”It can be as if your mood turns grey as well as the skies above”.
A lot of people struggle around this time of year, it has started to get darker earlier, we get less sunshine, it’s colder and the clocks will go back. Many people will suffer from varying degrees of something called S.A.D, Seasonal Affective Disorder. Symptoms can range from irritability, grumpiness on waking, depression, weight gain, anxiety and not being able to sleep or get up in the morning easily. Your energy can drop and operating on a day to day basis can become difficult. Concentration can also be affected and cravings for sweets and comforting carbs can increase.
There are biochemical reasons why this happens.
Your circadian rhythm (your body’s internal clock) follows the light. It is also driven by serotonin and melatonin and the production of these can be affected by light or the lack of it.
Top Tips, Natural Ways To Deal with S.A.D.
Your symptoms of S.A.D. can be helped through:
Homeopathy can work wonders with cases of Seasonal Affective Disorder. Remedies like Aurum Met, Phosphorus or Sepia among many others, depending on your individual symptoms, can really help to shift things. Please do be in touch if you need help with this.
Eat plenty of good quality protein in every meal, accompanied by good carbs and some healthy fat. Why? Because an amino acid in protein, namely L-tryptophan can be converted to and is responsible for (amongst other things) creating the ‘happy hormone’ serotonin. Sufficient tryptophan in the diet is critical to ensuring that the body has the building blocks to create serotonin which affects our moods, appetite, sleep, libido and memory. This then turns into melatonin and allows for the high-quality shut-eye we all need. So whilst during colder weather and darker evenings we naturally reach for carbs like bread, sugar and stodgy comfort foods, try to limit these and make sure you have some good protein in abundance!
Take your Omega oil daily! Research has shown this has a huge impact on your your moods and energy levels.
Bring in the Light! Make sure your home is well lit, this all has an effect on your brain chemistry. Bring in more lamps, brighten up rooms in any way that you can and wear brighter clothing, it all helps!
Light boxes can also prove to be very useful for S.A.D sufferers, they simulate natural light, similar to a sunrise and you are gently woken by it in the morning. The Lumie is also an amazing device with is an aromatherapy oil diffuser, light box and alarm clock all rolled into one. I believe it to be a really worthwhile investment and swear by mine, it definitely makes winter mornings easier!
Take a walk during the day. Even if you are bundled up and it’s cloudy out. You will still get more light outside than indoors! Even a 30 minute walk daily will do so much to boost your mood and energy.
Schedule into your diary things that make you happy, actually call it that and make a date for yourself each week. A commitment to do something, self indulgent, something that makes you laugh, visiting a friend who brings sunshine to your life or just about anything that makes you feel good. It could be something creative, social, or luxurious. Just be nice to yourself.
Please do feel free to get in touch, you can book in to see me or schedule a free 30 minute introduction call. If you’d rather you can all me on 07860 909 916 or email on dipti@diptisolanki.com,
Thank you for reading,
With Love,
Dipti x
