13 Gentle Ways To Handle The Dark Months (seasonal depression)

As summer slowly fades into fall, the anticipation of the darker months can stir up feelings of anxiety of what’s to come. Fall brings a different routine, and winter may bring another. The sun sets earlier, the temperature drops, and we start changing our days to staying inside the home.

The change can strike a nerve and maybe it makes us hold tighter onto the abundance that summer brings. Maybe it’s the carefree feeling of t-shirts and slipping on sandals, the lazy warm sunshine, or the excitement that buzzes from people and nature alike. Whatever ease that we love about summer tampers down to make way for something new.

Whether you have four seasons or warm year-round weather, there’s a change in the air that summer has ended.

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What are winter blues?

You may have heard of seasonal depression, also known as winter blues or SAD (seasonal affective disorder).

SAD is a type of depression that’s related to the change in seasons. SAD usually begins and ends during the same parts of the year, starting in the fall and continuing through the winter months.

Symptoms can range from low energy, moodiness, feeling lethargic etc. These symptoms often resolve during spring and summer (Source: Mayo Clinic).

Gentle ways to handle the dark months

While it might feel like you need to “fight” the winter blues feeling, this blog post focuses on ways to accept how you’re feeling, and how to make it a little softer and easier to swim with instead of against.

You don’t have to love the darker months, but they can bring opportunities to learn how to respect mother nature’s carefully designed balance.

1. Make your morning drink with love

Make your morning drink into a ritual to look forward to. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but a slight change may help you look forward to this part of your morning.

Instead of “fighting” against the season, what if we tried to find one moment we enjoy about the season?

• Swap your summer mug with a fall or winter themed mug.
• Add a little decoration to your coffee making area (string lights are a great one).
• Keep a lamp on your counter. The warm light is soothing during a cold morning!
• Be present in the moment and enjoying the process of making your drink.
• If you have the time, allow yourself a few minutes to sip without scrolling.
• Check out my matcha latte recipe or my london fog latte recipe.

2. Bring light into your home

The lack of light is one of the big reasons why winter feels heavy. There’s ways to bring light into the home that can make it cozier and a place that you enjoy spending time. Sometimes we underestimate how much lighting can improve your mood.

• Hang warm copper twinkle lights
• Glass window prisms to catch a rainbow
• Warm toned lamps
• Waterproof mini lamp for your shower
• Warm toned string lights (similar chili pepper lights as shown in the images)
• Light candles or flameless candles with a timer
• Window decals to catch the sunlight!

3. Try a new seasonal recipe

Eating seasonally is a great way to enjoy foods when they’re at their natural harvest cycle. This is a nourishing way to take care of your body and honor the season.

Plan to try a few new recipes throughout the season that use in-season produce.

• Soups, stews, chili
• Hearty vegetables and root vegetables
• Citrus fruits
• Slow cooked meats
• Pot roast
• Homemade chicken pot pie
• Roasted Japanese sweet potatoes

4. Offline activities

Doom scrolling social media can put you in a lethargic headspace. It’s easy and instant which makes it so appealing, but there’s offline ways to find stress relief from a long day.

• Put together a puzzle. They’re engaging and it’s good to challenge the brain.
• An adult coloring book. When was the last time you colored and just enjoyed the process? These inexpensive coloring books are cute and pair well with these great markers.
• Bread baking! Since we spend more time inside, why not take up a new baking skill? (It’ll pair nicely with your soups and chilis)
• Build a Lego set (this holiday train set is super cute!)
• Get reading, curl up in a cozy spot, and make some tea.
• Go for a walk (bundle up and try going on a sunny day, it truly helps!)
• Exercise or join a fitness class
• Volunteer
• Junk journal or scrapebook
• Journal and brain dump how you feel. Writing is a great way to work through your thoughts.

5. Exercise

We know that exercise can have a positive effect on our mental health. If you’re used to getting your exercise outdoors in nice weather, try exploring other exercises you’d like!

• Yoga at home or in a studio
• Pilates classes
• Join a gym
• Find a fitness center that has an indoor track for walking
• Join indoor sports
• Workout classes

6. Change your bedding

Switch your bedding to a warmer comforter, bedsheets with a color palette for winter, or winter themed pillows and throw blankets.

We spend a lot of time in our beds, and it seems like even more so in the darker months. By making your bed extra cozy, you’ll create a space that feels comforting to retreat too after a long day.

It’s a great feeling to be wrapped in warm blankets while it’s chilly outside. A feeling that only the darker months brings.

7. Make your space magical

Decorate your windows and windowsill with candles, homemade citrus garland, prism stickers, mobiles, dried flowers, glass jars, bottles, trinkets, etc. Maybe you collected seashells, rocks, sand, or other summer trinkets that you can display to remember the fun summer adventures and remind yourself it will come again.

Frame pictures, artwork, or posters to add a personal touch to your room. Put a simmer pot on the stove (a beautiful pot makes it feel extra lovely), lights candles, or incense.

For winter, hang garland, make paper snowflakes, and put up twinkle lights.

8. Choose comforting meals and routines on bad days

Some days are really tough when everything feels heavy. Bad days happen, some seasons of life are much harder than others, and it’s the reality of life. It’s easy to get swept away, but there’s ways to take care of yourself.

Choose comforting meals that make you feel good. Stick to familiar routines and unwind for the evening with your favorite shows or movie.

A bad day, a bad week, a bad month – it happens to us all. When it gets dark earlier it can be extra tough, so remember to take care of yourself. A bad season doesn’t last forever.

9. Create a book, TV, or video game list

Write out a list of books, TV shows, or movies that you want to watch this season! It doesn’t have to be winter or holiday related, it can be anything that you’ve been meaning to checkout. If you need some inspiration, check out my 31 cozy winter and holidays movie list!

If you like playing cozy computer or video games, check out this list!

10. Go for a walk (even if it’s cold)

This is such a great activity. We get cooped up when it’s cold and snowy outside, almost like were pausing our connection to nature. When spring comes back around it can feel like such a relief.

Continue your connection with nature even in the darker months. On a sunny winter day, bundle up and take a winter walk. We’re lucky here in the Midwest because our woods is full of deer, birds, and other creatures continuing their lives in the snow.

On your walk, listen to the snow crunching under your boots, look up into the trees and at the world around you. A walk is a lovely way to get exercise and remind yourself that there’s still life out and about even in the darker months!

11. Do you skincare routine by candlelight

This is one way to bring coziness of the season into one of your routines.

Try doing a skincare routine by candlelight, or soft and warm lighting. Let yourself take time and enjoy the process. Put on a show or some music and find enjoyment for this step in your night routine.

12. Make a few plans to look forward to

Having plans to look forward to can help so much. If you want to do something, you be have to be the one to plan it, so go for it! It can be hard to reach out to invite people but if the plans go well it can work out wonderfully.

If you celebrate the holidays or have other events or parties to attend, now is a nice time to get ahead and find your holiday outfit.

Here’s a tip, start planning your spring vacation now, and that can really help with moving through the darker season.

13. Practice self-compassion

This time of year can be tough for a variety of reasons. Remember that you are doing your best, and that’s all that is required.

Sleep well, eat nourishing food, plan to see your loved ones whether that’s in-person or a nice phone call, and take care of yourself.

The sun will shine again.