While the Earth Holds its Breath
Embracing the winter season
$34.78
- Paperback
240 pages
- Release Date
27 January 2026
Summary
When the cold months make you hunker down and hide, how do you teach your soul to open up instead—to new rhythms and unlikely beauty—and begin participating in the unique joy of winter?
Helen Moat used to dread winter. When it approached, she would hunker down inside, yearn for the sun, and wait it out. Then, determined to overcome this anxiety, she vowed to set out into the darkness in search of ways to embrace it.
Beginning her discoveries at home in Scotlan…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781916812321 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1916812325 |
| Author: | Helen Moat |
| Publisher: | Saraband / Contraband |
| Imprint: | Saraband / Contraband |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 240 |
| Release Date: | 27 January 2026 |
| Weight: | 180g |
| Dimensions: | 25mm x 131mm x 199mm |
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Critics Review
“Helen Moat’s pensive, enlightening nature book While the Earth Holds Its Breath explores ways of coping with the grey darkness of winter across cultures and traditions…[A] rich, thoughtful memoir about meditating through the winter.” Foreword
Praise for A Time of Birds
“Glorious … an inspiring adventure … humorous encounters and joyful times.” Tom Chesshyre, Daily Mail“Ideal reading for vicarious armchair travellers … rich in emotional flashbacks and keen observations … Moat is an exquisite stylist. Her unhurried, free-flowing narrative captivates the reader from the very first sentence … a thoroughly unputdownable travel book.” Vitali Vitaliev, Engineering & Technology Magazine
“A moving and thought-provoking set of meditations … detailed, vivid and lyrical” Patricia Carswell, WI magazine
“Lyrical and immediate … a reflective travel narrative about a bike tour through Europe, noting its histories of upheaval and change.” Wendy Hinman, Foreword Reviews
“A prayer of a book. A hymn to the healing power of cycling slow.” Chris Dolan
“A stand-out work of honesty and integrity, loss and hope.” Alan Brown
“A perfect read for these times of isolation … a fantastic book.” John Toal, BBC Radio Ulster
“Slow travel at its best.” Paul Cheney
”[A] wonderful narrative … harrowing and inspiring by rapid turns … Indispensable, heart-breaking, uplifting, beautifully-conceived and -written.” NI Arts Council
“Lovely, engrossing, book … beautifully told, vivid in its colours and characters … the prose twinkles and sparkles like birdsong … a reminder of the healing power of nature, humanity and the active joy of slow, self-powered movement.” Dead Deer blog
Helen Moat
Helen Moat is a writer specializing in slow travel. She is the author of multiple travel guides, as well as While the Earth Holds Its Breath, her meditation on learning to love the winter season, and A Time of Birds, a travelogue of her journey across Europe by bike with her teenage son. Both of these books were published by Saraband.
She is a regular contributor to Derbyshire Life, BBC Countryfile magazine, Wanderlust, and various other publications. Helen also contributes to regional radio, leads travel workshops, and has written for national newspapers and magazines.
Originally from Northern Ireland, she now lives with her husband in Scotland.
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