How to boost your winter wellbeing
How can you counter the winter blues? Check out our tips on how to boost your wellbeing during the colder months.
HOW TO BOOST YOUR WELLBEING IN WINTER
By Joyce Chong
Winter is a time when we often let our wellbeing habits slide. Those lifestyle factors that make for positive wellbeing in summer - exercise, socialising with friends, healthier diets, and a sunnier and more positive outlook – tend to take a back seat come winter. Faced with shorter days (less natural light) and colder temperatures, it’s easy to fall into unhelpful patterns and neglect your wellbeing. Mood can suffer, and the winter blues can sometimes tip into Seasonal Affective Disorder. So, today we’re look at 3 Problems for Wellbeing in Winter and what we can do to boost our wellbeing.
PROBLEM 1: Poorer health during flu season
SOLUTION: Being physically healthy is an important component to overall wellbeing. Think of winter as an endurance race – the goal is to stay well for a 3-month stretch. So, it’s time to double down on the building blocks of health by eating well, exercising, and getting enough sleep (for more general tips on how to stay healthy see this post). And, of course, with cold and flu germs being in plentiful supply during winter, it's good to practice good hygiene.
And should you happen to fall ill, be sure to get proper rest rather than propping yourself up only to run your body down again.
Problem 2: Being less active in winter
SOLUTION: Rethink how you work on your wellbeing. Because there's less light, more rain, and cooler weather, staying active in winter may require a bit more thought and preparation. Try the following:
Get over the psychological barrier in order to get physical. Often the biggest barrier is in your mind, so make it a non-negotiable that you will be more active.
Move your exercise indoors where possible (e.g. Perhaps join a gym for the winter months or use the stairs at work) so that the weather becomes a non-issue.
Choose wellbeing activities that are not just physical in nature. Focus on building positive emotions (do something nice for yourself), get into a state of flow (engagement) where you’re really engrossed in an indoor hobby or activity (for more on engagement check out our post on PERMA: The Ingredients for Resilience and Wellbeing), or nurturing positive relationships.
And, of course, the PERFECT way to boost your wellbeing in winter is with our 14-day Wellbeing Challenge! The wellbeing tips in our challenge don’t rely on a perfect sunny day or a spare hour or two… They’re simply 15-minute activities delivered to your inbox each day, and are mostly based indoors, so get cracking and sign up here (just below), or you can learn more about the challenge here.
(You can read Problem 3 for Wellbeing in Winter by scrolling down.)
PROBLEM 3: Feeling blah, feeling down, or feeling depressed
SOLUTION: Winter can be a real dampener on your mood, with a lack of light proposed to be linked to Seasonal Affective Disorder (see this article for more on SAD), so try the following options to boost your mood:
Try to get some (safe) exposure to the sun, or consider light therapy
Increase your exercise because of its positive effects on wellbeing (see this post on Why Exercise Matters for your Mental Health + Wellbeing)
Increase pleasant activities to give yourself a mood boost
Follow these tips and boost your wellbeing this winter, and feel free to reach out if you’d like to book in with one of our team for a tailored plan.
REFERENCES
Grimaldi, S., Englund, A., Partonen, T., Haukka, J., Pirkola, S., Reunanen, A., Aromaa, A., & Lönnqvist, J. (2009). Experienced poor lighting contributes to the seasonal fluctuations in weight and appetite that relate to the metabolic syndrome. Journal of Environmental and Public Health. Doi:10.1155/2009/165013
Spring Clean Your Fitness
We all know that we *should* exercise, but how can we make it a habit?
Spring Clean Your Fitness
If you’ve been following our blog for some time you’ll know that each September we hold our Spring Clean Your Life series.
Well this year we’re doing our own Spring Clean on our website, hence we’ve been a bit quiet on the blogging front. Of course, can still check out last year’s Spring Clean series (starting here with How to Declutter and Find Focus), and if spring cleaning your psychological wellbeing is your target this year why not try our FREE 14-day Wellbeing Challenge?
This spring we're also taking on the challenge to make changes to our physical health, specifically our fitness. After a winter of rainy weather, dark mornings and evenings, is it any wonder that our enthusiasm for exercising may have waned a tiny bit?
Why focus on fitness?
Well, there’s no shortage of research on the importance of exercise for our physical health, but increasingly the link between exercise and our psychological wellbeing is mounting up.
Consider the impact of feeling sluggish and low on energy on your ability to think, react rationally to stress, and on your interactions. In fact, exercise plays a role in managing stress and mood.
For a quick recap, head to this article on Why Exercise Matters for your Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Exercise: How to do a Spring Clean that works?
First up, let’s put some thought into those exercise programs that we've started but didn't sustain, and about those obstacles that stood in the way of us sticking to our plans.
The main thing to aim for is an exercise program that you can stick to in the longer term, and fits in with your routine and existing commitments. When you set these types of goals it increases the likelihood of your new exercise program lasting the distance.
Understand what obstacles stand in the way of sticking to your goals (e.g. a lack of time, lack of accountability) - whatever these obstacles are it’s helpful to anticipate them and plan accordingly.
Keen to find out more? Check out our blog post on How to Set Goals to Maintain Motivation and Stay on Track.
3 quick tips to help you with setting Spring Clean goals for fitness include:
1. Be clear about your motivation to exercise
Why are you exercising?
Is it to keep fit? To help manage stress levels or boost your mood?
Keep focused on your reason for exercising, and use it to shift your self-talk when motivation is low (e.g. “I really don’t feel like exercising now but I know it helps me feel less stressed; in the past when I’ve dragged myself to exercise I’ve felt so much better afterwards.”)
2. Set up a realistic exercise routine and commit to it
Why choose a realistic exercise routine that fits in with your lifestyle and interests?
Because something is more likely to succeed in the longer term when it holds your interest, seems within reach, and motivates you to keep going. By sticking with something over time, you're more likely to form an exercise habit.
So there's no point channeling your efforts into boot camp if you'd much rather be paddle boarding. Or, committing to hour-long jogs if it really is unlikely that you'll find the time to fit it into your routine on a regular basis, and a high intensity workout of a shorter duration may fit your lifestyle better.
Make it simple, make it fit.
3. Be accountable
Whether it’s answering to one friend with whom you exercise, being part of a structured group-based exercise plan, or setting up a team-based challenge at work to take a certain number of steps each day, being accountable can really help get you over the line when it comes to maintaining exercise.
So who will you be accountable to?
But it's all too hard...
Right, so if those 3 small steps aren’t simple enough to help you Spring Clean your Fitness, and you’re after a step-by-step approach, then we need to talk about two things:
1. If running or pilates are what you're in to then check out Front Runner Sports' courses. Their Fresh courses are female-focused and cater to all skill levels, and be sure to also head to their course calendar if you're training for specific running events (Darlington Half Marathon, HBF Run for a Reason, City to Surf).
2. Or, if just getting moving is more your focus then check out this FREE Exercise Jumpstart course by Dr Kevin Yong, GP and blogger over at Eat Move Chill. Dr Kev's Exercise Jumpstart course is a 12-part email course designed to get you moving, and over at his website he blogs about the importance of building up physical health to focus on the challenges of modern life.
So, what are you waiting for? Get moving!
Keep track of your anxiety by monitoring your mood and sticking with healthy habits. Here we outline how the humble planner can help you to achieve your goals when it comes to anxiety.