I don’t know about you but I STRUGGLE in the winter. Me and cold just do not mix well.

Firstly, it destroys my skin…and my hair and nails. And these gloomy, gray, overcast days really do put a damper in my mood.

There’s a name for that — Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD (how fitting). It’s a type of depression that comes and goes with the cold:

+ Irritability

+ Feeling tired, sluggish

+ Difficulty getting along

+ Really touchy to criticism or rejection

+ Arms or legs feel heavy

+ Sleeping longer than normal

+ A change in appetite, such as craving more carbs

+ weight gain

For me I see it as if the seasons were like the four phases of your cycle. Winter would be our period (obviously), Spring would be our follicular phase, summer would be our ovulatory phase, and fall would be the luteal phase.

How have I chosen to deal with it this year? I set myself some winter goals:

+ eating a diet of whole foods, cutting out the refined sugar and the processed junk.

+ moving my body at least 20 minutes a day (sometimes you just need a little midday dance party)

+ getting out of the house and spending time with friends and family

+ finding the sun when it is out (seriously, find it, close your eyes, take a deep breath and soak it in, savor it when it does come out)

+ don’t sit in the dark (turn a light on! I’ll catch myself sitting in the dark after the sun has gone down and if I don’t turn on a light I’m ready for bed by 5:30)

+ take a few extra minutes with skincare first thing in the morning and before going to bed (rub in that moisturizer and give yourself a mini massage)

+ meditating (elevates my mood and helps me process)

+ journaling (I don’t have a therapist, I have journals)

Like with my period I don’t view winter as something that needs to be fought. I used to protest winter by not owning a winter coat. And who was that hurting? Yup, only me.

How have you learned to coexist with winter?