Cultivate Calmness Podcast: Find Your Calm, Cultivate Your Mind

Episode #56 - Seasonal Shifts: Strategies for the Colder Months

In this episode of the Cultivate Calmness Podcast, host Kaela Vance discusses the transition into fall and shares valuable insights on how seasonal changes, especially the shift to shorter days and less sunlight, can impact mood and well-being. Kaela offers practical tips to prepare for the darker months ahead, including the importance of sunlight exposure, supplements like Vitamin D, and maintaining a healthy routine of exercise and nutrition. Tune in for helpful strategies to manage your mood as the days get shorter and winter approaches!

Broadcast on:: 25 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: other

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) Hello and welcome to the Cultivating Communist Podcast. My name is Kayla Vance. And today I really just wanna talk about how it is now officially fall. And there are many things that we can talk about related to fall, but I wanna focus just a little bit today on what you can do to prepare yourself for the change of the season. And as you head into winter, where it's gonna be darker, we will have daylight savings time happen, here in I think about a month and a half or so. So just some things to really think about and consider. So not all people, but there are definitely some people, especially some people that I see and work with, where they will tell me that they know that the change of the season is especially going from summer into fall and winter, that their mood will shift and that they struggle during the winter time. There are many reasons that that can be. One of them is the change of the sun. And so I'm in Ohio and we have had a pretty much a drought for the entire summer. I think it rained maybe two or three times and sometimes that was just like a barely a rain. Many times where they told us it was going to rain and then it never rained, so everything's really dry. But yesterday we got some rain, still not as much as we needed or as much as we thought we would get, but it did rain, so yay. But with that, that meant the last several days, like Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and then today, Wednesday and maybe potentially the next couple days have been gloomy. So we've really gotten into the fall with the gloomy looking weather. We do need the rain, but the gloomy weather really tends to get to people. Some really like it and some people don't. And it can really affect our mood when the weather is doing things. I enjoy watching the rain, hearing the rain, seeing thunderstorms, seeing lightning. I like having windows in my office so I can watch all of that happen. No, some people really don't like that kind of stuff. You know, I don't know that I want to be out in it, but I definitely am okay with seeing it. So the weather can play a role. Therapists kind of make a joke out of this. Medical providers make a joke about the full moon and how when there's a full moon, behaviors change people. Like there's usually more behaviors, there's more issues, there's more people in the emergency room, et cetera. You know, so I think there is something to that. I haven't personally done any research on that, but just to go with the whole weather piece that that may have an effect on your mood. But, you know, just thinking about how it's officially fall now and it will be until December 21st, I think. The sun, we will get less sunlight as time progresses from now until I think December or even later. We know that we get less sun. We change the clocks back, we fall back so that it's darker earlier in the evening. So whereas all summer, you know, it wasn't getting dark till nine o'clock or something here in Ohio. It's now gonna be getting dark at five o'clock and I'm gonna be leaving my office at five o'clock and it's gonna be dark out. It's not there yet. So the sunlight really affects our mood. We need that vitamin D, we need that sunlight. And so if you already are somebody who hangs out inside and doesn't spend a lot of time outside, you're gonna be getting even less time, you know, with the sun. So it's extra important for you to consider how you can get more sunlight or what you can do instead of sunlight if you are somebody who doesn't get sunlight in general. Like if you are a gamer or work from home or work on your computer, if you don't go on walks, if you don't, you know, go outside much except to like go to and from stores and things like that. You know, sunlight can have a big effect on your mood. Why? Because it affects your vitamin D and take it affects your circadian rhythm. So, you know, if you get early morning sun and you're having trouble sleeping, getting early morning sun, light to helps you to get sleep in the evening because it kind of jumps, starts that circadian rhythm and gets your body to know like, "Hey, morning time, wake up." And sends those messages through your body so that in the evening, you're able to fall asleep when you're supposed to fall asleep. So if you aren't getting sunlight, one of the options that people get are these UV light boxes for their desks or, you know, it works. So, if again, you work in an office, if you work in an office without windows, even if you work in an office with windows, those windows are gonna block some of that UV light and you're gonna need potentially need more than what you're getting through those windows. So having that box, you sit on your desk and you can like do your work, but it's like shining on you or you just sit it there and you can sit in front of it for a certain amount of time every day. And I've known people who have used one. I haven't personally used one. I haven't needed one. That hasn't been something that I have felt that I have needed. I tend to get outside a lot even in the winter, less so, but, you know, I still get outside. And that can be really helpful. So I've actually recommended that for patients. I've had patients get those and they have found those to be helpful when they've used them. So a light box is something to consider getting up earlier, trying to get sunlight so as much as you can. So when you have a lunch break going outside, yes, even when it's cold, even if you need to bundle up, but that is also part of the problem. In the summer, what are we wearing? Short sleeves, you know, bathing suits, tank tops, shorts. Our skin is getting bombarded with that sunlight. And in the winter, what are we doing? We are covered up, hats, everything, and maybe we can see our face, right? So you get this much space to get sunlight instead of all of this. So another thing that might be helpful for you. Cold showers, ice baths can be helpful with mood and digestion and health, and so there are a lot of good healthy benefits to taking cold showers. So that may be a consideration for you. Yes, they suck. They don't feel great, but I do know. I am working on, you know, trying to do that. Now, granted, I've only done it a handful of times, so work in progress. But I do know that, you know, when you first started, it sucks. But once you get past that threshold, whatever