“Every year for as long as I could remember, I dreaded the shortening days, the fog and the rain. But what if I went outdoors instead?”

Helen Moat used to hide from winter: she would hunker down inside, yearn for the sun, and wait it out. So when she heard others call it their preferred season, she went on a mission to discover what they saw in the months she found so difficult.

Trying to understand why some of the darkest and coldest countries in the world have the lowest rates of seasonal depression, she dives into cultural practices from warming winter food to traditional book gifting and finds that forcing herself her outside in the harshest conditions unexpectedly pushes her into deepened human connections.

Journeying across Japan, Iceland, Scotland and, just once, escaping to the warmth of Spain, While the Earth Holds its Breath nurtures resilience and determination. Ultimately, it finds a positivity that does not ignore the darkness, but finds something to love there.