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"Season Changing Rituals" Ep. 94 (✨SPARKLE SNACK)
59 Plays7 days ago
This Sparkle Snack episode of Stay Sparked, is a warm, bite-sized conversation about seasonal rituals, reflection, and intentionally closing one chapter before opening the next.
As the year winds down and we move toward the winter solstice, Betsy and John explore simple, meaningful practices for honoring seasonal transitions—without getting swept up in the rush, obligation, or overwhelm that often comes with the holidays.
Together we share:
- End-of-year reflection rituals focused on wins and growth points
- Gratitude walks, journaling, and reviewing calendars and photos to integrate the year
- Nature-based solstice practices like walking a spiral
- A playful yet powerful “future gratitude” practice—writing from the perspective of the year ahead
- Why imagination, presence, and elevated emotion matter more than rigid goals or resolutions
This episode is an invitation to slow down, reconnect with yourself, and consciously spiral into the new year with intention, creativity, and compassion.
✨☕ This episode is sponsored by www.BecomeLucid.com Lucid is a functional mushroom and nootropic brand designed to fuel mental clarity, focus, and long-term brain health. Their flagship product is a premium mushroom coffee blend infused with clinically studied nootropics—crafted to deliver clean energy without the crash.
✨🎶MASSIVE Thank you to Dub Sutra for their beautiful opening music. Check out their incredible music catalogue online. https://dubsutra.com
✨ HOSTS
BETSY FINKLEHOO is a healer, an author, and mindfulness guide who blends somatic healing, sound therapy, and mindset awareness to help people feel grounded, connected, and empowered. As a longtime practitioner and Insight Timer teacher, she weaves practical tools with intuitive presence, offering experiences that support personal transformation and intentional living. Betsy is the creator of The Power Affirmation Journal and Power Affirmation Cards, along with a growing library of products and audio practices that help people build healthy rituals, release old patterns, and cultivate a life of joy, clarity, and inner freedom.
http://poweraffirmation.com/
JOHN HALCYON is full-time Love Ambassador. He is the founder of Hug Nation youtube channel and daily zoom gratitude circles. He is co-founder of the Pink Heart Burning Man camp and the 1st Saturdays project for people experiencing homelessness. In his free time he coaches groups and individuals on how to live joyfully and authentically. http://LifeStudent.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:02
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Stay Sparked. This is a Sparkle Snack episode. I am Betsy Finkelhoo, the creator of the Power Affirmation Journal and Somatic Body Worker.
00:00:13
Speaker
i am John Halcyon, host of the Hug Nation YouTube channel and Morning Broadcasts. We are here to bring you a short bite-sized conversation to spark up your day, your evening, whenever you might be listening.
Seasonal Rituals and Sponsorship
00:00:27
Speaker
And today we're going to be sparkling about seasons changing rituals.
00:00:33
Speaker
um But before we get into it, just want to give a quick little shout out to our sponsors at Lucid Mushroom Nootropic Drink. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We love you. Find them and becomelucid.com.
Reflecting on the Past Year
00:00:45
Speaker
So here we are. we are approaching the end of the year. We're entering into the solstice. for those of you who practice Earth-based holidays, we're at the winter solstice, which we know we have the other equinoxes and another solstice on the other side of the calendar. And so today we wanted to talk about rituals that support the seasons changing.
00:01:06
Speaker
um I personally love seasons change. I love rituals. I love intentionality, if you know me at all. um I love just infusing all kinds of different practices to make the most out of our life. um So let's see what kind of inspiration comes from our conversation today, shall we?
00:01:23
Speaker
I love it.
Gratitude Practices and Personal Reflections
00:01:25
Speaker
Before we get going, what are you grateful for? Oh, oh thanks for asking me. for I forgot. So much to be grateful for. Right now, I'll share. My gratitude is for a 28-day gratitude group I'm doing on WhatsApp where everybody shares a gratitude at least once a day And so far, we're just over two and a half weeks. And it's been amazing. I'm so grateful for the ways people are sharing. It's lighting me up.