the threshold is for you, it may be different for everybody. Maybe it's 30 seconds for one person, maybe it takes two minutes for another person. But once you get past it, right, you can stay in that shower longer because you've kind of like overcome that difficulty. And now you're like, yeah, I got this, I could do this. But there are many great health benefits, including, you know, your mood for like cold showers and things like that. So that may be a consideration for you. Getting, you know, fruits and vegetables, getting the right kind of nutrition. Again, there are the fruits and vegetables and things we get in the summer is gonna be different than the things you get in the winter. And there's less availability. And so you may have to supplement more. So if you aren't getting the sunlight and you don't have the box, you know, you may look into getting certain supplements that are gonna help you, especially vitamin D3K2. You want those combined together because of the benefit that they hold together, that you may want to get yourself some vitamin D supplements, talk to your doctor or your provider about what would be good for you to supplement what you're lacking. So many people, a lot of people, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, are deficient in vitamin D, especially in the winter. So if you tested yourself in July and then you wouldn't got yourself tested in December, and you didn't do anything different, your vitamin D would probably be low in December. It may even be low in July, honestly. It depends on your lifestyle. So you may have to supplement. So many people need to supplement vitamin D in the winter. Not only does it affect your mood, but it can affect your immune system as well. So that's another piece and something to think about is that one of the other reasons that maybe we kind of suffer and we don't do well and we get sick and we're more miserable is we're heading into not flu season, which many people want to call it. I like to call it now sugar intoxication season because what's going to happen here and a little over a month? What holiday are we going to see? Yeah, Halloween. So all our kids are going to go trick or treating and getting all that candy, which we as parents are probably going to take advantage of. I am not, but I am trying not to do that this year. So I have been avoiding the candy so far, we're doing well. But it's sugar season. So we've got Halloween, lots of candy and junk. And then we've got Thanksgiving, which we get food, lots of food, but then there's also lots of pies and desserts that go along with Thanksgiving. And then we head into Christmas season and the other, you know, Hanukkah and other holidays that are around there too, which is, you know, lots of candies and cookies and cakes and sugary stuff. And then there's New Year's Eve, there's a lot of alcohol involved in New Year's Eve, along with all the other holidays, let's be real. And we got all of those packed into just a few short, you know, two months timeframe. And then, you know, we go into January and then February, which is Valentine's Day, and we got a little more sugar there too. But really, you know, just looking at those fall/early winter holidays, lots and lots and lots of sugar all the time for everything. And it plays a huge role in how your body is functioning and you want to try to remove it and limit it as much as possible because it is going to have an effect on how you're feeling and what's going on in your life. So sugar, sunlight, exercise. So many people will go outside and they'll exercise when it's nice out, but when it starts to become not nice out, like today or yesterday, I guess. And today, and maybe potentially I hear tomorrow, at least here where I am, you know, is raining. And so you don't want to go running in the rain, you know, there's no sunlight. Technically, there are still sun's rays like coming through the clouds. You just aren't seeing them. Otherwise, it would be pitch black. It's not pitch black, it's just gloomy because clouds and the weather are kind of darkening everything. But getting outside, going on that walk, even though it's raining, even though it's snowing, even though like it's not so great outside, like that will help you, you know, with your mood. Getting exercise, if you like refuse to go outside and do it, you must do it inside. So if it's walking laps in your basement or around your house or going up and downstairs or doing a yoga video or, you know, something like that. I have apps on my phone where it just walks me through different workouts, including yoga and things like that. Or you could just do a simple walking in place, you know, and watch TV. There's things you can do. It's do we want to do them? Yeah, when you're feeling depressed and ughum, you know, down, do you want to do those things? No. And I, you know, I say that to all my clients, all my clients know that, yeah, we don't want to do them. We kind of have to force ourselves to do the things that we know are gonna help us because down the road, we know it's gonna make us feel better. So even though I didn't want to go on a run yesterday, I did, and I felt better afterwards. Not a little sore 'cause I haven't done that in a while and tired, but I did feel better. And I feel better, you know, in the morning when I wake up because I did that the day before. So yeah, you don't want to do things, but sometimes you got to force yourself to do those things. So I've talked about supplements and I've talked about other things before, but I just wanted to kind of touch on the things you can do to prepare for the fall and winter that are coming up. Get yourself a life box. Get yourself in a good, you know, routine. Get yourself some supplements that might be needed ahead of time. You know, your vitamin D is gonna start to go down. Like now, like if it's not already going down, it's gonna start to go down if you're getting less sunlight. So don't wait until December to be like, "Oh, I feel like crap." I should get some vitamin D. You could, you know, talk to your doctor. This is not medical advice, but you could start now to keep yourself at a level that is stable, that is good, so that it doesn't drop and you don't feel like crap. Get your vitamin B12 checked. You might need to get on a vitamin B12 supplement. Has a lot to do with energy and mood. A lot of people who are depressed are very low and deficient in vitamin B12. So looking into supplements, lighting, exercise, food you're eating, these are all the things you can consider going into this holiday season and into these dark months that will help you before it's too late, before you're already in the rut and you don't wanna do anything about it, now would be the time to start and get yourself a good habit so that it's much easier to continue with those things once you're already kind of settled into the gloomy fall weather and, you know, potentially gloomy moods. So I hope you learned something. Maybe you can take something away from this. Maybe this helps you. Have a wonderful rest of your day and I'll be back next week. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]