How to feel your best you in the dark weeks of January, writes Jess Hodge
If you’ve coasted into 2021 feeling slimmer, healthier, more optimistic and excited about the forthcoming year, you are probably in a minority. Clearly the ongoing pandemic is challenging the best of us when it comes to keeping our spirits up, but even without this, the darker days and nights caused by the shorter daylight hours of winter, can have a huge effect on how we feel. It’s not good for us or for those around us to feel perpetually negative, so it’s time to take action.
The great outdoors
Spending some time outdoors each day is crucial to tackling winter blues. Exercise and laughter both stimulate and boost endorphins, those wonderful feel-good chemicals in our bodies that help to lift our mood. Furthermore, spending an hour or two away from the news and from the same four walls distracts you from negative feelings, not just for the duration of the time outside, but through the rest of the day too.
It’s not all about you
Our social lives have been considerably curtailed since March 2020 and even if the whole hospitality sector was able to open up overnight, your finances might keep you at home anyway. However, contact with other people is so important, even for those that consider themselves a bit of an introvert.
When you are feeling down, it’s too easy to imagine that your friends and family won’t be interested in hearing from you, or that you have nothing interesting to say. Video calls are a real blessing for distanced interactions, but even just a phone call will cheer you.
Of course, if you can do something outdoors and meet face to face, even better. Don’t feel this has to be for hours either – instead of a phone call, a short walk around the block for an in-person catch-up is likely to find conversation flowing more easily. Even if you have nobody to meet on a particular day, just go somewhere where there are other people – a park, the seaside or one of the National Trust gardens.
Maybe it’s really SAD
Over two million people in the UK are affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The low levels of light during the winter months can cause a range of symptoms, from slowing down and lacking energy, right through to severe depression. Other symptoms include feeling gloomy, lethargic and experiencing feelings of being unable to carry out our normal routine. Not wanting to go outdoors, loss of libido and craving sweet carbohydrates are also indicators of SAD.
Light therapy has been shown to be helpful for many sufferers and is easy to access in the form of a lightbox which mimics natural sunlight and can be used daily. But any exposure to light will help: a lunchtime walk, sitting near a window at work if you can will help. You could even consider using a mirror by a window to increase the light in the room.
Read all about it… or not
Reading about ‘the blues’ can help as it’ll reassure you that you aren’t on your own. A problem shared is a problem halved” as the saying goes.
On the other hand, if social media makes you feel like everyone else is living their best life, switch it off. It might be real, but very often it’s a false front or a humblebrag (wrapping a boast up in a self-deprecating statement such as ‘I’m so tired today after my 26-mile bike ride’).
Don’t ignore it
If none of the ideas above work for you, and you still feel really down for no discernible reason (or even if you have reason for that matter), don’t assume it’ll just disappear. Get in touch with your GP or Samaritans (samaritans.org).
Summer’s coming
OK, admittedly that’s stretching it a bit in January. But each day has been getting a few minutes longer since the 21st December so there is – literally – light at the end of the tunnel.
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