00:01:54
Speaker
I love that. Very cool. I am grateful for a upcoming visit from my bio son, Asher, and really excited for the kind of new types of interactions. has's been it's been a few It's been months and months since we've been in person. And just from our video chats, I can tell he's a wholly different person. And I cannot wait to to hug in person.
00:02:20
Speaker
m Yay.
Cultural Critique on Holiday Pace
00:02:23
Speaker
That's beautiful. um Well, here we are entering into a winter solstice time and Christmas time, Hanukkah, New Year's, a lot of energy usually around these times. And I'm excited to talk about this because it seems like our culture really supports fast paced kind of things this time of year. Lots of hot Holiday parties, lots of present wrapping and shopping and traffic and all the things that seem to move really fast. Like, you know, it's like, oh, let's, you know, let's do something after the holidays because, you know, holidays are busy.
00:03:03
Speaker
hey um But it is a really powerful time naturally to go within and to just really settle into the end of year reflections and also preparations for the next year.
Personal Rituals and Growth Reflection
00:03:17
Speaker
um So I'd love to share with you one of the things I'm i'm excited about doing. i am I'm very eager to hear because I think that I've definitely been caught up in a little bit of end of the year stuff and and um lost my footing a bit. i think I've done a good job of avoiding getting caught up in the kind of... obligation of gift giving, which is, i think, a big a bummer of the end of the year where such a joyful thing of gifting can can become problematic, which we've talked about in past episodes. So I'm doing good with that, but I could really use some some some practices and and rituals. So yes, please share.
00:03:54
Speaker
All right. Well, I just did one um recently that was so powerful, um which I think you've done. We've talked about before, which is reflecting on wins and growth points. And so um i do this with my sister almost every week where we get together on video chat and we share. We first we write down and then we share what are our wins and sometimes the growth points and And it's a really amazing thing to do at the end of the year, because the year is sort of the container that holds a reflection of our growth.
00:04:27
Speaker
And oftentimes, if we just keep going forward, we don't look back and see all that we've accomplished or all that we have learned, then there's not a whole lot of room for integration.
00:04:38
Speaker
So creating that time either for yourself, but I really love doing with another person and sitting down with a journal and setting an an an intention, whether that's like lighting a candle or just creating the space and writing down all of the wonderful things that you got to experience that this last year. and then also what were the growth points?
Mindset Shift: Growth Opportunities
00:05:01
Speaker
Can you ah tell me more what growth points means? Yeah, i I love saying growth points versus hardships. Got it. Because challenges are inevitable, but there are also places for us to grow through. you know And so when we can call them that and look at those challenges as opportunities to grow, then it kind of shifts your perception around how hard the year might have been, right? Because some years are definitely harder than others. But if we at the end of the year be like, that this year sucked. I'm so glad it's over.
00:05:34
Speaker
then that's just kind of bypassing an opportunity to learn and grow. Right. That's my opinion. Yeah, it's I think that's part of wisdom and aging is is recognizing that the the the most valuable chapters are the ones that generally had growth points or challenges and hardship and that nothing really valuable can is gained with without overcoming some struggle.
00:06:05
Speaker
oh Yeah, absolutely. i mean, this last year, you and I went through a very intense challenge of saying goodbye to our our beloved, dear friend, Yanus, in February. and he gave us so many opportunities to grow, grow stronger as friends, grow stronger as a community, to lean into what is so uncomfortable.
00:06:28
Speaker
You know, he gave me so many opportunities to show up in a way i never have before. So it was a major growth for me in that challenge. I can, I, until you just said that, I was like, oh my gosh, that was this year. That, that's, that's, that is a part of this list and this, this ritual that I still
Mindfulness and Gratitude Techniques
00:06:48
Speaker
need to do. Wow.
00:06:49
Speaker
Thank you for that. Yeah. yeah i So powerful. It's been a long year. Yeah. And, you know, um another ritual that I love to do, too, is if if you don't feel like writing, a gratitude or a reflection walk is very powerful, whether that's with yourself or with someone else. But setting that intention to go on a walk with someone that you might be close with and saying, OK, this this walk, we're going to focus solely on this last year and what we're grateful for from this last year. and it's our responsibility to keep each other on track.
