Julie’s Winter Season Survival Guide for Happy Brains
Winter in a temperate climate can be a time when our brains suffer and depression or anxieties run rampant. The simultaneous decrease in daylight and temperature can affect our brains more than we realize. Just as the cold and daylight slip away, so can our sense of mental well-being if we are not proactively caring for ourselves in some specific ways. Here are some of my go-to activities and practices for staying mentally resilient as winter sets in:
- Stay physically active. Whether that means braving the cold weather and getting outside for walks or runs, or whether you get yourself to a gym, the resulting benefits on our mental health and the well being our brains experience is often instantaneous. Although it is more challenging to get out and do physical activities in the winter, the payoff can be huge for our mental health and clarity.
- Try a Happy Light! Seasonal Affective Disorder (also known as SAD) is a very common occurrence for humans as the daylight wanes and the darkness sets in. Not only are we more likely to spend our time indoors with artificial lights, we are also less likely to get sunshine casually. Buying a happy light (a specially designed bright light that you sit in front of for a period of time) can be one way that we can help queue our circadian rhythms into working in a healthier way. It is recommended that people in northern climes use a happy light for a minimum of 20 minutes a day first thing in the morning. This helps to give our brains a visual queue that the sun has risen and we should be awake.
- SAD sidenote: SAD is a type of depression characterized by its recurrent seasonal pattern, with symptoms lasting about 4 to 5 months per year. Therefore, the signs and symptoms of SAD include those associated with major depression, and some specific symptoms that differ for winter-pattern and summer-pattern SAD. Not every person with SAD will experience all of the symptoms listed below.
- Symptoms of major depression may include:
- Feeling depressed most of the day, nearly every day
- Losing interest in activities you once enjoyed
- Experiencing changes in appetite or weight
- Having problems with sleep
- Feeling sluggish or agitated
- Having low energy
- Feeling hopeless or worthless
- Having difficulty concentrating
- Having frequent thoughts of death or suicide
- For winter-pattern SAD, additional specific symptoms may include:
- Oversleeping (hypersomnia)
- Overeating, particularly with a craving for carbohydrates
- Weight gain
- Social withdrawal (feeling like “hibernating”)
- Specific symptoms for summer-pattern SAD may include:
- Trouble sleeping (insomnia)
- Poor appetite, leading to weight loss
- Restlessness and agitation
- Anxiety
- Episodes of violent behavior
- Take supplements like Vitamin D, Oregano, and NAC. Humans cannot produce their own vitamin D without sunlight hitting our skin. Vitamin D is a key part of keeping our bones strong and our immune system healthy. You can get supplements of vitamin D or find it in mushrooms. I recommend Oregano for an immune system boost. Oregano has qualities that can keep you healthy in the dark wintery months. Similarly I recommend NAC (N-Acetyl-Cysteine) to help you stay healthy, heal, and to help prevent mental health issues. NAC is a key component in your body being able to make and replenish glutathione, an antioxidant that is very good for your overall health.
- Keep up or start healthy eating habits! Winter is a great time to reevaluate our diets and readjust them. Getting plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats in the winter can help us to keep our bodies clean and our energy high. Look up new recipes and feed your gut so that you can have a happy brain and body. Check out my blogs on Prebiotics And A Healthy Gut as well as the The Gut-Brain Axis & You!
- Practice Hygge! Check out my blog on the Danish practice of hygge, a way of living cozy, comfortable, and gratefully.
- Have a support system and stay connected. Establish a support network of friends and people in your life that you can lean on when you need something, even if it is just a friendly listening ear. Our support network can help us to get involved in new activities, or invite us over to socialize.
- Plan a get-together with someone in your social support network. Even a planned phone call or facetime chat can be fun and good for your brain. A friend of mine and I like to exchange postcards frequently. We send a few postcards to each other every month. This practice has provided a lot of nice surprises when I go to my mailbox. Even if it is a small message, remembering that others think of me and that I am important to them has value.
- Focus on traditions. Think of what traditions you grew up with and those that you created on your own. Whether it be through practicing certain activities, decorating for holidays, or making food that you traditionally have at certain times of the year, your traditions help to brighten and ground you throughout the seasons.
- Find ways to serve others. The best way to get out of your head and heal from your own problems is through service. When we think about others and work to serve their needs something magical happens, it brightens our own souls. We are interesting creatures, in that we can best fix our own problems by helping to fix the problems of those around us. When we put effort into thinking about others’ needs and work to fulfill them, we find that our lives become enriched and our days have more meaning.
- Look for opportunities to serve causes that resonate with you. Volunteer at places or events that speak to your heart. Simply spending some of your time with someone less fortunate than yourself can help to lift your own spirits and burdens. Once we can get outside ourselves we often realize how good we actually have it. We see that the challenges we face are easier to bear and that we are blessed. As Helen Keller once said, “I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man with no feet.”
- Go on adventures, locally and afar! There have been a couple of years where I was lucky enough to be able to take a Hawaii trip in early November because that is when my birthday hits. Because my birthday happens when winter is starting, I always think of it as the beginning of my new year. As such, I make new goals, set new intentions, and try to set the tone for how I want my year to turn out.
- If Hawaii is not an option for you, take a trip to somewhere fun that is affordable and more manageable. Wherever you are at there is always something fun to do locally. I enjoy attending tree lightings, festivals, food events, and concerts. Planning fun things to look forward to in the winter can help chase those winter blues away.
- Drink tea! I drink TONS of tea. I have a lot of different varieties and I enjoy making tea a part of my daily routine and ritual. There is something about creating a mug of liquid goodness that helps to ground me and brings me comfort year-round. I have several tea shops that I highly recommend and love to share those with people. One of my favorite ones that I buy teas and spices from is actually located in Anchorage, Alaska. What better place to find spices and teas for my winter survival than Summit & Spice Tea shop? Not into tea? Try their hamburger spice mix or wicked pasta mix… I am addicted!
- Lastly, enjoy broths, soups, and stews! I am lucky to have several friends and clients who are masterful chefs and wonderful human beings. These queens of the kitchen keep me and my taste buds happy all year, and in particular during the winter months. Broths, soups, and stews are truly good for your body and soul. Getting cozy with a warm bowl of soup on a wintery day is one of life’s precious pleasures.
- Thanks to my friend Sally and another friend Lara, I am able to experience the talents of others and their masterful creations. Just writing this is making me crave some of Sally’s cheese cookies, essentially deliciously delightful cheese biscuits that pair well with soup and make your soul sing! While we are on the topic of drool-worthy food, my mind is drawn to Lara’s curries and family recipe pork butt… pardon me while I wipe my chin.
