Living in Western Washington State means having very little daylight during wintertime, which is compounded by the winter climate of rain, gray, gloom, and dark. I call it “The Dark Season.”
I’ve struggled with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) for 30+ years. I’m SOLAR POWERED, I need sunlight and outdoor activity to feel good, and I just don’t get that for half of my life. I wrote an article on my yoga blog about what it feels like to live with SAD for 6 months out of every 12.
I’m finally choosing to not be miserable every winter, and will be spending part of every Dark Season in a sunnier location from now on. Not just because it’s fun to be out in the sunshine, but for my physical and mental health and well-being. This year I’m spending 6 weeks in southern Utah in Nov/Dec, and have been here for 6 days thus far. The difference in how I feel between here and Washington State is incredible, and I’ve been journaling about my experience.
Since BluesBoots is about spending time in the great outdoors with Mother Nature, I think this is an appropriate place to share my winter sunshine experience.
I’m fortunate that 2 of my 3 part time jobs are online and portable. Spending 6 weeks in the St. George, Utah, area means I can still work while here, but also get daily doses of sunshine and outdoor activity. I teach and practice yoga, and am a Mindful Outdoor Guide, so I’m very in tune with what my body and mind are doing along with the seasons and outdoor conditions.
Things I’ve noticed in the past 6 days being in sunny Southern Utah instead of Washington State:
· I don’t need to have lights on in the house all day long even during daylight hours. Bright natural light v. electric light all day – big difference!
· I have so much more energy physically – outdoors daily for several hours in the form of hiking and biking.
· I feel very alert mentally, not like a hibernating animal.
· My mood is soooo good, even though I miss my family and friends at home.
· I’m waking up to natural light in the morning, not an alarm clock in the dark. My waking up experience is so much better, I’m ready for every day instead of having to drag myself out of bed.
· I’m not at all sleepy in the afternoons. At home in WA in winter I feel like someone has drugged me to the point that I literally can’t make it through a day without 1 to 2 naps. (I’ve fallen asleep with my face on my keyboard before, not pleasant)
· I’m naturally sleeping about 7.5 – 8 hours a day, not 10+. That means I have more time to do things during the day, hooray!
· I’m not freezing cold and fighting to stay warm all winter. I don’t need to wear 4 layers of clothes and a wool hat *inside* my house because I run so much colder than the rest of my family in wintertime.
· I’m NOT CRAVING SUGAR – which is a huge thing for me. In winter all I want is sugar and chocolate, to an obsessive degree, for that serotonin hit that I don’t get in wintertime. I gain weight every winter. Not craving sugar and being so much more active daily will hopefully stave off my yearly winter weight gain.
· I’m not having to force myself to exercise like I do at home. I know it’s good for me but in winter it’s like torture making my body move when all it wants to do is crawl into bed. Here in the sun I’m loving being active, it feels wonderful.
· I’m not feeling the need to snack all day long, I’m eating much less than I would be at home, but have so much more energy. It’s easier for me to eat healthy. Part of that is how I feel, and part is that I’m on my own these weeks without family in the house for now, so all of their snacky foods aren’t available to me because I’m not buying any for myself.
· It’s amazing to be able to wear normal clothes and not have to bundle and layer indoors like I do at home, where I feel like I’m freezing my arse off for 6 months of every 12, even though my thermostat here is set to almost the same temp as we have it at home.
· Even though it’s not warm here by any means, mid-50s F during the day, just the sun exposure itself is making a huge impact on how cold/not cold I feel.
Summary: For me in winter in WA, sleep and cold go hand in hand. When I’m cold (which is pretty much 50% of my life) I get painfully sleepy, and vice versa. Here with daily sun exposure I don’t feel cold indoors, I’m awake and alert throughout the day without an afternoon slump, I’m not craving sugar, my mood is exponentially better even though I miss my family, and I have more energy than I know what to do with.
I’m calling it a success. Thanks for letting me share.
