Stress busting tips for winter

Whether you are a true sufferer from SAD (seasonal affective disorder) syndrome or whether you just get a touch of the winter blues, winter can simply be a depressing time of year and as such stress levels seem to rise.

It seems that we forget that feeling positive and energetic is our normal, natural state and the way we actually should feel all the time. We accept the gloomy mood that comes with winter and the stress it brings and it all affects our general, physical health as well as our mental state.

But there are ways of gaining positive mental energy and diffusing the stress that the winter months can bring:

Eat ‘good mood’ foods
Spinach, sweet potatoes, turkey, carrots, broccoli, citrus fruits, eggs, salmon, and almonds are loaded with the vitamins and minerals that have been shown to help the body produce mood-boosting neurochemicals.

Sign up for a movement class
Yoga, T’ai chi, Pilates and strength training have all been shown to be excellent ways to counteract low-level depression.

Herbs can help
Nature also has a lot to offer when it comes to stress. Try Hypericum (St John’s Wort) - well known for its mood-lifting properties. 15 drops (0.6ml) of tincture two to three times a day can help you cope with the bleak mid-winter. Remember to check with a healthcare professional before using Hypericum if you are taking prescribed medication.

You could also try Passiflora - a wonderful herb that has been described as a ‘hug in a bottle’. Its gentle sedative action on the central nervous system helps to alleviate nervous tension, depression and anxiety.

Avena sativa (oats) is a plant rich in the B vitamins that are essential for a healthy nervous system. Us Scots with our long dark winter days, have long counteracted the negative feelings with a plate of porridge each morning! It is a wonderful tonic for the nerves and has a calming and restorative effect.

Chase away blues with blue light
Fifteen minutes of exposure to blue light therapy has been shown to elevate moods by increasing serotonin levels. Safe and inexpensive self-care light devices are available online.
Walk in the sun

Even in the winter, exposure to direct sunlight will readjust your brain chemicals and instantly change your mood. It works almost immediately. Of course this is easier said that done in our climate so the trick is to seize the moment and when the sun does shine, find any excuse you can to get out in it. A walk on a crisp winter’s day with blue sky and sunshine is simply one of the best cures for stress.

Increase your aerobic exercise
Whether the sun shines or not, the walking will improve the stress levels. Just a few minutes a day of walking can boost DHEA levels, which helps to moderate mood. In fact this naturally produced hormone - dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is said to have many wonderful benefits, but in particular it helps with the ability to cope with stress and therefore any increase in it is good. The amount we have declines as we age and perhaps explains why we generally get stressed more easily as we get older.

Get plenty sleep
Stress and anxiety can lead to sleeplessness, but it also works the other way around too. You can easily get impatient and aggravated with small annoyances when you don’t get enough shut-eye. Try to go to bed at a decent hour and get up at the same time every day; don’t eat a lot of food, drink alcohol or exercise within three hours of bedtime and try to block out worries by picturing yourself in a relaxing situation.

Self-administer acupressure
It may perhaps be helpful to get some professional acupressure but if money is tight, you can try simple acupressure yourself with adding stress due to financial worries. Simply locate the points one finger-width below and one finger-width to both the right and left of the base of your skull. Press for 1-3 minutes. Locate the point four finger-widths below your left kneecap, and one finger-width to the outside of your shin. Hold for 1-3 minutes.

Spread around some love
It’s a romantic notion to suggest that love heals or that hugs can help with stress, but actually scientists have confirmed that there is truth to the notion. Hug a child, take an old person out to lunch, call up an old friend, snuggle with your partner. Every time you give love, love will bounce back to you. You’ll feel better instantly.

Go have some fun
Simple as it sounds, laughing and doing fun activities is an easy way to chase away the blues. Even though it’s winter and the rain is falling, you can still find ways of having fun. For everyone it’s different. It may be a comedy club? Dancing? Playing board games with your kids? Whatever makes you smile, just do it!

Ditch the coffee
A recent survey has shown that people who consume caffeine feel more stressed and produce higher levels of stress hormones such as cortisol all day long. Not only will these hormones keep you edgy, they can also lead to increased fat deposition at the worst time of the year. Stress may lead you to caffeine, but this will only in turn lead to more stress so try to cut back on the caffeine if you can. Try warming herbal teas instead.

Avoid Christmas stress!
With winter comes Christmas and that in itself brings a whole barrow load of stress which can not be dealt with in one paragraph. Suffice to say, all the stress busting tips to use generally need to be applied in particular around the festive season. With the build up to Christmas lasting longer and longer, the stress stars earlier and includes everything from financial worries to what to feed the troops on the day and where to find the time to do everything. The simple answer is to say, just remember it is only one day and you must delegate to everyone around you to make that day happen. Don’t take it all on yourself.

(Back to Positive mental health)