Here you’ll find a few of my favorite tips for making your mental health a priority and beating the blues.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (or SAD) is not just talk, it is a very real thing that so many of us struggle with. Holding awareness around your mental and emotional state this time of year is super important. Learning your patterns, loops, and triggers can be very helpful in keeping your head afloat until the sun graces us again come springtime. Below you’ll find a few of my favorite tips for beating the blues…
↠ Meditate daily – it can be as simple as doing some deep breathing before you get out of bed in the morning, taking 5 minutes in the middle of the day to check-in and quiet your mind, or doing a guided relaxation meditation before bed at night.
↠ Practice presence in the face of anxiety – this can look like deep breathing or picking out colors, sounds, or smells around the room.
↠ Make sleep a priority – 7-9 hours per night
↠ Calm magnesium citrate mixed with water and lemon in the day, Pure Encapsulations magnesium glycinate a half-hour or hour before bed – ahhh magnesium, nature’s valium. That being said, magnesium is a mineral we are all deficient in. It can be great to keep you relaxed in the day and do wonders to give you a great night of sleep!
↠ Vitamin D – speak to your doctor before implementing a new vitamin protocol, but typically speaking, we are all deficient in Vit. D!
↠ Eat nourishing foods – this isn’t about eating healthy for aesthetic purposes. 90% of your serotonin (the feel-good hormone) is made in your gut! Meaning what you eat and drink directly affects how you think and feel. Been eating a lot of sugar and takeout lately? Try eating real whole foods and moderating your processed sugar intake, and then let me know how you feel.
↠ Monitor your caffeine intake! – This is huge. Caffeine can rev up your anxious engine like you wouldn’t believe – investigate for yourself. Cut your caffeine consumption in half or eliminate it completely and see if you notice a difference.
↠ Drink water – it is so easy to get dehydrated this time of year. Goal = drink enough water to equate to half your body weight in ounces.
↠ Monitor alcohol intake – I know this one sucks, but it’s true. You know that term, “Post Party Depression”… it’s a thing. But, it can also perpetuate anxiety to epic levels.
↠ Move. Every. Day – I know what some of you are thinking: I’m too tired to work out, I hate working out, etc. etc. DO. IT. ANYWAY. It is hands down the best medicine for depression and anxiety … the caveat = gauge your stress levels. If you’re feeling depressed try a HIIT workout to shake the nervous system and get the blood flowing. If you’re SUPER STRESSED on top of your anxiety, rethink the explosiveness of a HIIT workout – that can add more stress to the nervous system and we do not want that. Instead, shoot for a meditative lifting session (think slower, heavier, methodical, really focus on the mind-muscle connection) OR try a yoga class!
Diving deeper, I’ve found that communicating what I’m feeling is most profound. I get really honest, raw, and vulnerable with the people in my world when I’m sinking down. Instead of tiptoeing around my anxiety or depression I communicate exactly what is going on with me. I express when I’m feeling so low I just want to stay in bed and disappear. Or, if I’m in the chokehold of anxiety, I communicate exactly what is occurring for me. I have (and hopefully you do as well) enough awareness to know that my thoughts are not me, but that does not downplay how REAL and heavy those thoughts can be.
In expressing how I am feeling, the people in my life (who I’m insanely grateful for) usually want to help (your people do not want to see you suffer!). And although, when we are going through it, we often want to be alone, it is important that you start to recognize when you need alone time to recharge VS. alone time adding fuel to your isolated fire. Sometimes allowing the people in your world to show up for you is what you need to bring yourself back to the present moment and out of your own shadows, ya feel? And other times, it might just be that all you need is a glass of wine, a hot bath, some palo santo, and honest to goodness alone time. If you don’t know what you need (I get that 90873492%, because sometimes WE JUST DON’T KNOW), try communicating what you’re going through and experiment with different approaches.
Know you are not alone, and if you don’t feel you have a good support system, reach out to meet with me personally as I would love nothing more than to hold space for you and meet you where you’re at! Love and light!
