Mental Clarity & Beat Winter Brain Fogg
No matter where you are on the wellness journey, whether you’re a master yogi or just ran your first 5k, one thing remains true: Keeping a mind clear isn’t easy!
We’ve all heard of the “winter blues. It’s normal for us to feel a bit down in winter. We often leave our homes when it’s dark, return when it’s dark, and more often than not, it’s too wet to enjoy the outdoor activities we experience in summer, such as water sports, hiking, or going to the beach.
Above all, your mind will do almost anything to prevent you from settling into yourself, at least at first. The truth is that our inner worlds don’t get the attention they deserve because we usually experience infinite appealing distractions.
One way of feeling more centered and less anxious about what’s going on around you is spending time by yourself. It doesn’t necessarily have to be meditation. It can be mindful like walking, taking a bath, or doing something repetitive like kitting, flowing through asana – really anything that brings your mind to rest.
Here’s a crème the la crème series of strategies from experts who have figured out ways to quiet the mind effectively, combining science and pleasure in a way that makes accessing the quiet mind more alluring.
Table of Contents
Symptoms & Causes of Winter Blues
Seasonal Affective Disorder or Winter Blues is a type of depression or depression-like symptoms affected by the change in seasons. It acts through low energy, increased fatigue, and low motivation, and brain fog usually begins around the same time each year in the lead-up to winter.
Winter blues differs from depression because symptoms only persist when there is less light. Those who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder experience normal mental health during other seasons. On the other hand, severe SAD can include the inability to get out of bed each morning, nausea, migraines, and withdrawal from friends and family.
Recent findings hint that over 6% of the U.S population is expected to experience some degree of SAD. In Scandinavian countries, where differences in sunlight between summer and winter are more prominent – this figure jumps to nearly 15%.
There is no medical consensus as to what triggers the sinter blues. However, several theories revolve around one key factor: lack of daylight or vitamin D.
In summer, it’s easier to obtain your Vitamin D straight from the source, but it’s virtually impossible to naturally increase your vitamin D intake in the winter.
More often than not, we spend far too much time indoors and when we go outside to relish the fine weather, UV protection products prevent us from getting all the sun’s goodness. It is concerning how modern living has altered the total share of vitamin D we generally absorb.
How Do I Get Mental Clarity?
If things feel a little though ad foggy right now or you’re worried about the months that lie ahead, here are some suggestions to try out – it’s time to look after yourself.
Break Negative Thought Cycles
It’s all too easy to get all tangled up in negative and destructive thought patterns that can negatively influence the way we feel, think, and behave. But knowing when this happens can help you your mental health and wellbeing.
The greatest of the wellbeing coaches advise on the “Catch it, check it, change it” approach, which helps us reframe thinking around the perceived problems.
If you’re aware of the occurring thought and check it by investigating why you feel this way, you’re in a better position to alter the pattern and try to replace it with a more realistic one to find a way out.
Take the Right Supplements
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Vitamin D
Unless you live in a place where large areas of your skin get some sun exposure all year round, you almost certainly are not obtaining the vitamin D you need to maintain a positive mood during the winter.
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Humic and Fulvic Acids
Dealing with low levels of energy? Don’t fret. If you’ve been going through a particularly stressful time in your life, you might want to add liquid minerals to your winter wellness routine. Not only do these nutrients help protect against neurodegenerative ailments, but they can also act as an effective energy booster.
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Fish Oil
Fish oil may be an important supplement for treating winter blues. Take Iceland. It is one of the northernmost states in the world but has one with the lowest rates of a serious form of seasonal depression or winter blues. Iceland people are believed to be huge fish consumption – approximately 225 pounds per person per year.
Prioritize Those Zs
Stress and sleep are closely linked, and there’s never been a more important time to focus on getting enough rest. While sleep problems usually diminish within a month, longer stretches of poor sleep can easily affect our lives.
If you’re not getting enough sleep during winter, you can improve your chances by sticking to a sleep routine where possible – ditching technology, heading to bed, and rising at almost the same time. If you’re lying in bed unable to sleep, don’t force it. Try doing something relaxing, such as meditating or writing, and return to bed when you feel sleepier.
