Five Steps To Beat The Winter Blues

Sunlight increases serotonin, the hormone that regulates happiness and anxiety. But because of shorter days, many people experience Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which the American Psychological Association coined to describe dark mood swings in the winter.

Studies by Mental Health America, the National Institutes of Health, and Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica also show that most people experience higher levels of sadness, depression, and anxiety during the winter months.

It’s important to recognize how our bodies respond to the natural environment. It’s no fun surviving for three months to live for nine. So, to beat the winter blues, here are five proactive steps we can take to keep the darkest months from getting us down.

1. Rise early.

We’re all familiar with Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote in Poor Richard’s Almanac: “early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” This holds truer in the winter than at any other time of year.

Unless you live in Alaska, we typically have nine or ten hours of sunlight in the winter. We should make every effort to be awake with the sun during the winter — even on our days off work. Rising and getting our day started early also cuts back on the feeling of non-accomplishment that often accompanies winter months…