Everyone has bad days, sadly they are just a part of life. With winter comes dark mornings, gloomy, cold weather and longer nights, so it can be easy to end up feeling a little down, even if it’s for no reason at all. Resist the urge to curl up in the foetal position on the sofa, in your christmas Pj’s clutching a share sized tin of quality street all to yourself and read my tips on how to get yourself out of the winter blues.
Keep yourself active.
Go for a short walk, Go to the gym, or if you don’t feel like leaving the house do that fitness DVD workout that you’ve been putting off. It means you can just eat more roasties and that share size tin of quality street to yourself come December 25th. (Just kidding…or am I?) There’s tons of workouts available for free on YouTube. If exercise isn’t your thing, get out and about and do a festive activity, go to a Christmas market, drink some mulled wine, just get off the sofa for a bit!
Get as much light as possible.
I know sun can be hard to come by during the winter months, especially when ‘grey and gloomy’ December weather just seems to drag on and on. Open those curtains and blinds, light candles, fairy lights and the likes. You can even buy ‘full spectrum light bulbs’ that give off a bright white light, which mimics natural light. I cannot stand sitting in a dark room.
Take up a new hobby.
Winter is the perfect time to take up a new hobby. There’s so many activities to choose from things like christmas card making, knitting, Yoga, wreath making etc. Some of these also involve socialising which can also be good for beating the winter blues.
Create a happy festive playlist.
I always feel so much happier when I am singing and dancing around the house, thank god no one can see or hear me but I find it really helps to lift my mood. Create a winter songs playlist, Rockin’ around the Christmas tree, Wonderful christmas time by Paul McCartney, Wham and Mariah Carey, you get the gist?
Change up your diet.
I know that the month leading up to Christmas isn’t always the best month to start dieting, so maybe make small changes to your diet. We all know that large stuffed crust pizza, looks better than it will taste and you won’t feel any better after eating it (trust me, step away from the takeaway menu!) So if you can’t eat a little healthier, get in the kitchen, keep yourself busy by trying a new recipe or baking something!
Keep yourself toasty
There are two things that will make me miserable, being hungry and being cold. Wrap yourself up, get the furry socks on and thermals out. I do realise, I sound just like my mother here but it’s better to be warm than to look fashionable, and be uncomfortable and cold. (Seriously)
What do you think of my tips for lifting your mood a little this winter? If you have anything you’d like to add please leave them in a comment! Most of these tips are lighthearted ways to lift yourself out of the odd bad mood, but if you do find that you are feeling low often don’t be scared to tell a family member or even go to your GP.
My motivation takes a big nose dive in Winter so I find keeping active such a chore some days! Its a must though 🙂 x
http://www.shayholly.co.uk
These are great tips! My new hobby is my blog I just recently started. Sophie xx
http://stylestarsandsparkle.blogspot.co.uk/
Keeping active is definitely the key to beating the winter blues for me, this post is definitely something I need to come back to.
Jodie, xo // Jodie Loue
Absolutely love these tips Becky, I’ll certainly be trying to do each and every one of them if I’m feeling a bit down this Christmas! I think we all put pressure on ourselves to do everything that we can and if we’re not busy every minute of December that we’re doing Christmas wrong (especially with social media nowadays) – but I like to remind myself that sometimes it’s okay just to have some chill time over the festive season, that always helps me! That and Christmas films, the cheesier the better is what I say! : )
Amy at <a href= “www.thegirlinthebowlerhat.com”> The Girl in the Bowler Hat</a>
xxxx
I really enjoyed reading this as I definitely suffer from the winter blues!
Trudy x | TrudyJohanna
I really like these tips! Sometimes it can be depressing since the daylight hours are shorter during the winter. It’s important to get plenty of light during the day and I like your idea of changing up your diet. Thanks for sharing!
http://www.mintnotion.com
Love your list! During winter, I’ve also loved to make Christmas cards, make a playlist, and I even just finished my yoga sessions.
I also have my “cheat evenings” 😉 – cuddling up with a TV show after work and relaxing. Sometimes, you just can’t resist! But for the most part, I do try and keep active like you said. Thanks for sharing!
~Lor @ cozycomfyhome.com
Reading a good book or doing something that would be categorized as a ‘guilty pleasure’, I think would avoid you from the Winter Blues x
http://www.ashrealasitgets.blogspot.com
Taking up a new hobby is a really good one ♥
summerdaisy.net
I totally agree with keeping yourself active! When I feel down I always turned to a fitness dvd
Eilidh from Velvet Winter
Great post. I always eat so bad around this time of year – and I definitely agree it makes you feel yucky! x
http://www.beckieeschle.com
It’s so easy to get into a stage of winter blues, especially around Christmas I find! If I want to relax I’ll sit in my room with candles lit and fairy lights and read or write 🙂 x
Kirstie | Kirstie Pickering
Love this post – I know it will be helpful at some point in the holidays!
becca | beccagiveslove
Great tips.
I think, that whatever you do is good as long as it takes you mind off feeling blue.
I like taking long relaxing baths with lavender salts to relax.
Agnes
findinglifebalancewithagnes.blogspot.com
I recently started up at the gym again and I feel so good about it! Great tips <3
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http://abigailalicex.com
I always feel excited and happy in the lead up to my birthday and Christmas but in January the winter blues hit me hard! So I’ll definitely be looking back on this post then. I’m going to try to carry on with my healthy eating and fitness throughout Christmas (except for on my birthday and Christmas day because, obvs) so I’m hoping that’ll help ward off the blues for a bit longer! Thank you for the tips 🙂 xx