How To Stay Healthy & Enjoy The Long Winter Months

January has a reputation - and for good reason.

The sparkle of Christmas has faded, the days are short and grey, the nights seem endless, the news is oppressive and many people feel the pinch financially after the festive season. Add in the lack of sunshine, cold weather, and the general “back to reality” slump, and it’s no surprise that a lot of people have felt the heaviness of January this year.

For many, this isn’t just a mood dip. It’s something known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) — a form of depression linked to reduced daylight and disrupted circadian rhythms. Even without a formal diagnosis, most people feel some version of the “Winter Blues.”

But here’s the good news:

Winter doesn’t have to feel like something you just endure. With the right support, both from your own daily habits and from therapies like Spinal Flow - this season can become a time of deep nourishment, nervous system reset, and inner strengthening.

Let’s explore why winter feels so hard… and how you can help yourself feel lighter, brighter, and more grounded.

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Why Winter Feels So Heavy

1. Lack of Sunshine

Sunlight is one of the biggest regulators of your circadian rhythm - your internal body clock.

Less light means:

• Lower serotonin (your mood‑lifting neurotransmitter)

• Disrupted melatonin (your sleep hormone)

• Reduced vitamin D production

All of which can leave you feeling flat, tired, and unmotivated.

2. Financial Pressure After Christmas

January often brings:

• Higher bills

• Lower bank balances

• A sense of “starting from behind”

This creates background stress that your nervous system quietly absorbs.

3. Rainy Days & Long Dark Nights

Cold, wet weather keeps us indoors, reduces movement, and disconnects us from nature — all things that affect emotional wellbeing.

4. The Afterglow of Christmas Has Gone

The lights, the connection, the anticipation… suddenly replaced with routine, quiet, a reduced bank balance and responsibility.

Your nervous system feels that shift.

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How Spinal Flow Helps You Through the Winter Blues

During winter, your system is under more pressure than usual.

You’re indoors more, moving less, getting less light, and often carrying more emotional load.

Spinal Flow helps by:

✨ Supporting your mood naturally

By shifting you into a parasympathetic (rest-and-repair) state, your body can produce the hormones and neurotransmitters that support wellbeing.

During a session, the body often produces endorphins, along with other calming neurochemicals that naturally lift mood, ease tension, and soften feelings of heaviness. Many clients describe leaving their session feeling lighter, clearer, and more emotionally balanced — almost as if winter has loosened its grip on them.

✨ Helping to rebalance your circadian rhythm

When the nervous system is regulated, your sleep–wake cycle becomes steadier, helping you feel more energised and emotionally stable.

✨ Increased immunity.

Spinal Flow reduces cortisol levels, eases the nervous system out of fight & flight and restores the natural flow of cerebrospinal fluid, energy, and neural communication — all vital for immune health.

✨ Increasing your sense of clarity and emotional resilience

Clients often report feeling lighter, clearer, and more grounded after a session — exactly what winter tends to drain.

✨ Reduces aches and pains which make us feel like curling up and staying indoors

If there’s ever a season where your nervous system needs support, it’s winter.

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Ways You Can Support Yourself This Winter

These are gentle, accessible practices that work beautifully alongside Spinal Flow.

🍃 1. Embrace the Art of Wintering

Wintering is the idea of honouring the natural slow-down of the season.

Instead of fighting the tiredness or the desire to retreat, you lean into it.

This might look like:

• Earlier nights

• Softer mornings

• More nourishing foods

• Saying no to unnecessary commitments

• Allowing yourself to rest without guilt

Your body is not lazy and neither are you - you’re just as seasonal as the rest of nature

🍃 2. Boost Your Vitamin D (and Other Key Nutrients)

Low vitamin D is strongly linked to low mood in winter.

Many people also benefit from:

• Magnesium

• Omega‑3 fatty acids

• B vitamins

These support mood, energy, and nervous system function.

🍃 3. Get Outside in the Morning

Even on cloudy days, morning light helps reset your circadian rhythm.

Aim for:

• 10–20 minutes outside

• No sunglasses if possible

• Looking toward the horizon (not the sun)

This simple habit can reduce depression symptoms and improve sleep.

🍃 4. Try Winter-Friendly Earthing

Barefoot grounding isn’t always practical in January - but you can still earth yourself.

A beautiful winter alternative is tree holding. And before you laugh, no this is not woo-woo or hippy!

Grounding/Earthing simply means bringing your body into direct electrical contact with the Earth, which has a stable natural charge. Modern living - insulated shoes, indoor environments, synthetic materials - reduces that contact. When your skin touches the ground or the trunk of a tree, your body equalises with the Earth’s electrical potential, a process that may influence physiological functions such as inflammation, stress responses, and sleep regulation. It’s not about magic or energy fields - just basic conductivity and the way the body interacts with its environment.

• Place your hands on the trunk

• Take a few slow breaths

• Let your body discharge the static and tension that builds up indoors

It’s calming, regulating, and surprisingly powerful.

🍃 5. Move Your Body Gently

You don’t need intense workouts — just movement:

• Walking

• Stretching

• Light yoga

• Dancing in the kitchen

Movement helps shift stagnant energy and boosts mood.

🍃 6. Take a leaf from the Scandinavians and embrace huge

• Bring nature indoors

• Allow lots of natural light in

• Drag the fairy lights back out of the box of Christmas decs

• Enjoy the little things that Winter lends its self so beautifully to - find some cosy socks, light the fire (or a candle), make yourself a hot drink and snuggle down to read a book. Your nervous system will thank you for giving it comfort and time to unwind.

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Winter doesn’t have to be something you push through.

It can be a time of deep restoration, reconnection, and inner strengthening — with the right support.

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Ready to Feel Lighter?

✨ Book your Spinal Flow session with me at Grace Spinal Flow https://www.gracespinalflow.com/book-online

Let’s help your nervous system find clarity, flow, and ease again.

✨ Explore natural mood and immune support through high quality natural oils and supplements to support your winter wellbeing.

https://doterra.me/gm12c8. There are a few kits on this link - I’m not suggesting you get them all! It’s just an easy way to highlight which products you could help you so worth looking into.

This is the time of year when our nervous systems quietly ask for more care, more warmth, and more softness. We’re not meant to push through winter at full speed; we’re meant to tend to ourselves gently, like tending embers in a fire.