Life Kit - It's fall. Let's get cozy!

Episode Date: October 8, 2026

Shorter days, less sunshine, rain and snow ... the colder months can be a drag. But they don't have to be! In this episode, we share ideas to help you embrace the seasonal changes, whether you're a fan of the cold or not. We'll cover cozy rituals, dressing for the outdoors, ways to celebrate and gather, and how to use this reflective time of year for contemplation.Follow us on Instagram: @nprlifekitSign up for our newsletter here.Have an episode idea or feedback you want to share? Email us at [e-mail] public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening and convenient playlists of popular help topics like personal finance, getting healthy, and more. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Hey, it's Mariel Segarra. You're listening to Life Kit. The other morning, I was wide awake at 5 a.m., which is unusual for me. I was jet-lagged after a trip to Poland, and it was dark outside, so I lit some candles and I took my time getting up. This simple act of sitting awake with the covers over my legs, surrounded by the glow of candlelight, it got me really excited for fall and for winter. candles, it's such a cliche winter advice, right? Like it's almost, it sounds so fluffy and meaningless, but I really think when you light candles with the intention of embracing and celebrating the darkness, it actually has a profound impact on your experience and changes the meaning of winter darkness. I know that it's hard when the sun doesn't shine as much as it did all summer, and the rain can be a drag for sure.

But I'm telling you, this time of year offers so many opportunities to be cozy. On this episode of Life Kit, how to get cozy this fall. And to be clear, that doesn't mean just sitting at home waiting for spring. But it is about embracing the changes that are coming, whether we like it or not. Which brings me to take away one. Transition your space, your clothes, and your diet for the cold weather. Now is the time to bring your velvet curtains and your flannel sheets out of store. and to remember what you love about your cold weather wardrobe.

For me, it's the brown leather jacket I got at a thrift store in London, my lace-up black boots and leg warmers, among other things. I also love a fall plaid. Carrie Leibowitz is a psychologist and the author of the book How to Winter, and she says we can also switch up our diets, leaning into the cold weather foods. So I switch from, you know, a cold breakfast in the summer to a warm breakfast in the winter. and I switch from ice coffee to hot coffee or tea that I drink all day long. So all of these things reorient my attention from the negative things about the cold and the dark and the wet to the things that I enjoy when the temperature drops and it's raining out all the time.

Speaking of, how about a soup? I, for one, cannot wait to make sausage, white bean, and kale soup. with carrots and onions. It's a fave. Sola Elwayley is a chef and the author of Start Here Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook. We talked to her about how to make soups. And she said soup is the perfect communal dish, especially on a chili day. There's something about it that's just like cozy and comfy and it feels so primal, like just eating out of one pot, especially because food gets so complicated these days.

You know, soup isn't like glamorous. It's not pretty, but it gets the job done. Some ingredients that Zola says go well in basically any soup are alliums, like onions, leeks, and garlic. And something about when you cook any alium in fat, it just adds this incredible savouriness and depth. And there's like a wide range of flavors you can pull out of it. So if you keep it kind of blonde, you get more of like the sharp oniony flavor. And then you can go as far as you want from there and take it like to deep caramel and get it very, very sweet. but it's this like really rich base to pretty much everything but especially a soup and it's particularly helpful to develop a base with aliums if you're not using like the best quality broth

like you know if you're going with a bouillon starting with some cooked down onions or shallots will really get you far she also suggests adding to your soup a pinch of msg or parmesan rind because it's a natural source of msg All right, takeaway two, this time of year can also be an opportunity to slow down. When the clocks change in November, Carrie, the psychologist, her friends tell her, you know, I've been so tired lately. I don't know what's wrong with me. And I'm like, there's nothing wrong with you. You're a living being on a planet with a climate, you know.

And if you look at every other living thing on Earth, plant or animal, they are all changing their behavior in winter. in some way, right? They're either migrating or hibernating or they're slowing down, they're shedding their leaves, they're storing up their energy for spring. And yet I think our sort of modern societies and modern conveniences have convinced us that it's a personal or moral failure if we want to slow down in the winter, if we feel less able to maintain the same schedule through. Some suggestions from Carrie's book are to take a family nap where you stay in your PJs, make a pillow for it, watch movies, and just embrace the slumber party vibes all day. And also to let yourself take longer with everyday tasks. You know, slower meals, slower walks, longer bath times.

Tricia Hersey says rest shouldn't be an afterthought. She's the author of the book, Rest is Resistance, a manifesto. I believe resting is generative. It's not frivolous and it's not a luxury and it's not some afterthought. It truly is something that will allow us to tap into the inventive and imaginative ideas that are going to get us to the next dimension. Tricia likes to plan her rest. So she puts a rest day on her calendar every week. I don't even look at my email.

