Beating the Winter Blahs

Yael Shy is the award-winning author of What Now? Meditation for Your Twenties and Beyond, and the CEO of Mindfulness Consulting, where she teaches, consults and coaches individuals and corporations around the world. She is the Founder and Coach for Flourish: A Transformative Mindfulness Certification program, now accepting applications. She has been featured on Good Morning America, Fox 5 News, and the Ten Percent Happier Podcast and in Time Magazine and the Harvard Business Review. Yael lives in Stamford, CT with her two sons and can be found on Instagram at Yaelshy1.

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It’s time to put away the holiday decor. New Year’s Day—with all its excitement and newness—is over. All you have stretching out in front of you now is…winter. Not the merry/exciting holiday winter—just plain old January and February winter. This period of time can feel dreary and low for many people,but it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are three ways to beat the winter “blahs” that can help you to embrace, rather than brace against, this season. 

1. Get outside

But it is freezing out! It is wet, and cold, and unpleasant! I know. I live on the East Coast of the US and I just weathered a blustery cold walk to the coffee shop where I am writing this now. And yet, the walk got my blood pumping. I passed gorgeous trees who, without leaves, displayed stunning structural shapes of trunks and branches twisting and reaching through space. I felt the cold rain that got underneath the umbrella and misted against my skin. I saw the animal life that scurried around roots and branches, reminding me that the thrum of existence is always vibrating, even in the dead of winter. 

One of the most painful parts of being human is the common delusion that we are separate and alone. Winter makes this feeling all the more acute if we only burrow into our houses, away from other people, nature, and the elements. Isolated, it is easy to get lost in our own minds and thoughts. We forget who we really are; we forget how connected we are to all of life. 

Getting outside, even for short walks, ideally in some kind of nature, reminds us that we are part of nature. That all the other creatures and animals are out there too—whether hibernating or scurrying—and that we are not alone. All the trees and plants are out there too, reaching out for us and for one another, “breathing” in our CO2 and feeding us fresh air in our co-breathing exchange of life. Water, whether in the form of rain, snow, or streams and rivers, is out there too. It flows inside and outside of us, and we are a part of its aliveness.

2. Move your body

Moving your body is an amazing way to emerge out of a low mood or mindset brought on by the winter blahs. According to Aetna.com, “aerobic exercise produces endorphins, or “feel good” chemicals. It also increases your heart rate, which triggers norepinephrine, a chemical that may help the brain deal with stress more effectively.”

There are a million and one studies that agree with the feeling you know to be true—movement does you good. Movement helps us feel alive. Movement helps us feel strong and capable, focused and connected. 

Which begs the question: Why is it so hard to get ourselves to exercise in the winter, even though we know it would be good for us?

In my experience, inertia plays a large part. A body at rest tends to stay at rest. I never quite “feel” like exercising, even though I know it will be good for me. The effort of getting up and doing the thing, anything, can feel insurmountable. 

Relatedly, when I think about exercising after my day has already begun, it feels like a major hurdle. What kind of exercise should I do? How much time do I have available to allocate to it? Where can I find the time? This “optional” activity, exercise, feels like it has no fitting place in my busy life. 

My suggestion is to simply take decision making out of the equation. Set it all up in advance. Pick the form of movement (and it doesn’t have to be perfect!). Pick out the clothes you will wear and the time of day and put it into your calendar. Pay in advance (if it costs money) so you don’t change your mind later. Try and find a workout buddy who will make it difficult for you to cancel. Finally, don’t worry about the voice inside that says, “but I don’t want to….” My meditation teacher Teah Strozer used to advise,  “simply wake up and place your tush on the cushion.” Don’t worry about your interest in the act or your enjoyment of the act. Just do the act. After a little while, your body and mind will remember the pleasure of movement and it won’t be such a struggle. After all, a body in motion tends to stay in motion. You can build a new habit and a new groove. 

3. Lean In 

Here is where I give you the exact opposite advice I gave in number 1 (get outside). Here it is: Go inside. Only this is not the literal inside, like inside the house (although doing that can be a cozy retreat after  you have gulped some outside/movement time!). I want to encourage you here to go inside of your heart. To lean into winter time also means to mimic the bears and the trees. Stop doing so much. Instead, pay attention to your needs, your longings, and that which is brewing within you. Allow yourself  prolonged rest, interiority, and meditation.

Katherine May writes about this beautifully in her book, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times. She says: “Winter is a time of withdrawing from the world, maximizing scant resources, carrying out acts of brutal efficiency and vanishing from sight; but that’s where the transformation occurs. Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible.”

What is wanting to be felt within you right now? What is bubbling and emerging from the crucible of your winter? What needs your care, support, and love? This season is the perfect time to offer it to yourself. Perhaps it is a daily nap. Perhaps it is some deep journaling or a silent meditation retreat. The information you are looking for comes not from thinking or from analyzing. The only way to find out what you really need is to feel your way to it. You have to return to the body again and again, and to listen deeply to what you find. Meditation is the best way to accomplish this.

The seemingly dark, depressing days of winter are the perfect time to try meditating. Contrary to popular belief, meditating is not about silencing thoughts or going to some blissed-out, thoughtless place. Meditating is about being with what is. The body is always present. The breath is always present. So those become useful anchors to take us out of non-stop thinking and into the present moment. Winter is the perfect time to retreat from the business and noise of the world and tune in instead to this moment, happening right now in your body and in your life.

So, as best as you can, enjoy this winter and allow this season to be of benefit. Get outside, move your body, and embrace the stillness and peace that only winter can bring. I’ll see you when everything thaws to compare notes on our winters. 

Yael Shy is the award-winning author of What Now? Meditation for Your Twenties and Beyond, and the CEO of Mindfulness Consulting, where she teaches, consults and coaches individuals and corporations around the world. She is the Founder and Coach for Flourish: A Transformative Mindfulness Certification program, now accepting applications. She has been featured on Good Morning America, Fox 5 News, and the Ten Percent Happier Podcast and in Time Magazine and the Harvard Business Review. Yael lives in Stamford, CT with her two sons and can be found on Instagram at Yaelshy1.