In the Mood for Winter

Here we are in the depths of winter in Wellington, Aotearoa. Let’s be honest, not many of us choose to live in Welly for the weather, although getting cosy with warm clothes, hot food, fireplaces, and good coffee certainly has its charm.

Winter can be tough for many of us with the shorter, colder days, and add in the wider economic and employment climate howling through the capital it becomes an important time to pay attention to and support your mental and emotional health. One great way to do this is by treating yourself to a relaxation massage during these chilly months, or a more targeted emotion-balancing acupuncture treatment.

Seasonal Affective Disorder – or SAD – is a form of depression that often begins with the change of season around autumn as we move from summer to winter. The severity and depths of a low mood can vary from person to person, from a mild and manageable slump to a more significant impact on one’s quality of life, work, and health.

If you want to make the most of the remainder of the season - and not just make it through – here are a few simple reminders to allow yourself a restorative winter...

1. Embrace the natural cycle – go easy on yourself!

Attuning your habits and lifestyle to the rhythms of the natural world is the way humans have been living for millennia. If you feel like you need more sleep, and don’t have the energy for activity that you had a few months ago – don’t fight it. Let winter be a time where your exercise is more gentle, your food more nourishing, your free time more restful. Easier said than done for some of us, but perhaps you can find at least one area of life this season where you can restore energy rather than spend it.

2. Breathe deeply and nourish the kidneys

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), winter is the time of the Kidneys; the foundation of your body’s energy cycle and stores. By supporting your Kidneys with nutritious food, rest and treatments such as acupuncture during the winter months you can set yourself up to have more pep in the spring and summer. Generally look for foods that are dark in colour, help with water balance, and are salty/savoury to support the Kidneys; try black beans, miso, seaweed, dark berries, celery, to name a few. The Lungs also help to support the Kidneys so by including some gentle exercise that encourages deep breathing, along with a meditation/breathing practice and you’ll be charging your batteries rather than running them down!

3. Come in for a session!

Alongside the well-known benefits of massage for relaxation, acupuncture can also be used to address mental/emotional imbalances. A session will be tailored to your individual presentation; be it anxious and on edge, stressed, flat, down, or just tired. Acupuncture has been shown to affect the biochemistry involved in how we feel emotionally – or in TCM terminology – calms, free-courses, and supports Qi where you need it.

4. Seek connection

It’s tempting when we feel flat to avoid seeing other people, and while your social calendar will likely be more quiet than in the summer time, some genuine connection is good for bolstering mood. Open up your quiet night in to an extra friend or two, go for walks, call old friends to catch up, or join the local yoga/taiji/qigong class. Start to normalise spending time with people even if you’re not feeling like your best self, and allowing others to do the same.

So take the opportunity to recharge in the clinic and in your everyday life over the next month or so, and we’ll be heading into Spring and everything that comes along with it before you can say... pollen!