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The sun sets at 4:30pm. It’s cold. It’s dark. I just want to say in bed or under a big pile of blankets. With winter selfcare, how can you find the motivation or energy?
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a condition of having less energy and motivation, sleeping more, eating more (especially sugar and starches), and ultimately feeling depressed every year during the same season, affects six percent of the population, while another 14 percent of people suffer at least a form of SAD, the “winter blues.” And even if you don’t fall into those categories, right about this time of year most of us can’t wait for spring to come already.
So, how do we get through?
I’ve found that treating myself kindly tends to get better results in the long run, instead of using guilt or duty as a motivational tool. It’s really only logical even if it is a cliche: you can’t keep pouring out if you’re not getting refilled.
When your motivation and energy are already low, selfcare feels like yet another chore. So let’s start small, refilling your tank drop by drop. What you put into taking care of yourself, you’ll get back out in terms of motivation and energy.
Today I’m ten ideas for winter selfcare, starting with YOU. In part 2, we’ll talk about YOUR ENVIRONMENT.
This list ranges in price and practicality, so if you struggle with finding the energy for winter selfcare as I do, you’ll find at least a few things on this list that you can definitely do with minimal energy and time.
1. Embrace a slower pace
I’ve found that embracing a slower, sleepier pace isn’t all bad. We’re either gearing up for or coming off of Christmas, so it’s time to recoup. So don’t be as hard on yourself. Give yourself some grace, and permission to do less.
Instead of beating yourself up for not getting everything done on your list, be kind to yourself. What you’re experiencing is normal and understandable.
2. Move your body
If the weather isn’t actually blizzarding, some fresh air will do wonders for your mood. Start with a short walk – even just walk around your house! Then you can work up to 10 minutes, or longer.
But even doing a gentle yoga video, or 10-minute pilates, or forcing yourself to get up and walk around your house helps boost your energy and motivation.
For me, moving around is by far the hardest thing to motivate myself to do when I’m already feeling depressed or sluggish, yet it also has the most impact on my energy and mood out of anything on this list!
3. Make a winter selfcare appointment
Schedule a haircut, buy some hair dye (or call a professional), get your nails done, or buy a DIY kit. Tending to your appearance with a little winter selfcare maintenance makes you feel a little more energetic, capable, and like your summertime self.
4. Drink hot beverages
Pour a cup of tea, get cozy, and sip it in silence. Put your phone on airplane mode, and just be still.
5. Treat your skin
Take a bubble bath. It always feels like a lot of effort, and yet I always love it when I do. This is my all-time favorite bubble bath!
Treat yourself to a natural skin care product. Splurging on a fancy facial scrub or bath bomb is fun once in a while, but I also like to make my own natural products! There’s a lot you can make with things you probably have in your fridge and pantry.
Hair mask or face mask. Put one of these on, and then go take that bubble bath!
6. Take a nap
Admittedly, I’m not a great napper. My naps are always 2 hours or more, and then I have trouble sleeping at night. But sometimes, a good nap is exactly what I need to recalibrate.
7. Watch a movie by yourself
Spending time alone is one of my favorite ways to selfcare, and in the winter, it can be challenging to find time away from everyone else. Watching a movie during naptime instead of working, or staying up a little later one evening feels like a special treat.
“Ever After”, “Enchanted”, and “Sense and Sensibility” are a few that Brian won’t watch with me, and even though I’ve seen them hundreds of times, they never get old! But there’s still plenty of holiday movies on Netflix to check out as well. I really enjoyed “Dash and Lilly”! It was a sweet and clever teenage romance set in a bookstore and New York City, so that basically checked all the boxes for me.
8. Study a style icon.
I’m feeling a little like a gray lump lately in sweatpants and sweatshirts, but my normal clothes just feel weird – some are actually too small, and others I’m just not sure how to combine into outfits that work for this staying at home life.
If you can relate, set aside 15-30 minutes to gather inspiration to breathe new life into your winter look. This is a great way to practice winter selfcare.
9. Adjust your nutrition
Without as much sunlight in the winter, you may need to make some adjustments in your nutrition and vitamins to compensate for your winter selfcare. Adding vitamin D is the first step I’d recommend, especially if you’re feeling low energy.
