Traditionally it’s this Monday in January when people feel more sad, (some people call today Blue Monday) but this year it seems it’s taking some of us longer to get over the January blues.
Christmas and all the festivities that come with it is over..
New Year has been celebrated and the Champagne corks have been tidied along with several trips to the bottle bank!!
Normality (whatever that is!) has resumed!
Its been cold and dark and although we’ve had a dry winter, summer seems a long way off.. oh and then to top it all off your friendly postie arrives with some bills!
No more ‘happy” post filling our letter boxes but those hideous brown envelopes telling us we need to pay the bills.
Darn it – everything was happy and smiley and we forgot reality for a while. Yes this week is a week when many of us feel a bit blue!
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a recognised condition. It’s also known as Winter Depression, winter blues, summer depression, summer blues or seasonal depression.. a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms during the winter or summer…
So no, you are not going mad if you feel a bit blue this week..
We certainly have started the year off well at Woman on a Mission.. no blues here!
Why are these wonderful women on my programme getting ahead and staying ahead of the game and enjoying Januar
y rather than feeling blue?
We have reduced the overwhelm and procrastination of “getting started’ this January and boy the women are already feeling great benefits.
We have a plan of attack for our nutrition and health, so that those clothes feel loser, our mood will feel happier as we get back some control over those mince pies and start to forget the Christmas bloat!
They are being TRULY accountable and working together with fun, like minded women.
They each have a personal 1-1 coaching call with me each week. We work through the blocks before they become bigger and overwhelming, whether than be in their personal or professional lives, with their fitness or with their nutrition.
This weekly checkin, together with the tools they can use to help them on a daily ,weekly and monthly basis are the key to their success.
What’s your plan of attack this January..?
Are you feeling overwhelmed, not sure where to start?
Maybe you’ve had so many big ideas this New Year that this year was going to be different to last year and maybe the year before that, but it’s all fallen a bit flat?
If you’d like a helping hand with your Missions this year, I’d love to help.
For now;
Here are my top tips to get you feeling a bit happier again.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s OK to have a good cry or feel a bit rubbish sometimes, it’s how you deal with it that counts.Talk to loved ones and good friends, it’s OK to be vulnerable and share how you are feeling.
Get outside in the fresh air.. I know you might be reading this when there is a howling gale going on outside and snow is forecast but wear the right clothes are you will feel better for it. Honest, even if it’s a quick trip around the block!
Get some Vitamin D in you! We all know that vitamin D is essential for maintenance of teeth and bone health, and it does this by supporting the incorporation of calcium, and reducing the loss of calcium from the teeth and bone structure. But did you know that if your vitamin D levels are low, you can feel blue. A way to boost your vitamin D and your immune system, especially in winter when there is not much sun around is to do so with Vit D tablets, I love these ones.
Light helps relieve the blue feeling also, although there is not much light around at the moment. Something else you can try is an investment in a Dawn Alarm Clock..There are lots on the market, with lots of different price tags! However, they have been proved to be very effective and an 85% better response than using bright light therapies. They work by waking you up with a gradual brightening light – helping you feel alert and energised all day. The light cues your body to produce more sortisol, setting a sleep / wake cycle, aiding early mornings and beating those winter blues.
* A study in 2012 showed that patents who used dawn alarm clock experienced improvement during the first week and increased results throughout several weeks. Most studies have found the dawn alarm clocks most effective seasonally as opposed to all year round, until frequent natural light exposure is naturally obtained – i.e. the clocks go back and spring has sprung!
Interesting huh?
Before I go, here’s a quick fix you can do right now. so stop what you’re doing and give these a try!
* Scribble a list of all the things that make you smile..
* Stick on a top tune and dance around the kitchen
* Look through a photo album of a fun summer holidays – or even plan one. Join me in Norway this July! 🙂
* Release those feel-good endorphins!
Whatever your Mission this year, this January, be sure that by trying these quick little tips, will help. (In fact Fun is one of our Mission on the Woman on a Mission programme)
If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you’ll know that my “go to” treat to cheer me up is flowers, candles and of course hugs from my family too.. Guaranteed to make me smile every time and they are calorie free too 😉
What makes you feel less blue? I’d love to know x
Happy Monday to you,
PS Remember if you’d like to become one of our Women on a Mission, or would like to join us in Norway this Summer, here’s how you can get in touch:
** (Avery, D. H.; Eder, D. N.; Bolte, M. A.; Hellekson, C. J.; Dunner, D. L.; Vitiello, M. V.; Prinz, P. N. (2001). “Dawn simulation and bright light in the treatment of SAD: A controlled study”.Biological psychiatry 50 (3): 205“216) (The Can-SAD Study: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effectiveness of Light Therapy and Fluoxetine in Patients with Winter Seasonal Affective Disorder”.American Journal of Psychiatry163 (5): 805“812.
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