Winter Garden, Winter Mood

Working from home, I get to look at our garden a lot. At the moment the trees have lost their leaves. There are random patches of mud instead of grass.  And on gloomy days everything (other than the weeds) can look a bit sad and straggly.

During summer, our garden could be described as thriving (*including the weeds).  But presently the garden feels stripped back, with no bells or whistles. I think of the garden as hunkering down during winter.  

This also seems to reflect a winter mood in many people at the moment.  Perhaps it’s a sense of malaise. Overwhelm with the weeds of life.  Or a feeling of unease, anxiety or uncertainty as to whether better days will come.

These feelings can be common as winter drags on.   Combined with a cost-of-living crisis, a summer that didn’t deliver, extreme weather events, and a range of climate, political and health uncertainty and individual life stuff; it’s unsurprising that many of us have been hunkered down, focused only on essential tasks. 

The problem when this happens is that we can easily lose sight of what’s good.  We can forget or neglect to do what we know is good for us.  We can also stop noticing or appreciating the good things around us. This can quickly turn into an unhelpful spiral.

If you can relate to feeling in a winter lull, here’s some top tips for breaking the cycle;

1)      Double down on what helps. While the details look different for everyone, the headlines are the same; sleep, exercise and good nutrition. Focusing on these will do our mind and body a massive service.  

It can be hard to do this if when we’re not feeling great. I like to use nudges to make the hard stuff easier.  Here are some of the nudges I’ve been using lately to break the winter lull;

·         I lay my exercise clothes out before I go to bed. That way in the morning it’s easier to get dressed for exercise, and then when I’m dressed it feels easier to get out and do it.

·         I have moved my phone charger out of the bedroom. When my phone is charging next to my bed, I’m always tempted to do a last-minute scroll before going to sleep and a first scroll when I wake up. By taking away the phone, I’ve taken away the temptation that was interfering with my sleep.

·         I’ve been getting a fruit and vege box delivered. This has helped with the winter food rut and makes it easier for nutritious food to be a go-to.

For more strategies check out the previous post on Temptation Bundling.

2)      Seek out good stuff.  When we’re feeling a bit blah, good stuff can be harder to spot. So, it’s helpful to be mindful in both observing and creating this.  Here are some ideas;

·         Make a conscious effort to do things you enjoy.  I know I always feel better after a social activity; like a walk with a friend, a coffee catch-up or football sideline chinwag.

·         In resilience training the military are taught to ‘hunt the good stuff’.  Brains are wired to find the negative or the danger.  By consciously looking for what’s good every day, we can improve our mood. 

Taking my own advice, I searched the garden. In amongst the weeds, I discovered these lovely Hellebores.  Snapping a photo means I can re-live the joy they brough long after they’ve been put in the compost.

I also saw some spring bulbs I planted in autumn starting to sprout. A hopeful sign that longer, sunnier days are hopefully coming.