00:07:24
Speaker
as in the conversation and really look at all the things that we just got to experience. one of the things that I related to this that that I do, and as you were as it just realized how much I've forgotten, I often will go through my calendar of the year. at the end of the year, I go i go through just to to make a list of the things that have happened. Because if I, without the calendar, I forget so much.
00:07:50
Speaker
In fact, I look back and go, not that much happened this year. a clue like As you just reminded me, a lot has happened this year. I i kind of need the the dates and the, and then the meetings and the, the vacation things to go, Oh, that's right. I also went to, you know, here, I oh i'll also they went to this and it, I need those reminders so that I can then dig into the lessons. And so I think this is going to great for me because I generally do a list of stuff that happened and now I can accompany that with the, the victories, the wins and the the growth points.
00:08:24
Speaker
m Yeah. And photos. Yeah. I'm such a photo person. i like call myself a life journalist. I take pictures so much. And so it's so helpful to go back and look in so my photo app and see all the things that I've done and the people that i spent time with and reflect from that way.
Nature-Based Rituals
00:08:45
Speaker
powerful on ah little bit of a side note. i You know, I one of my daily practices is i look at my Facebook memories and and see what's happened you know a year ago, two years ago, four years ago, like ten years ago. And it's so it's been really wild lately, especially as I've reflecting, seeing what happened a year ago, who I was with, or who I was four years ago, who I was six years ago, and just seeing how much...
00:09:11
Speaker
ah And how much has changed? and And what made me think of that is talk about pictures, because as i I also like to take a lot of pictures, especially of myself. And so to to witness the ah that the the growth and the aging and the and the the the evolution has been ah a big growth point as well as victory. Yeah, it's amazing. yeah what a journey. Life truly is.
00:09:40
Speaker
um last The last one I think I'll share on this Sparkle series. um One of my favorite things for these kinds of Earth-based holidays, like the solstice or the equinoxes, I really love getting into nature.
00:09:56
Speaker
And doing something that is communing with the elements. And so i like using the spiral as a symbol to work with. And so i like to make a solstice spiral. There's ah a tradition in that where you find a place on the earth and you make a spiral out of the different elements that are there. Whether that's pine cones or sand if you're on the beach or other kinds of elements. And then walk the spiral with the intention of reflection.
00:10:32
Speaker
and And it's a really simple and powerful way to commune with the seasons and with nature. i love that. new And do you start at the center and go outwards?
Future Gratitude and Positive Visioning
00:10:45
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Perfect. One way for you, for our listeners that are at the beach and like you, um you can use a stick and start at the center, anchor in your intention or your mantra or whatever it might be And then you press that stick in the sand, especially on low tide, which it should be this weekend because it's a new moon. And then you just walk slowly with the mantra or the intention in your heart and you draw a spiral on the sand and then walk it
00:11:17
Speaker
It's such a powerful practice. So simple. And a lot of these practices i love are really rooted in mindfulness. And its mindfulness is just creating a container for presence.
00:11:32
Speaker
It's very simple. One of the the rituals, practices that I often do at the at at this this shift, you know, end of the year, beginning of the year, as many people start to talk about, you know, um resolutions or goals into the new year, I've never found those to be very resonating very much with me. But what I like to do is do a a practice of imagining time traveling into the future
00:12:04
Speaker
and then describing the year that's just passed. So writing a letter to myself as if it is this time next year and and reflecting on all the things that have happened, to me that that shift of...
00:12:19
Speaker
The imagination part of it allows me to get into the resonance and the feeling of it more so than than a goal in the future. So like, for example, I'd be like, oh, boy, it was so fun to record so many episodes of Stay Sparked in 2026 with Betsy. And my favorite author came on our our broadcast. And ah my I finally my shoulder injury finally healed. and And sometimes it's even just like you can state a solution, even though you don't know it is, you know, like, oh, I found the perfect practice that finally made it so my shoulder stopped hurting. Yes, exactly. i love that so much. have future. It's like future forward gratitudes. Exactly. You're writing it in the form of a letter. Yeah.
