By: Alejandra Malaga Walters, Francis College of Engineering Well-being Leader
Since childhood, I remember worriedly watching as we came closer to the end of the year. Winter, sadness, and expecting the cold both outside and inside. Predictably, it’s very common to feel unmotivated, unsatisfied, and unhappy each winter.
The reasons behind winter sadness are mysterious, the lack of light since the days are shorter, deficiency in Vitamin D3, the start of school again, and a decrease in activity may all play a role. But just because it’s cold doesn’t mean we can’t continue spending time outside.
Even if it’s bitterly cold, the beauty of nature is incredibly healing and helpful for putting things back into perspective. Try new outside activities that you can only do during winter! If you find an activity you love, maybe you will want every winter to come to do it again. Go skiing, ice skating, snowboarding, or sledding. There are also other indoor activities such as roller skating or bowling. Try to keep yourself active. As long as you continue to move your body, you are taking a big step toward feeling better bonus points if you are outside in the fresh air. The university also offers Outdoor Adventure Programs (OAP) during the winter. You can look through the website and see something you might like: https://www.uml.edu/campusrecreation/programs/outdoor-adventure/.
If you just want to stay at home and watch some movies or read a book, it’s completely okay to stay in your pajamas all weekend, even more, when you are feeling low. But if you want to change that feeling, it’s helpful to fight that negative mood with simple actions. In this case, taking a long shower and putting on comfortable and attractive clothing can be energizing and reset our moods. It is also extremely helpful for making us feel like productive human beings moving in the right direction.
Take it easy. If you feel like laying on the couch and binging shows—whatever is going to feel good right now with minimal effort—then just do it. Just don’t let the winter get you down for a long period of time because, remember, it’s not going to last forever.
“When things get harder, if you still have choices, ideally, you make that harder choice.” says psychologist Vaile Wright, senior director of healthcare innovation at the American Psychological Association.
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