Do you tend to feel down in the wintertime? For many people, when the days get shorter, darker, and colder, negative feelings start to creep in. You may find yourself sleeping more, feeling less excited about life, experiencing less motivation, and having more negative thoughts and feelings.
Most people experience these common “winter blues.” Fewer people experience it to a degree that it’s called “Seasonal Affective Disorder” (or SAD). This means, during a certain season of the year, that person struggles with anxiety or depression in a way that impairs their ability to function regularly.
Here’s the good news, whether you feel the “winter blues” or if you struggle with SAD, there are certain things you can do to help make winter more enjoyable and support your mental health throughout the season.
Here are a few ways you can help improve your mental health during winter and beat the “winter blues”:
How to Beat the Winter Blues
1. Sunshine
Spend a few minutes basking in the sun each day. Sunshine helps our bodies release serotonin, causing a lift in our mood, Specifically, helping us to feel calm and focused, while reducing feelings of anxiety and depression. Serotonin also helps regulate sleep, digestion, and mood. So, in addition to it’s calming and focusing effect, serotonin may help all of these systems in our bodies run more smoothly. Sunshine is also a primary way humans get Vitamin D. Vitamin D supports our immune system, increases our energy, and elevates our mood. This is essential for our physical and emotional health.
We have to be intentional about getting sunshine for all the reasons listed above and more. Because there’s less sunshine in the winters and it’s cold out, we often stay indoors and deprive ourselves of all the goodness that sunshine will do for us.
Here are some tips for getting more sunshine in the winter- remove your blackout curtains. If you regularly use blackout curtains in your bedroom, remove them during winter. That will help you wake up with the sunshine (defeating those depression symptoms of oversleeping and lack of motivation and energy), and receive more sunlight throughout the day. It’s a natural mood booster! Just make sure to wear your sunscreen to block damaging UV rays from hurting your skin.
3. Maximize Your Cozy Factor.
Take all of the best things about winter and maximize them. Make small shifts in your environment to make it feel super cozy and charming. Drink hot cocoa once a day, have the fireplace going on a regular basis, keep wonderfully-scented candles burning, have a cozy throw blanket everywhere you like to lounge, wear the fuzziest warm winter socks you can find, and keep a book you’ve been wanting to read on your coffee table or nightstand.
When you make your inside space feel this cozy, it helps you recognize and celebrate the beauty of life’s wonderful, ordinary, everyday moments in this season. Cozy, warm, and soft things make us feel more nurtured, cared for, and safe. That means making your environment more ready for winter is a wonderful way of taking care of yourself.
5. Try Something New
Many people have more free time in winter because life slows down when it’s cold outside. There tend to be less chores (no raking the yard, little to no garden maintenance), there are fewer daylight hours, and usually, people are spending less time outside. The winter season favors itself to a slower, quieter pace. Take advantage of the extra free time and try something new. Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn how to knit, or you’ve been wanting to change up a room in your home. Welcome the change and use some of that free time to do something you want to, that you usually use the excuse of “not having enough time” to try.
This winter I’ve been trying new recipes, wanting to welcome more real foods into my life and wanting to enjoy food, as well as wanting to show my love and care through cooking. There are so many comfort foods, delicious stews, and soups that feel like a hug during winter. So, I’ve been trying to make some wonderful new recipes and fall in love with cooking! What have you been wanting to try?
2. Get Outside
Get outside, not only for the sunshine but for the fresh air and calming effect nature has on our minds. Being outside helps humans feel grounded because it gives us the opportunity to get out of our heads and instead focus on what our senses perceive in nature. It’s hard to be “in your head” with anxious or sad thoughts when your sensory system is busy processing the various beautiful bird songs, the movement of the squirrels and birds hopping from branch to branch in the trees, the way the cool air feels against our skin, the way our breath fogs in front of us, the way the sunshine glitters off the snow. All of these beautiful sensory inputs help us be present and in the moment. It is a brilliant way of being more mindful and being proactive in stopping anxious or sad feelings when your mind starts playing them on loop.
Easy ways to get outside- spend 5 minutes in your yard or on your porch each morning with a warm blanket wrapped around you and a warm coffee or hot chocolate in your hand to keep you warm. It’s a brisk but peaceful and lovely way to wake up on sunny days. Take your dog for a 10-minute walk every day during the sunlight hours. These are all relatively easy ways to get yourself outside and enjoy all the benefits of sunlight on a regular basis in the winter.
4. Celebrate Exclusively Winter Moments
There are so many wonderful things we can celebrate in winter. Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, there’s an occasion or holiday you can enjoy! Hanukkah, Christmas, the winter solstice, New Year’s Eve, and Chinese New Year are just some of the holidays you can celebrate during the winter season. For example, winter solstice marks the day with the least amount of sunlight during the year. It represents hope because the next day begins the season of daylight hours becoming longer, days becoming brighter, and the sun is celebrated for all of the wonderful things it does for us. What a wonderful thing to recognize, appreciate, and have fun with!
Celebrating isn’t just for holidays though. Think of any special moments that only happen during winter and make the most of them. For example, I live in the south, and we only get snow once or twice a year usually. (Some years, none at all!) So, I always try to be intentional when it snows, to actually get outside, enjoy it, play with my dogs in the snow, take photos in the snow, do all the fun snow things that I can only do during winter.
Separate from my New Year’s celebrations, I like to spend a large part of December getting clear on my vision for the new year and determining my intentions over the new year. January is usually spent on enjoying the figurative fresh start and a clean slate- letting myself breathe, have space, let go of old habits and ideas, and allow new energy and ideas to come in. February has Valentine’s Day, of course. But what I find even more fun is the idea of Galentine’s celebrations with your best girlfriends. Coming up with cute little gifts or a fun party or sleepover to celebrate your friendships! Sometimes it’s not about what holidays exist in this season; it’s about finding things to celebrate during the season to make it feel even more special!
Even with the colder, darker, shorter days of winter, there are things you can do to encourage positive mental health and to enjoy the season. I hope you’ve enjoyed these ideas for helping beat the “winter blues”. Leave a comment down below and let me know if you’ll be implementing any of these ideas, or if you already do! I would love to hear how you make the best of winter.
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