Hello everyone! I took a much needed holiday and am back. I hope everyone enjoyed theirs.:)
It's usually around this time when the excitement of holidays are over, winter blues, or even Seasonal Affective Disorder and the reality of it all starts to sink in. I suffer from S.A.D, even in mild winters, though it's obviously limited then. So, I've become a somewhat informal expert on how to feel better throughout the winter months.
If you can't move to a tropical year-round sunny climate then here are some tips for you that I have used to get me through those nasty winter seasons.
1.) Open your curtains. Yes, it's probably gloomy outside most days but opening every single curtain in the house will help you make the most of daylight. Sure it would be much more effective if it was full on sun outside everyday but exposing yourself to the daylight everyday, like you do in Summer, helps your brain to
make more serotonin which helps enhance your mood and helps you feel more alert.
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| Erin from Two Story Cottage shows you a great DIY on how to maximize light with your curtains. via HERE |
2.) Optimize vitamin D. By now every physician has hopped on the D train but for good reason. Vitamin D not only helps protect you from colds and the flu but it helps keep your precious serotonin levels elevated that you just made by exposing yourself to all of that extra sunlight. The only thing is, if you are going to supplement with vitamin D, make sure you take it's companion, vitamin K2, and get your physician to monitor your levels.
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| These are my favorite, and so far most effective, vitamin D drops for myself. Dr. Mercola has great info on his site about how to properly take Vitamin D and it's companion vitamin K2. |
3.) Get outdoors every day. I mean every day. This really helps for obvious reasons that I listed above, but I've noticed the effects are stronger and make for less depression. Bundle up and take the dog for a walk, or grab a friend and go for a beautiful scenic walk, and enjoy a nice conversation.
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| This is a print you can buy at deviantart. It' called Winter Walks by Buble. |
4.) Make an Outdoor Oasis. Pantone is not the only one with a green fetish this year. Grab a ton of evergreen plants and winter foliage, put it everywhere on your porch. It's even better if it's windowed in but don't let that stop you! Literally fill the porch with greenery! Trust me you really can't go overboard with this. Put two outdoor heaters on your porch if there are no windowed in walls, the toastier you are, the longer you stay outside. Let's face it, lack of sun is not the only thing that contributes to mental fatigue in the winter months. Lack of greenery and blue sky have a lot to do with it as well. Now bring your favorite comfy chair out on the porch and down comforter. Add a little side table and your favorite hot drink or soup to help keep you toasty, and read a good book or watch some shows on your mobile device (make sure you take the chair back inside and bring it out only when you're ready or you'll freeze your biscuits off. : D).
Now obviously, unless you have a windowed in porch, this will have to be done on the milder days of winter, but it really helps!
5.) Bring Spring/Summer indoors. Just because it's Winter doesn't mean everything has to be brown and deep purple. Make
several colorful pillows, or pick some inexpensive ones up from Home Goods. Toss them around in the bedrooms and around the living room.
This is not your average tired suggestion to add a few measly pops of color in
your home. I mean if your winter blues are mild, that may help, but I
like to break out the big guns. It's time to taste the rainbow ladies and gentlemen. If you want to go all of the way, explore beautiful pastel colors or bright summer ones, and paint some rooms in the house or maybe just a focal wall. DIY or buy some colorful curtains. Then, pick up some live house plants from your local hardware store and fresh flowers. If you can't do fresh than try silk. Your brain will be fooled by the extra greenery and color helping to take some of the edge off of the blues!
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| Winter blues? Not in this chic and colorful living room! via DigsDigs |
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| via Pinterest I looked for an hour at least for the original source of this. I'll download tin-eye and see if I can find it later. In the mean time if this is your photo let me know in the comments and I'll give the proper credit. |
6.) Watch the News and Plan Your Escape. Ok, so this sounds more like a prison break. Finding out what days will be sunny and planning on an outdoor excursion, like a long drive that day, will do wonders for your mood. Make sure to take advantage of every sunny day available.
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| Thelma and Louise. Ok, this isn't really the road trip you want to take. |
7.) Time for holiday/vacation. Plan your vacation for winter months. It started making sense to me that it's craziness for me to suffer from S.A.D and waste precious holiday time in the warm months. After all, I had warm, sunny, awesomeness in my locale during the summer months.
It's best to save vacation time for when I really needed it. My husband and I usually did before we moved to our recent location. Book a hotel and go!
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| National Lampoon's Vacation. |
8.) Not Enough Time or Money for a Full On Vacation? Try a Mini-Vacation. We've done this, too. If you have relatives, like we did before they moved out of the country, that expect a yearly visit, and they live in a sunny locale,
plan visits for the Winter and stay at their home if possible to cut down on costs. This of course works depending on the family. And of course if you can't go that far away, plan something for the next state or two over. Research online for something exciting to do that's within reason. Just a change of scenery and planning something new can help elevate your mood!
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| Meet the Fockers. This movie series has special significance to me. My mother-in-law recently passed away (which is hard to even write) and every time I would watch one of these movies my husband and I laughed how she was Deniro's character and I was Ben Stiller (It really wasn't so funny when it was happening). This is lovingly in memory of her. Remember the lie detector scene? Well she did almost the exact thing to me before there ever was a meet the Parents! :) She was the original Jack Burns. She was the most physically beautiful woman and one of the best mom's and grandmothers a child could hope for. She will be truly, sorely, missed. | |
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9.) Try Scenic Window Films. Trust me if you have S.A.D you will be willing to try anything and surprisingly this helps! They have ones with blue skies and white clouds, beach scenes, greenery, and just about anything you can imagine. Place them on a few windows and what light is available will shine through and make for a happier "view."
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| This window film is made for a patio. You can select one that can be seen through or one that can not be seen through, yet it will still allow light in. The neighbors can not see the image from the outside. The one above is partial privacy. |
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| Can you imagine this window cling on your kitchen window while you're washing dishes? So cheerful! Shop around, some are very realistic and some are not. I know I've seen them at Lowe's before as well. This particular one can be found here. |
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| This is a different window cling than the one above. You may find this window cling here. |
10.) It's All in the Lighting. There
is nothing more offensive to my S.A.D eyes in the home then being
deprived of gorgeous sunlight and having fluorescent bulbs throughout
the house replacing what light I do get.
Install
incandescent lights and dimmer switches everywhere, making a beautiful
more natural glow. You can also try natural bees wax candles, or himalayan salt lamps to give a soft glow. I'm not sure why, but it really helps. Also, the himalayan salt lamps and bees wax candles are
said to release negative ions in the air, much like after a thunderstorm, or at the beach. I believe you would need
several to get the effect from the ions, though.
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| This
is from himalayansaltshop. They come with dimmer switches, at least the one I ordered
from Mercola.com does. It makes lovely light and helps purify the air.
Make sure you don't put it on a laminate type table, it warped my table!
Also, don't keep batteries or electronics near by. |
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11.) Play Nature Sounds.
Let's get real, with S.A.D you tend to need a heavy arsenal, and in
Spring and Summer it's a combo of sunlight, greenery, florals, scents,
and sounds that really brings the senses alive. Grab summer and spring
sounds and play them throughout the day and/or night.
Just
the soothing sounds of chirping birds, thunderstorms, and ocean waves
can do so much good in getting you from Winter to Spring.
Try a free service on Pandora.com instead of buying your own.
12.) Stock Up for Next Winter.
Some experts say the amount of serotonin you have in the Winter may be
affected by your exposure to light from the previous Summer. I'm so
glad they agree, because my body has been telling me that for years! I
noticed if I had a hot long Summer where I got plenty of day time in, I
had a much easier Winter that year!
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