RouletteWeekend

November got away from me. I didn’t really participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) like I had planned. Actually, nothing really went as planned, except for my workouts. Those have stayed on track and on the forefront. Everything else has been hit or miss. Mostly miss.

I know there are a lot of people who don’t understand what Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is and even a few who think it’s some made up illness so that you can sleep your days away and not participate in life. For me, it’s this invisible tightrope that I walk between wanting to be a “normal” person and wanting to fade into some abyss never to be heard from again. Don’t confuse the fading for suicide, though. That’s not it. For me, SAD is just that… a sad-depression-like state that will envelope my whole life from sun up until bedtime if I don’t stay on top of the things I know will make me feel just a little better.

Here are a few ways I have found that help me stay on top of the situation. These are in no particular order, because I find them all to be an invaluable part of the process.

1. Light Therapy (Phototherapy): Every morning when I walk into my little creative space to write my morning pages, I turn on my lightbox. It mimics the natural light of the sun and let’s me get a jump on the day. It usually takes me 20-30 minutes to write these morning pages. I have found that’s a perfect amount of time to be sitting in front of the light.
2. Write Morning Pages: Every morning when I wake up, I head straight to my office space/creative room and sit down to write 3 full pages of stream-of-consciousness writing. This is three pages of whatever is on my mind, ex: what I dreamt about, how I’m feeling about the day, how I felt about yesterday, how I slept, how my diet is going, what I’m mad about, why I’m mad about it. This is for literally anything you need to “get off your chest.”
3. Take a walk outside: Before 10 am, I try to get outside and take one loop around the neighborhood. I usually do this after my morning workout, which we will talk about next. If I had a rough workout or if I don’t feel like taking a walk, I will go out into the back yard and just sit for a while reading a book or just breathing with my bare feet in the grass. They also make mats for this purpose if you prefer inside grounding. Either way, I get grounded.
4. Exercise: There is a reason every single professional tells you to move your body every single day. It works! It’s an immediate mood booster plus, it helps you to feel better all day. When you work out in the morning, you feel accomplished before most people even start their day. And that’s a pretty good feeling. So even though, by six pm, you might feel like crawling under the covers and never coming out, it’s winter time, so by time you take a shower and get your jammies on, it’s a perfectly acceptable time to go crawl in the bed. Plus, early to bed, early to rise and that’s where the magic happens.
5. Mindfulness, Grounding & Relaxation: I mentioned grounding earlier. It really is as easy as taking off your shoes and putting your feet on the earth. I’m lucky enough to live by the beach these days so I will make special trips to the beach just to take a barefoot walk if I have the time. If not, sitting in the yard with bare feet works just fine, too. Also, learning how to relax, put your phone away for a while, and just “be” is a good way to find a little bit of calm. I’ve been reading a lot about nasal breathing vs mouth breathing and I’m slightly obsessed with this newfound old way of calming anxiety and increasing your overall well being. Maybe I’ll touch more on that in another blog.
6. Supplements: Don’t be afraid to take a few suppies. My go to supplements are products that are sold by the company I use to do my workouts. I think they’ve created a great system of balancing workouts, nutrition, supplements, mindset and well-being so I haven’t found the need to look elsewhere for other products (except for creatine which they don’t sell anymore so I use this one). My daily supplements, while they may seem excessive have turned into my must haves and I can tell when I run out or pause the autoship because of finances (which has happened…a lot).
   First Thing: This nootropic shot was a real life saver for me. It’s a morning health shot you take when you wake up aka “first thing.” If you have a sensitive palate, it will take some getting used to. I’m not going to sugar coat it, the taste is kind of like ginger and lemon mixed with high quality dirt. But I drank low quality tequila for years and if I could put myself through that then I can take a not so delish health shot in the morning. This offers immune support, brain support, energy, and the most important thing is stress support. It’s packed with adaptogens. Between First Thing and my superfood shake, I’m taking in a double dose of adaptogens and I am a believer in them. When I’m working out, there’s a pre-workout and a hydration drink I love, but those are things I can live without if I have to and then when bedtime rolls around, I’m all about the Last Thing.

I try to buy the “bundles” whenever possible because it’s cheaper and I have found that you can make some of them last a bit longer if you are paying attention to scoop size, but for the most part, supplements are the thing I spend the most money on in any given month because they help me the most in any given month.

7. Get Social: While this is actually the last thing I usually want to do when I am feeling the weight of the seasonal blues, it’s actually something that I make time to do. I try to go to the library or a coffee shop or some other place once a week and talk to a stranger. I just strike up a conversation about literally anything and immediately my mood is boosted. This is an activity that I highly recommend especially on the days when you want to be as far away from people as possible. You don’t have to go be around “your” people, any stranger will do, but do get out of the house and go be social in whatever way your mental state can handle at the time.

And if you are reading this and you don’t have SAD but you love someone who does, just remember, it doesn’t have to make sense to you. It probably doesn’t make much sense to them either. All they really want is for you to understand that this is the way it is today and you can help by suggesting some of the above activities, showing them this blog so they know they are not alone (YOU’RE NOT ALONE!), hugging them, or politely keeping your opinion to yourself, because trust me, there is enough beating up of self going on in our own heads, we don’t need to defend ourselves to someone who just doesn’t get it.

As for me, this year has been less depressing so far than years past, but I’m not out of the woods. Every day is a conscious effort to stay afloat in a sea of sadness and to find the sliver of sunshine on every cloudy day, but knowing there are tools available and knowing where to find them are truly half the battle.

If you need support during this time of year or if you are just struggling to get out of your own way, shoot me a message, we can get through this…together.