Essential Self Care Habits to Combat Winter Blues
My home is rolled up in a thick blanket. I can see a smattering of lights though, like sun shining through holes in the cloth. My hands are cold as I type.
It has been like this for so many weeks and honestly, I’m tired. I’m guessing you feel the same way. There is a smattering of light in the darkness though. Sure, it’s hard to eliminate Winter blues. But there is a way to mitigate them.
So here they are: my essential self care habits to combat Winter blues. Some items may surprise you!
#1 Clear the Clutter
There’s nothing like that fresh year January feeling, especially after taking down the Christmas decorations. Of course, it can be bittersweet. But after all the excess of the festive season, a fresh and clean home is just the thing for over stimulated souls.
It may seem odd to have decluttering in a habit list, when decluttering is usually seen as a once-in-a-while project. In reality, decluttering is a life-long process. To approach it otherwise can lead to overwhelm and a feeling of failure.
Instead, set a timer for 15 minutes every day (or whatever other time works with your lifestyle), and declutter a little at a time. My husband Peter and I have a permanent charity bag that gets filled and donated at least once a month. This helps us keep on top of the clutter and we’ve found that it has become easier over time.
The benefits?
A more spacious feeling home
Clearer headspace
Less time spent managing stuff
Less time cleaning
When you give your home a hug, you give yourself a hug. And what better self care is there than that?
#2 Go Outside
Cold water, running under the mist and over skin. A wind that flushes lifeblood back into winter-paled cheeks. And that rare sunshine that, now and then, breaks out of her cloudy den!
When you feel low, go outside.
Perhaps, choose to do so first thing in the morning. A bracing walk, even in the wind and rain, is so good for the body and mind. Even if it’s hard to get out, you almost certainly won’t regret it.
During daylight hours is best of course, but even in the dark is better than not at all.
I recommend choosing a local park or woodland, and taking the time to gaze at the trees and other plants, and to listen to the birds. It’s a good and healthy way to get out of your own head, and remember how much wonder and beauty there is even in the dark season.
If you’re unable to leave your home, you could sit near an open window for a similar effect. Placing plants or a vase of flowers on the sill plus a bird feeder right outside is a wonderful way to draw nature to yourself.
Wendell Berry puts it best:
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
#3 Warm Your Core
Perhaps this self care habit should go without saying!
But last year, I sat working at my desk, shivering through sub par heating. As a result, I became stiff and kept coming down with colds. Not exactly a mood booster! As I don’t intend to repeat the experience if it can be helped, keeping warm is high up on my self care list this year.
Here are my favourite ways:
taking regular hot baths with Epsom salts
visiting a sauna at a spa or gym
drinking hot tea throughout the day
wearing a hot water bottle under a dressing gown
#4 Take Vitamin D
Your winter blues could be caused by something as simple as a vitamin D deficiency.
Up here in Scotland, there isn’t enough sunshine to meet our vitamin D needs throughout the winter months. So, by developing a habit of taking daily vitamin D supplements, you can ensure that your body’s needs are met. You can also meal plan to ensure that your diet includes foods rich in vitamin D such as mushrooms, eggs, oily fish and meat.
#5 Use a SAD Lamp
A SAD lamp is a common treatment option for seasonal depression. It’s a bright light box which simulates sunshine, thus triggering serotonin, the mood boosting chemical, in the brain.
I’ve personally found that using this for an hour or two in the morning not only helps to wake me up first thing, but also regulates my sleep! When I use it in the morning, I always find that I fall asleep really quickly once evening comes.
#6 Don’t Set a New Year’s Resolution
Seriously. Don’t even bother.
Admittedly, this is a bit of an anti-habit. But let’s be realistic for a second.
It’s just past mid-winter. Your nutrition reserves are likely at a low. If you’ve indulged in more alcohol and sugar than usual, your energy levels won’t be at their best. If you’ve been staying up late and sleeping in, you’ve essentially got jet lag to shake off.
And yet, for some reason, society has decided that now - when we’re feeling our worst - is a good time to set new year’s resolutions. Is it any wonder only around 8% of people keep them?
Yes, it’s natural to get an initial spike of motivation when you hear the bells. But motivation won’t keep you going. Habit will. And habit takes time to plan and build.
The pressure of resolutions plus the disappointment of failing them is not going to help your Winter blues. There is a much more effective way to change.
#7 Take Time to Dream!
One of the best ways to care for those we love is to listen to them. So, why not also take time to listen to yourself?
Instead of setting a new year’s resolution, take time to dream. This is a much more fun and inspiring way to approach transformation, in my opinion. It’s a beautiful way to remind yourself of your true passions and the things that fill you with joy.
Some ways to do this:
Journal, describing your dream life a year from now
Daydream
Write down your goals for different areas of your life (e.g. fitness, faith, family, finance)
Create a vision board
Below is my personal vision board I made for 2024. One of the key things I want to change is my mindset. Though the words below are things I desire to cultivate in greater measure in my life, I felt uncomfortable writing some of them. Unworthy.
I’ve realized that I have a habit of self sabotaging out of a fear of both failure and success.
So, by habitually looking at this visual reminder of the ways I want to feel and how I want to experience life, I hope to change my mindset.
2024 Vision Board, Images not my own
I hope these self care habits help to combat your Winter blues! I know it’s not easy, but just remember that this too shall pass.
The sun will shine again.
And Spring will be here before you know it.
