthly book recommendations. This month they are inspired by her recent family group gathering.

Wintering Well

Last month in our family group we looked at the subject of how to keep healthy and happy during the winter. When I lived in a city the passing of the seasons was not so influential on how I spent my days. Now living on an island, with the full force and splendour of nature outside my front door, you cannot miss the changing seasons and how much they affect day to day life. The days are short, the nights long and cold, wind and rain come in abundance, power cuts are common. But with this comes glorious star filled nights with no light pollution, quiet roads and a slowing down of lives as people recover from a busy season and plan for the next. People take more time to chat and contemplate, many craft their hearts out, for self fulfilment or restocking for future seasons.

In our family group we had a whole raft of activities we do in the winter, puzzles, lego, reading, writing, baking, catching up on TV, many indoor activities cosy by the fire.

But we were equally sharing of how precious time outside is in the winter. The beauty of the stars, of settling the garden down for the winter knowing all the wonderful things going on under the soil, cold windy walks that invigorate, the joy of coming back to a warm house. Watching wildlife that remains abundant despite the cold. I watched a white-tailed eagle mob a flock of wild geese over Iona last week.

We don’t get many visitors to the shop in the winter months who are not local, but those few we do get experience exactly the same joy as we had been expressing. They come in, well wrapped up, grateful for a place to have a warm drink and chat before they set of again on a walk to the north end.

The outside activity we do in the winter is perhaps even more important than during the summer months, to maintain both physical and mental health. The books I am recommending this month demonstrate this in a variety of ways:

Embody Lent by Pauline Steenbergen (Wild Goose Pubs) takes you on a day by day yoga journey through Lent helping focus both mind, body and spirit. There are still a few spaces left on the Embody Lent week Pauline is leading at the Abbey from 5th – 11th April.

You can view the full range of our 2025 Lent activities and books here.

Footballs Faithful Fans by member Iain Whyte chronicles accounts of how football is important to a cross section of fans.

Wintering by Katherine May chronicles one woman’s journey of rest and retreat during difficult times, including wild swimming in the middle of winter. This is not unusual for intrepid souls in the middle of winter on Iona.

All books are available from the shop. You can order directly from the Iona Community Shop for mail order. Contact me for more information: [email protected]

I wish you all a joyous transition from winter to spring.

Photo: Road to the Abbey in Winter. Credit: R. Harvey