I don't even respond to anything work-related. I'm all about laying around the house. I'm not engaging in any type of labor outside of work. what feels good to me. Another idea is if you don't currently observe the Sabbath, set aside one day a week to rest. And for you, that could mean no email, no phones, no technology in general. We talked with Catherine Price, author of How to Break Up with Your Phone in 2020. We take an evening a week and we light a candle at dinner and we turn off our screens and we keep

them off until the following morning. People can customize that as they want. You could have your phone on, do not disturb, but allow calls. from important people to come through if you feel anxious about that. But I find in general that just having a ritual where I know that I can not be on call to anything feels really good sometimes, and I want to give myself that opportunity. You can start small, too. Maybe you just put your phone on airplane mode for dinner and an hour or two after while you're cleaning up or you're watching a movie.

Or maybe you pause the episode here and take a minute's rest. But come back, all right? Because after the break, we're going out somewhere. All right, now that we've slowed down, it is time for takeaway three. Bundle up and get outside. Carrie, the author of How to Winter, studied seasonal affective disorder in a Norwegian city called Tromsa. It's about 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

And every year, it goes through something called the polar night, which is about two months of darkness where the sun doesn't rise above the horizon. In Scandinavia, in Norway, they have the same. There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. And I really learned how to dress for the winter when I was living in Norway. And she's picked up some tips on how to dress for the cold. I'm going to be wearing my leggings underneath my jeans. I'm going to be wearing layers on my top.

I'm going to be wearing waterproof outer shell waterproof boots. You know, you want to be warm enough. In the book, Carrie talks about the Norwegian principle of free-loof-sleeve. It translates to open-air life. But she says it's really about finding freedom in an open-air life. We can do that in the colder months by continuing to enjoy nature and move around outside, even when it's cold or overcast. Carrie suggests that you go on an awe walk, where you take time to feel awe or wonder while you're looking at the world around you as it is. That tree with the bright orange leaves or the shops on the street illuminated with sparkling lights.

If this is new for you, start small. Just take a walk around your neighborhood, bring a thermos of tea or coffee, go for 15 or 20 minutes, see how it feels. If there's a place that you like to walk in other seasons, so a park or by a river or by the beach, try going in the winter and experiencing it at that time of year, right? What looks different, what sounds different, what smells different? The point is, you can feel cozy outside too. You just need to dress right. You can also have outdoor celebrations in the winter. Gather around a fire and toast marshmallows. Have a barbecue in the park. In general, takeaway four, look for moments to celebrate and gather. One of the hardest parts of this season is when it gets so cold and dark that nobody leaves the house and you end up feeling isolated.

But you actually have the power to change that by inviting people over and creating your own traditions. There are, of course, lots of holidays. is coming up, Halloween, Dia de los Murtos, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, but we can also make our own holidays. Andrea Bonnier is a psychologist at Georgetown, and she says you can start by asking yourself, what do you want this particular celebration or holiday to mean? What is it about, really? Is it about giving back to others? Then maybe you volunteer at a food bank with your family this October. Is it about finding the light in the darkness? You could,

go on a hike with your people on the day of the winter solstice. Or you could invite friends over for a gorgeous candlelit dinner with light as a theme. You could bake cookies in the shape of stars or serve foods that offer a pop of flavor, like a salad with citrus or duck with cranberry sauce. I like to create holidays in times of the year that can feel slow. So last January, I hosted a Domevik gathering at my apartment. I'm Polish on my mom's side. And in Slavic folklore, the Domovic is a mythical gnome or house sprite who lives behind your hearth and takes care of your home while you sleep.

So I ordered a little Domovic figurine online, cooked traditional Polish food like pierogis and pickled beets, lit some candles. And then my friends and I offered crumbs and coins to the Domevik, asked him to protect the house, and talked about a memory that reminded us of home. For me, what was driving the gathering was the importance of home as a sacred space and also my desire to invite my friends into it. Samin Nosrat is a chef and the author of the cookbook's salt, fat, acid heat, and good things. And one of her tips is to gather for a meal routinely with your community, say every Monday night or every first Sunday of the month. And she says, you want to do this differently than a regular dinner party. You want it to be communal and also sacred in a way. I think by breaking it up so it's not a thing that's all on your own shoulders,

and it's a shared effort, but also I think by making it a regular effort and ritualizing it, that's probably step one of making it holy. There's community buy-in. Some other tips that she offers, choose one location and stick to it, and make sure there are enough chairs for everyone to sit and eat at the same time. Because this gathering is supposed to be about the people. It is not about one person sweating in the kitchen to make a perfect experience for everybody else. After the break, we set aside some time to reflect.

