When it’s cold outside we retreat like hibernating bears to our warm caves, except for necessary forays to the workplace and to gather food. Those caves can be awfully comforting when the weather outside is frightful, but indoor living can also lead to the blues or even depression. What to do?
The trick is to commit to doing something outside the cave. Something that you enjoy or care about enough to motivate you. Something that makes you want to get up and out of your cave and participate in the vibrant, real world. Here are some tried-and-true ways to fight back against that winter inertia and expand your mind/life at the same time:
- Be a temporary dog or cat owner: There are organizations that match volunteers with dogs and cats for various periods of time (called “fostering” – here’s more on that). This can also afford you the chance to find out if you would like to have a pet of your own, and meaningfully help out a local shelter. Research suggests that pet ownership leads to better mental and physical health, and the popularity of cat and dog videos on social media reveals how much all our hearts are opened by these furry beauties.
- Join a club:Â Doesn’t matter what kind – book club, knitting circle, music lovers, birders. Anything that you enjoy sufficiently to motivate you to leave your cozy cocoon. Being part of a group involves a commitment to that group, and the guilt about not showing up might be enough to propel you through the door of your cave. Or start a club in your own cave so you don’t even have to leave.
- Move your body:Â Yoga is a great indoor activity to help you stay in shape over the winter. For those who can’t or don’t want to yoga, tai chi is a marvelously graceful, meditative form of exercise. And if you crave something more aggressive, tai chi has a martial arts side you can gravitate to.
- Take a class: Find a seminar, talk or class in something that you’ve always wanted to explore. Jazz, female writers, movie making, screenplay writing, jewelry making. Take it seriously and it might lead to a whole new career. At the very least, you’ll meet people who share your interest and expand your social circle. If you’re in NYC, The Center for Social Innovation and the 92Y are both really good places to start looking.
- Volunteer: Local hospitals welcome volunteers to read to the elderly or children. Churches and community groups are eager to recruit people to help out in soup kitchens and take elderly folk to appointments. Animal shelters need help to walk dogs and socialize potential pets so they have a better chance at getting adopted. By helping others you will also be helping yourself, and the rosy glow of your cheeks will be matched by the rosy glow of your virtue.
And a few more just for New Yorkers:
- Explore NY: This wonderful city of NY has an ever-changing roster of events on offer daily, many of them free. Every Friday, the Weekend section of the New York Times lists a variety of things to do in all five boroughs. Concerts (rap, pop, classical – take your pick), movies, museums, comedy clubs, plays, walking tours – they’re all here. Arrange to do them with a friend so you don’t chicken out.
- Check out the new Whitney Museum: It’s crammed with young and interesting looking people and the art is amazing. Then walk the High Line to see your city from a whole new perspective.
- Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge: Why? Why not? It’s a fun thing to do that many tourists enjoy but locals don’t think to experience. And Brooklyn Park at the other end is awesome. End up by taking the ferry back to Manhattan and see your city from the water. It will make you proud and happy that you live here.
When all else fails and the winter blues persist… Count your blessings, plan a spring trip, and remember what the poet said – “If winter comes, can spring be far behind?”
Haven’t tried High Line but since it doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Maybe I will, soon. It’s not like I have anything better to do during the weekends because most of my friends want to stay indoors and it’s killing me to be watching TV half of the day during the weekend, just because we all can’t enjoy any outdoor activities. I’m feeling old already because of too much bed and couch lounging. I’ve never been this bored! ? I’m wondering if this is part of the blues already… I’m getting agitated because of boredom!!
You might be feeling the blues already. Socialize with friends or people you love. Feel better soon.
Winter just gave my friends and I the reason to start a YouTube channel to post music videos. It’s just about guitar covers and all but before winter, we just randomly hang out to jive together but one of us started to film one of our sessions and decided to post it online. It gave us a reason to stay indoors while it was cold and the time spent doing guitar covers is worth it.
Winter usually helps me crave more physical activities. So I enjoy doing zumba and yoga classes on my spare time. I find that it keeps the heat in my body stable so I feel less cold. If it’s too cold outside and I just can’t afford to step out, I just watch YouTube for videos I can mimic.
I do agree on how animals can boost someone’s mood. My dog is like my best buddy. Whenever I’m feeling down, I just sit down on the floor and cuddle my dog and I feel instantly better. After work, I take the time to really cuddle my dog and for some reason, stress goes away so fast. Animals area really amazing creatures. Sometimes I feel like my dog understands me better than most of my friends.
I know what you’re saying. I’m the same way. The more I’m stressed or feeling something bad, I spend more time with my dog.
A friendly reminder: battle winter blues as early as you can. Don’t let it progress to depression because you failed to fix it as early as you can. Surround yourself with happy and positive people who will bring out your productive side. Why productive side? It’s because when you’re happy and productive, there are less chances of you feeling depressed. Think of the things you enjoy doing outdoors and indoors. Then try to find friends that would do it with you. The more, the merrier! ?
I hope nobody gets too sad this winter. Just follow the things written here and always remember that it’s better to have fun no matter what and don’t spend too much of your time alone. When you’re around people, it’s less likely that you’ll feel the blues eating you up.
Yeah, I hope all of us cheers up! Love the cold guys! More excuses for drinking hot choco!
I really adore volunteering in hospitals/homes. Especially those for old people. It’s because I don’t exactly have that much of sense of humor and I’d likely bore them to death instead of helping them be happy. So I just like helping out with cheering them up and letting them know that I’m there for them. It may not be such a grand gesture but I know that I do know I bring happiness to some of them and that’s what matters.
It’s usually the lack of sunlight that plays such a big role in winter blues. But I don’t exactly believe in the ‘lack of sunlight’ even during winter because the sun is always there. My solution to this is that you really shouldn’t coop up inside your house especially in the morning. Bask in that little to no sunlight and you’ll still feel fine. This article is right. It’s the act of staying away outdoors that’s causing the feeling and not exactly the weather. Remember how people would say that even if it’s raining you’re still supposed to wear sunblock? That’s because the sun is still there and you can still have your daily dose of sun no matter what the weather is.
Be positive, aside from doing the tips in this article. Why? Well if you enjoy the cold season and see the light of it in everything, such as being able to wear your Instagram worthy winter clothes and boots because hell yeah, it’s winter. Then you won’t feel like winter is just a looming cloud over everybody’s heads.
I agree. People who dread winter or any other season are the ones who will feel the weight twice as much.
Had a friend who’s been feeling down lately because of the weather and we had to keep ordering pizza for him whenever we would hang out at his place. It’s a weird gesture but he says it helped.