How do we cultivate a deep calm and overcome winter sadness (Winter Blues)?
I hope you’ve been well! Now, with the days getting shorter and colder, we’re approaching the solstice in a few weeks... the darkest day of the year. Several studies point to an increase in Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is more than winter sadness (Winter Blues) in this season. Symptoms can include:
Feeling depressed, but still able to care for yourself and others.
Having trouble sleeping.
Having less energy than usual, but still able to do your work, schoolwork, or household chores.
These activities can help you feel better:
Spend time outdoors and go for a walk in the sun to recharge with vitamin D.
Rest well and go to bed earlier for the rebuilding that winter calls for.
Eat food rich for the season that nourishes the essence (Jing): nuts, whole grains, black beans, and so on.
Winter Qigong practices and meditation, or other physical-emotional-spiritual activities.
I also feel that self-care in winter is even more important. Personally, I’m coming out of several weeks of caring for members of my family (my partner and my two kids) through serious respiratory illnesses (we even had multifocal pneumonia at home). I barely got sick at all (thanks to the Qigong work :), but I had an enormous energetic drain from caring for others—which made me realize even more how important it is to care for myself.
I’ll leave you a link here to a self-massage recording you can use during winter to care for yourself.
Warm regards, and take good care of yourself!
Want to practice this in your body? Each course works with one element at your own pace, with immediate access. And if you don’t know where to start, write to me.
