Beat The Winter Blues With These Tips

Whether you embrace a snow day or grumble as you trudge into work, the depths of winter can result in many of us feeling low, but it doesn't have to be that way, says Helen Foster of Psychologies Magazine. Here are her 10 tips for feeling chipper in the freezing weather:

1. Fidget. Winter blues are strongly linked with falling levels of the mood-boosting hormone serotonin that occur at this time of year. This is because enzymes that absorb serotonin become more active as days get shorter. Researchers at Princeton University in the United States have found that rhythmic movements such as jiggling your leg, tapping your finger or chewing gum increase the release of serotonin.
   
2. Embrace comfort. If you spend the whole winter moaning about the cold, the dark and the wet, you’re guaranteed to feel down. ‘Focus on the joys of winter,’ says motivation coach Robert Ashton, author of The Life Plan: 700 Simple Ways To Change Your Life For The Better.
   
3. Have fun ‘A lot of people stop doing things they love in winter, and this alone can trigger feelings of depression,’ says Dr Jeremy Slaughter, clinical psychologist at London’s The Third Space health and fitness club. He suggests visualizing what would make your perfect winter and then thinking how you can make it happen. This will increase the chances of it happening – and ‘people who set goals for themselves are generally happier anyway than those with no direction’, says Slaughter.
   
4. Increase your PEA levels Found in high levels in blue-green algae, phenylethylamine (PEA) is a brain chemical that increases feelings of joy. ‘It does this by modulating positive neurotransmitters,’ says nutritionist Kirsten Brooks. ‘It will help you make more serotonin and inhibit its re-uptake, meaning what you do produce stays in your system longer.’
   
5. Listen to your body Are you feeling colder than normal or craving hot drinks and woolly jumpers? Then you might want to phone a friend or invite friends round. According to researchers at Canada’s University of Toronto, we feel colder or reach for warmer things when we’re feeling socially isolated or our mood is low.
   
6. Find your winter scent 'Your sense of smell is directly connected to your moods and feelings, via your limbic system; choosing the right smells for your environment can help beat the winter blues and even ease symptoms like SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder),' says Jennie Harding, 'summer smells like zesty orange, refreshing lemon or zingy lime help to lift your mood, or relaxing smells like lavender or chamomile can soothe mental stress, while spicy aromas like ginger and cardamom help you feel re-energized
   
7. Keep your house clean: Winter conditions are highly conducive to mold – something Dr Edmond Shenassa at Brown Medical School has linked to poor mood. ‘Toxins in mold have been shown to slow down the part of the brain that deals with emotions that we could experience as depression,’ he says.
   
8. Boost your magnesium Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) has been linked to low melatonin levels. ‘If you’re not sleeping well, you’re going to naturally produce lower levels of melatonin,’ says nutritionist Kate Cook. ‘Magnesium helps promote deeper sleep, so raise levels in your diet with foods such as nuts, seeds and green leafy vegetables.
   
9. Light up your life Light is a natural mood booster, and exposure is the established way to beat winter depression. ‘For many people simple measures, such as getting 15 minutes of morning sunlight or switching to daylight bulbs, will be enough to beat it,’ says Victoria Revell, at the University of Surrey.
   
10. Pump your ions Michael Terman at Columbia University Medical Center has found that exposing winter-blues sufferers to negative ions (airborne electrical charges) cuts depression symptoms by up to 48 per cent, possibly because negative ions raise serotonin levels. In winter, negative ion levels are low because central heating, fluorescent lights and stuffy rooms all produce high levels of positive ions instead. Simple ways to increase negative ions include opening windows or running water.

We endorse these suggestions from Helen and would call you attention once again to #10…Negative Ions are an essential tool to fight off Winter Blahs. IonLoop offers a variety of Negative Ion bracelets…this may be your solution.