5 TOP TIPS TO BEAT THE WINTER BLUES

Along with low mood, many of us feel generally lethargic, less productive and have a greater need for sleep in the winter months and it can be easier to lose the motivation for healthy habits. In this blog post, we share our 5 top wellbeing tips to reduce your risk of the winter blues and boost your happiness and productivity this season.

1. Move for Joy

Think about your current choice of exercise - does it feel good!? Does it make you smile? Balance + Glo Head of Fitness and Cofounder Evelyn Joyce suggests a little bit of everything in small doses to help bring joy back into your exercise regime. Time in nature, short burst of energetic activity to release endorphins, yoga for mindfulness and strength exercises that will boost both body and mind.

2. Plan Opportunities to Socialise

During the darker winter months it can be easy to feel isolated and lonely. Humans are social beings and whether or not we are introverts or extroverts, we need human interaction.

Try to plan at least one or two social experiences each week to meet your human need for connection. You don’t need to leave the house if you don’t want. It’s always best to start off with small steps such as having a chat with someone online, or having a cheeky text conversation while you’re eating your lunch. Better still, you could join one of our LIVE online zoom classes and connect with the community here too. (Try our 30 Day FREE trial).

3. Add MORE into your Diet 

Although it may feel like January is all about restricting what you eat, Health Coach Louise Murray is all about adding MORE into your diet. Forget the fad diets or cutting out certain foods, Lou suggests its more about adding in the good mood boosting food. What you eat can lift your mood or deplete it. Your mood is really affected by what food you do or don't put into your body. She suggests eating more foods that make you feel uplifted and positive for a longer period rather than those that give you fake energy surges. She suggests mixing up your latte - instead of drinking caffeine, which can cause stress and anxiety - try swapping out one of your coffees to one of these - cacao latte, turmeric latte or beetroot latte!

4. Try a Gratitude Practise

Journalling doesn’t have to be long and laborious - actually gratitude journalling is one of Co-founder Jenny’s favourite things to do each morning. Pull out your notebook and write down all the progress you have made and the things that you are grateful for. It can even just be 3 things. - like the sun shining through the window, a cup of tea in bed or  your lovely warm duvet. When you highlight the things that you appreciate in life, it allows you to gain lots of lovely perspective and to create positive energy for your day ahead. And if you feel positive this positivity spreads to those around you too. Try one of her gratitude meditations available on The Online Studio. (You can start your 30 Day FREE trial membership to access it today)

5. Take a Moment to Just Breathe 

We take about 17000 breaths every 24 hours. But how many times do you actually take a moment to notice it? Head of Yoga Jenny, suggests taking a moment right not, stop now and take a deep breath, close your eyes and start to focus on your inhales and exhales through the nose. Inhale for a count of 4. Exhale for a count of 4. Repeat.  When we connect with our breath, we connect with the parasympathetic nervous system - our rest and digest system. Simply taking 10-minutes a day to focus on your breath can lower blood pressure, improve anxiety, lower depression, increase focus, and better overall wellness.