Personalized vitamins, like Persona Vitamin Packs, make this easy. I received this product for free from Moms Meet to use and post my honest opinions. I’ll get to my honest opinion, but first, here’s how it works:
- First, you take Persona’s questionnaire, which allows them to recommend supplements based on your needs. From the 85+ vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs, and other botanicals they source, they create personalized daily vitamin packs for you, which are convieniently delivered to your door every 28 days.
- They also analyze over 2,500 prescription medications to ensure there aren’t any drug interactions.
- The vitamins come in little eco-friendly packs with your name on them, a nice touch!
I was interested in trying personalized vitamins because I’ve had a hard time finding supplements that do all that I need them too. With hypothyroidism and anxiety, I could use a supplement for energy, mood balancing, better quality sleep, and stress management. While I can find supplements for each one of those, I hoped that with personalized vitamins, I could get them all in one.
After completing the quiz, Persona recommended the Sound Slumber Program (3mg of melatonin), Energy Support (green tea extract), Hair, Skin, and Nails Formula (Biotin and a skin probiotic), Happy Gut Formula (Peppermint and another probiotic I believe), and The Essentials (Omega 3, Daily Probiotic, and Mulitvitamin).
Altogether, that’s eight capsules to take … daily.
Here’s where my experience may be unique. On day one, I suddenly remembered why I’ve been buying gummy vitamins for the last many, many years. I can’t swallow pills.
I mean, I CAN. But with great difficulty.
However, I signed on to this, and since I was receiving them for free, I didn’t even think to decline any of them, like the Hair, Skin, and Nails Program, which would have eliminated two pills a day. And I’ve already been taking melatonin for years, which would have eliminated a third pill each day.
As it happened, about 14 days in, I had to ADD two more capsules (of my own) because my anxiety was through the roof. I started taking my vitamin B12 complex again, as well as vitamin D, making it a total of 10 vitamins and supplements to swallow, every day. Within a couple of days of adding those vitamins back, my anxiety leveled out.
It was torture, basically. But torture that I willingly signed up for, so I’m trying to separate my view of the service from the experience of swallowing so many capsules. But I do think it’s worth mentioning because I can’t be the only one out there who has a problem swallowing eight pills a day. If I were, they wouldn’t make gummy vitamins for adults, right?!
So, let’s talk about results.
- Did I sleep better? It definitely didn’t improve, if anything, my sleep got worse. But that could be because I was taking 5-10mg of melatonin before, and this supplement contained only 3mg.
- Did I have more energy? No, sadly.
- How were my hair, skin, and nails? Pretty good. My nails were already quite long, but they might have gotten thicker and healthier than they have been.
- Gut health? Still terrible – I’m chronically constipated, and the probiotics didn’t seem to make any difference.
- And the multivitamin? I’m bummed that I had to add my extra vitamin B12 and vitamin D back.
I’m disappointed that these personalized vitamins didn’t work for me. I do appreciate that they have actual medical doctors involved in making sure the supplements won’t interact with any medications you’re taking. And Persona has an app and a chat feature that allows you to tailor your vitamins and make adjustments going forward.
If you’re someone who takes prescription medication, and personalized vitamins are something you’d try, then I recommend taking full advantage of that feature. (You can also save 30% here).
Within a month or two of working with a real live person, I might have landed on the right supplements to meet all my needs. Provided I could also get past my pill swallowing issue.
As it is, I’m happy to go back to my gummy vitamins.
10. Record the good things
I know you’ve heard about gratitude journaling at least a thousands times, but people swear by it because it really does help.
No, it doesn’t change the fact that it gets dark at 4:30pm, and you’re stuck inside with small children all day. It won’t change the fact that you lost your job, or your budget is painfully tight, or your grandparents are sick.
But what you focus on expands. So focus on the good. You’ll soon find a lot more of it.
If you only focus on how early it gets dark, you’ll miss out on appreciating the extra hours of cozy glow from your Christmas tree. Even in the dark, you can still appreciate the light.
What are your favorite ways to give yourself some winter selfcare during these long days? Share your ideas on Instagram, and stay tuned for 20 Winter Selfcare Ideas Part 2: Your Environment.
