Mind and Body Self-Care Moving into Winter

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">          Winter comes and so do the blues. For years I tried to pretend that this didn’t happen to me but it really does affect us all if we want to believe it or not. Think about it, the summer brings long days, warm sun, and outdoor play almost naked. Winter brings long dark periods, heavy layers to truck around, and no greenery in sight. For years I would continue to take care of mySelf the exact same way all year but that makes no sense when you think about it. In the summer I am receiving hours of direct vitamin D contact, have access to juicy fresh in-season fruit and the energy around summer is exciting and fun. Those rituals and routines help support me through that season but as the weather shifts so should our self-care ESPECIALLY moving into the darkest season of the year. Not to mention the added layer of the holiday season and from experience, there are two types of people out there … the ones that love the holidays and the ones that dread them. Let’s decide to take care of our mind and body differently as our needs shift in the season and that is exactly what we’ll dive into next! </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">          Our mind is a funny thing … the state of our mind shifts as we transition from thing to thing and it is definitely affected when we shift from long light days to short dark days. When I began to study Ayurveda an eastern form of medicine, I began to shift my view on winter and sustaining through the colder months and it felt just so right. Winter is known as the inward season. Winter signifies a quieter time of year where we have this beautiful opportunity and are actually called to rest and reflect. It’s kind of like a bear hibernating, we need that time to slow down, gather and reset for the long sparkly days to come in summer. This is where our mind plays tricks on us. It tells us we have to continue to move at the same pace we did during summer even though we don’t have as much energy. This creates a feeling of anxiety in us, i