Mental Health Through the Seasons
Mental Health through the Winter Season
It has been an unusually cold and snowy December in Southern Ontario, as snow has fallen thickly and stayed on the ground. Many branches are bare, but clouds of white cover towering conifers and ice has formed on our rivers. There is beauty in the season arriving this way, but the onset of winter can understandably bring mixed emotions and challenges to managing mental health.
For many, the cold weather makes it more difficult to engage in activities like walking outside and breathing in fresh air, which are lifelines for managing mental health. Travel is more unpredictable, making getting to appointments or meeting with others, which are also key supports, fraught with uncertainty and anxiety. The sheer lack of natural light early in the morning, and the shorter days, has well researched physiological effects on the body and one’s mood (see sources below).
Despite these very real ways that weather at this time of year can be limiting, winter can be a valuable season of slowing down, reflecting and focusing on our inner lives. If we look to the example of other mammals, we might notice a pattern of spending less energy on activity through the cold months and a focus on using reserves to stay warm and survive the sub-zero temperatures. Unfortunately modern life doesn’t typically allow people the space to truly slow down, and it can be hard to follow the natural rhythms of the season.
Making more space in this season may be a challenging process, even if we are able to cultivate the space. Reflection may reveal positive associations and memories from past winter, and provide valuable time to notice what parts of life are satisfying and life giving– it can be a season of savouring. For many others though, slowing down opens space that reminds of us aspects of life, or people, that we've lost. Winter may be a season where the associations are painful and difficult memories surface, particularly as we near the holiday season.
As you notice winter unfolding around you, what arises for you? Everyone’s experience of the season will be unique, but the seasons changing undoubtedly impacts the psyche, including the body, heart and mind.Noticing what emotions, thoughts and memories come up for you and what wants attention in this season, can be a step to get what you need. If it feels right, notice what around you reveals something about your inner world: the salt and mud mixture lining the streets, the shelter of the pines and spruces; the fierce bite of the wind; the buds already on the bare trees that hold the blueprint for spring.
Notes:
Sources
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10277019/
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5318/3/1/8?ref=blog.gymstreak.com