Oftentimes, people find themselves feeling a bit down during the winter. Whether it be the cloudy days, fewer hours of sunlight, or own personal reasons, there's something about these couple months that affect a person's mood and overall feelings of happiness. With all this in mind, it can be hard to keep a positive attitude and outlook on the weeks to come. If you're finding yourself feeling like you're in a bit of a rut, try to remember to take the time to focus on your mental health- first and foremost, YOU are number one. If you aren't sure where to start, there are several simple ways that you can make time for yourself to help better your mental health.
1. Meditate!
Meditation can be a great way to open your mind and ground yourself. It gives you time to clear your mind and only focus on what is happening right now. I use Calm, a simple meditation app that provides a free week trial so you can experience the process. After the week trial, there is a small fee to pay for more personalized meditation packs. This is optional, but Calm definitely helped kickstart my meditation routine.
Another popular meditation app is Headspace. I have not tried this app, but the reviews on the app store are quite high. There are also a few free meditation apps, but I highly recommend investing in a paid, higher quality app if you have the extra cash.
2. Eat less sugar.
While you might think that a candy bar will provide you some sense of mental comfort and make you feel better, you'll only regret it in the future. Consuming what most people consider 'comfort food' will provide temporary relief, but will make you feel pretty yucky later. Go for a protein bar instead- they fill you up and you can even get them with dark chocolate and peanut butter to satisfy your sweet tooth. There are just significantly fewer sugars, so you'll feel better about yourself in an hour instead of worse.
3. Find something that allows you to escape.
Coloring, knitting, crocheting, baking, and reading are all simple ways that you can escape and get into a rhythm that allows you to find happiness, or something quite close to it. If you can find a simple activity that works for you and plan it into your schedule, it should help improve your overall mood.
There are also stress-relief products that can be helpful in allowing you to escape daily negative thoughts. A product that I HIGHLY recommend is Pinch Me therapy dough. The dough is soft and comes in a variety of smells that provide a stress relieving aroma. If you can't set aside time to do something specific to escape, the dough can prove helpful since it can be used while working on other projects.
4. Make a playlist of favorite songs!
No matter what genre you listen to, there are certain songs that appeal to certain moods you are in. The next time you find you are at a high point and you are feeling good, find some songs to match that mood and add them to a playlist. When you aren't in such a great place, just pop some headphones in or connect to a speaker and listen to the compilation of happy songs.
The complete opposite can also work- sometimes you just need to listen to sad, sappy music to get through a rough patch. This might work better for you; sometimes I feel like it is beneficial to get the negativity out of my system.
5. Talk about how you feel (even if it doesn't make sense).
If it just means setting aside an hour or two a week (maybe even just 30 minutes a day) to talk about how you're feeling with a friend or family member, every little bit can help. Getting negative thoughts or just any thoughts out of your brain can be helpful in not letting your mind get too overwhelmed. It allows the brain to unload, and not pack everything in; the more we hold things in, the harder it becomes to think positively and have good mental health.**
Most people get down on themselves occasionally, especially during the winter months. I find myself feeling down every now and then, and felt that it might be helpful to share how I get back on my feet. Hopefully any feelings of sadness you have now are only temporary, and the few helpful tips I gave will help you out of this state, or at least begin your journey to a better mental state!
**If you find yourself becoming overwhelmed with negative thoughts or you find that you partake in an unhealthy amount of self-hate, it might be helpful to look into professional help. Therapy can be scary, but if you are willing to take the time and open up, it can be EXTREMELY beneficial for your mental state. Most universities offer free counseling- take advantage of this!