One thing that's great about the fact that it's getting darker earlier or that it's staying overcast all day is that it gives you permission in a way to say no to some stuff. and to be a little bit of a hermit, even for a day, to go inward. Takeaway five, reflect. Spend some time alone and think about what you want in your life. Graphic novelist Nicole J. George's says alone time helps her to be more creative and to listen to her own voice. Because for me, I'm so codependent that if other people are around me, I will have a hard time figuring out what I feel and what I want because I will be trying to

respond to the needs of the people around me. And so it's really important for me to take some time alone. So whether that's a little walk by yourself, even like a 20 minute walk by yourself, whether that's journaling or just drawing by yourself for 20 minutes or an hour or meditating. Like those are the times where I'm away from people for a little bit helps me kind of fill up my cup and figure out what I actually want. Maybe you want to get back into drawing or to keep doing your woodworking project. I mean, the point of it is to actually have a little spacious so that you can get new ideas, getting other people's narratives out of your head,

so you have space for your own narrative, and so you can check in with yourself and be present in your own life. Writing is a go-to way to reflect, but, of course, sometimes you're staring at a blank page with no idea what to say. So here's one prompt. Write a thank you letter to someone in your life. Somebody that you have not had a chance to thank.

It can be the past year, It can be the past 10 years of your life. Just think, why are you grateful for that person, maybe a specific instance that they helped you, and either send them a letter, send them an email, or even better, deliver it in person and read it to them. That sort of shows the most significant effect. This is psychologist Christina Costa. She says gratitude can improve your mental and physical health. It's associated with greater happiness, and it can decrease our levels of stress hormones.

Now, if you're not sure who to think. think of a teacher. I was a teacher, so I always, that's my first two, is like, think of a teacher or K-12 that you haven't talked to. But really, it could be anyone. And that's going to give you a big boost. Another way to reflect is to keep a simple journal. Here's Rashonda James, a licensed therapist and a big advocate for journaling. You know, if you're a person who is kind of scatterbrained and finds themselves overwhelmed a lot, a journal can be a place for you to kind of keep your thoughts and organize them. If you're a person who is like, I need to write down this goal. I need to write down the steps to be able to get to this goal. Journaling can be a great way because you can kind of follow your process, follow your thoughts, follow your actions. Another idea? Take this moment to dream about your future. Lama Rod Owens is a Buddhist teacher. He says to start, you want to suspend any doubts you have about what's feasible or possible and let yourself imagine. What is my ultimate complete golden scenario vision? for the future.

Lamarad used this approach to dream up his most recent book, called The New Saints. I was like, okay, I'm going to go really big. For me, my dream was to offer something that could help people get free from suffering. From there, he found the space to get going. Lamarad says he also loves a vision board. And yeah, he knows that sounds cliche. However, some people that I deeply respect in this world, are very adamant about a visioning board for the upcoming year.

And so I started doing that and found that to be really helpful. So instead of just like hoping for something to happen and having a vague aspiration, get concrete. Like this is a time to get concrete about what you want to see next year. And that makes it much more likely for results to happen. Me? I love a vision board too. I made a whole vision journal one winter with pictures and words cut out from magazines, and I still look back at it and think, you know what, I'm on the right path.

All right, time for a recap. Takeaway one, transition your space and your habits. Takeaway two, slow, way down. Takeaway three, bundle up and go outside, even when it's cold and rainy. I think nature can be beautiful in the rain, by the way. Take away four, look for moments to celebrate and celebrate. create your own holidays. And take away five, reflect.

Remove yourself from the crowd for a moment so you can get back in touch with what you want and what you dream of. All right, that's our show. One more thing, by the way, before we go, do you follow Life Kit in your podcast app? If not, would you do it right now? Just tap Follow, so you never miss an episode.

This episode of Life Kit was produced by Claire Murray Schneider. Reporting for the episode includes work by Shireen Matysol Maragi, Anya Kamenetz, Andy Tagle, Andrew Limbaong, and Kyle Norris. Our digital editor is Malaga Garib, and our visuals editor is C.J. Rekalan. Megan Cain is our senior supervising editor, and Lauren Gonzalez is our executive producer. Our production team also includes Margaret Serino and Sylvie Douglas. Engineering support comes from Simon Laslo-Jansson. I'm Mariel Segarra.

Thanks for listening. And happy full. Happy spooky season. So spooky.