Do you have a mental health strategy for the coming winter? 🌱 💪🧠 🌈
- emspence99
- Mar 4, 2015
- 3 min read
The clocks have gone back, it’s getting darker earlier and will only get colder, which makes me ask myself and you – do you have a mental health strategy for the coming winter? 🌱 💪🧠 🌈 ❤️ 🔥
I went to go for my river run last week and just didn’t want to – which is really unusual as it’s my therapy! I know I need to do it to keep me physically and mentally well (I went and loved it) so it really made me realise I needed a strategy for the next few months!
Whilst you might not get full blown seasonal affective disorder (SAD), the time leading up to Christmas can be stressful and it’s easy to get into habits that aren’t healthy in the colder times (staying in (so lack of fresh air), less or no exercising, isolating ourselves more, eating and drinking too much etc). So let’s keep our minds and motivation resilient, stay balanced and have a think about a strategy where you could:
1. 🌞 Prioritise sunlight - shorter days mean less exposure to natural light, reducing serotonin levels, affecting our mood. So make sure you get outside during the day (if possible, even a 10-15 minute walk/stretches outside can make a big difference). You could also take some vitamin D supplements.
2. 💪 Stay physically active – it’s a proven mood booster due to the release of endorphins. While winter weather can make it harder to stay active, you could rug up and get outside or do some indoors exercise (eg home workouts inc yoga (online workout platforms and apps offer a range of guided routines that you can follow at home indoor) or join an indoor exercise class (great for connectivity to others – also great for mental health)).
3. 🌻 Pre-empt any stresses – being proactive and getting in front of them for them to be less overwhelming eg Christmas can be financially or emotionally stressful; you could start preparing and saving earlier, perhaps delegate etc. The holidays can also disrupt our routine (very important for mental health) and might throw us off slightly – can you continue some part of your routine amidst this?
4. ❤️ Speaking of routine, have a good one! Make sure you’re getting consistent sleep times (poor sleep can worsen symptoms of poor mental health), include self-care activities that nourish and recharge you, and have a good morning routine that might include gratitude or meditation.
5. 🌊 Be conscious of your diet and water intake – it’s so easy to have those lovely, rich meals in winter that make you not want to do much in the afternoon. Make sure you’re still having your food groups esp nuts, seeds, legumes etc for energy.
6. 🧘 Stay connected – it’s really important to be proactive about staying connected even during the dark, chilly months so schedule meet ups to avoid loneliness or at least some facetimes.
So there we go! Mine will be continuing to exercise as much as possible in the fresh air by habit staking (doing a run after school drop off etc), diarising seeing friends and spending conscious time with the kids doing fun things.
So happy Monday – I wonder if you can spend a moment this week thinking about a strategy if you don’t have one already?!