00:13:04
Speaker
and And then as if it's happened and then and just kind of imagine. And the key is you can't get too crazy sci-fi and like, say oh, I'm, you know, I have five wives and I married all the Victoria Secrets. you know, like, no. I'm driving the first flying car. Yeah. I mean, make it something that you could that feels real and and then actually let it feel real. i think it for me, it it it turns it from a ah like got an intellectual, like I'm doing an assignment into to feeling it, which to me is, is ah I think, the whole point of of
00:13:44
Speaker
affirmations or ah you know manifestation is getting into the feeling of it. And that's what helps me is the the pretending of the future. Absolutely. It's frequency.
00:13:55
Speaker
Yeah. Vibration. As Joe Dispenza says, elevated emotion plus intention equals manifestation.
Imagination and Visionary Thinking
00:14:01
Speaker
Yeah. I was saying your woo scale just... no but Well, and and so this is this is a woo hack for me because woow woo is if i if i'm if I make it a goal or ah like I'm trying to manifest in the future, there's parts of my mind will like like worry. Like, well, what if I can't do it? Like, or what if, you know what if it's too hard? yeah But if if i if i bypass
00:14:29
Speaker
the ah mean Bypass is the wrong word because it's not like a spiritual bypass. If I if i let go let dough of of whatever need to have a narrative of how and just get all and put myself into the achievement headspace, it allows me to to to woo. it Yes, exactly. And it feels more expansive.
00:14:52
Speaker
Right. yeah A possibility mindset really feels so expansive. There's a different feeling in the body. There's something about believing in ourselves. you know it sounds sort of cliche, but it's like to believe in something greater than ourselves or... beyond what is existing right now to get into that place. And then i also love this idea of imagination as a practice as an adult, because we as children have such access to that part of our brain to be in such creative visioning and imagination and explorations of other dimensions. If you ever hang out with, ah I mean, here you are getting prepare to hang out with Asher, who's what, nine?
00:15:36
Speaker
He's six. Oh, he's six. Okay, so he had very deep access to imagination. I was just hanging out with an 11-year-old, and he's still got deep access to imagination. And sometimes it's like, wow, where are you? And so I think it's such a good thing to practice as an adult to imagine, even just with that creative, you know, paintbrush.
00:15:58
Speaker
Like if I had a paintbrush, what would the world I want to paint to be like?
Breaking Free of Limitations
00:16:03
Speaker
Yeah. Why not? It's interesting to be like, and and i I keep harping, but that that practice in some ways makes me freer to do that because it's like I give myself permission to to to have that imagination where if I just say like, well, what do you want your world to look like in a year? There is a little bit of a fear around it or like that sounds like I don't like like allowing my imagination to do that feels um too much.
00:16:32
Speaker
But if but if I but if if the game is to to be in the future and pretend ah it lets me do it Yes, just play. Just play. Yes, I love that. Well, i love where this conversation is led. I feel inspired and sparked. And hopefully those of you out there are also feeling sparked to do some kind of ritual, whether you're listening to this at the time of year it is now or this is sometime in the future. Maybe we'll come back to this episode a year from now and put in these practices once again because it keeps going.
00:17:08
Speaker
I love it. And if you are listening have practices, we would love to hear. ah Please leave us a comment on our Instagram or send us a note. We would love to incorporate your ideas and and share your sparks.
00:17:22
Speaker
Yes. Thank you so much for listening out
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:17:25
Speaker
there. We are so appreciative to get to share these little sparks of inspiration with you all out there. and any other closing sparks, Halcyon?
00:17:35
Speaker
I am just excited to spiral into the new year with you. Yes. Upward spiral. Shall we? Yes, Lisa. Awesome. well Thank you all so much for listening. And your closing affirmation is, I am upward spiraling.
00:17:57
Speaker
Stay spark, people.
00:18:01
Speaker
Has this conversation sparked you? Send us a note or leave a comment on the Stay Sparked Instagram page or YouTube channel. Reviewing us on Apple Podcasts really helps too. But most helpful of all is when you share us with a friend.
00:18:15
Speaker
We are so grateful to our sponsor, Lucid, makers of delicious functional mushroom and nootropic drinks. And special thanks to Dub Sutra, creators of our beautiful intro and ending music.
00:18:26
Speaker
Find links to me, Betsy, and all of this good stuff in the show notes.
00:18:32
Speaker
Stay SparkFriends.