Easy Ways to Care for Yourself in Winter

Easy Ways to Care for Yourself in Winter

by | Feb 21, 2022 | Resources, Tips and Tricks

Stephanie Rodriguez & the UPSTREET
TEAM

Easy Ways to Care For Yourself in Winter

As winter continues on, you may start to feel yourself getting the winter blues. Between a lack of sunlight, less outside activities, and a sometimes busy-paced season, we can start to feel worn out and run down quickly. During this season, you may need to pay a little bit more attention to your mind, emotions, and body to ensure you are taking care of yourself.

These easy self-care tips can help you feel more like yourself through the winter season.

Take vitamin D & C supplements! 

With a lack of sunlight and less opportunities to go outside in the winter, taking vitamin D can help make up for some of the vitamin deficiency you may experience from a lack of sun. Low vitamin D can lead to depressed mood and an overall unwell mental health. You could also try using an artificial sun lamp to help get vitamin D! Vitamin C can help boost your immune system to keep you physically healthy and feeling better throughout the winter.

Get outside when you can.

Not every winter day is gloomy and gray. Take advantage of sunny days to get outside and change your scenery! If it’s cold, bundle up and take a short, brisk walk. If it’s a little warmer, plan to hike or do another activity that keeps you outside a little longer. This can help change up your in-the-house routine and even give you opportunities to see friends!

Take care of your body.

Winter is usually a season of dry skin and low movement. If you can’t get outside to walk, try to get some movement indoors. There are YouTube videos for easy, low impact exercises or you can do something fun like dancing, if you don’t like more traditional workouts or going to the gym. Your body and mind will thank you if you make an effort to get some extra movement in, even if it’s just taking some steps in place while you wait for your coffee to brew! Taking care of your skin during this season is also important. Invest in some quality skin care products that can help you keep your skin moisturized. Physical health and mental health are closely tied, so it’s important that you take care of both!

Slow down your mornings.

Winter can often be a busy season, with holidays and the new year starting and not much to do outside. Instead of rushing around to get out of the house, try getting up a little earlier and slowing your mornings down. Take time to make coffee or tea and drink it slowly. Make and eat breakfast every morning. Sit under a warm blanket for a few minutes before starting your day. Giving yourself some time in the mornings can help you feel more ready to face your day.

Try out some new indoor activities.

When you’re stuck inside all day, it can be easy to let yourself just sit and scroll through social media or watch TV. If you don’t already have an indoor hobby, try something new–even if you try a new activity every week! Gain some cooking or baking skills; try some painting or crafting; take an online class to learn a skill. There are plenty of ways to get your mind going, your hands moving, and your creativity flowing during the winter. 

Learn to embrace winter and do what you need to do to care for yourself through it. 

So you already gave up on your New Year’s Resolutions? Ate some extra sugar one day when you just really needed a mood boost? Laid around all day instead of getting anything done? Stop beating yourself up about it! Winter can be a hard season, and sometimes you just need to get off your routine and binge watch a show or eat some extra sweets. You’ve got the whole year to meet your goals–you don’t need to finish them by spring. And try to embrace winter if you find yourself grumbling and complaining about it. See the beauty in the snow, in the new beginnings that winter presents. Admire the extra glow in the lights at dusk and the bracing cold on your face as you walk down the street, waking you up. Learning to embrace both the literal and figurative seasons you’re in is important to caring for yourself.

 

We hope these tips can help you care for yourself physically, emotionally, and mentally through the winter! If you find that you still need a little help, please reach out and speak to one of our counselors on the chat. They can help you identify what you need and connect you to important resources and services to get you back to feeling like yourself. 

Setting Your Morning Routine

by | May 27, 2021 | Tips and Tricks

Stephanie Rodriguez
Adolescent and Teen Psychotherapist

Setting Your Morning Routine

Summer is right around the corner, and if you’re anything like me, it’s tough to find motivation to be productive in the warmer months. Finding a morning routine to get your day started can be helpful when we don’t have much of a schedule to keep. Not only can it be helpful to have productive days, it can also be helpful for our mental health. 

Incorporating routine into our lives can have many mental health benefits. Routines are helpful for those at any age and any stage in life and can help create healthy habits, reduce stress and cope with change. 

Here are some helpful tips to get started on creating your morning routine! 

  • Remember that your sleeping habits go hand in hand with creating a morning routine. 

Get into a good habit by first setting a goal on a specific time you want to wake up each morning. Then, you can set a goal of what time to be in bed each night. For example, we know for a full night’s rest we need 8 hours of sleep, so if you want to wake up by 8am every morning this summer, your goal bedtime would be midnight. 

  • Plan adequate time to finish your routine before you leave the house each morning.

Maybe you have a job or an activity you have to be awake for. Set aside the time you need to finish your routine before you leave each day. This will help your body wake up and get ready for the day before you have to leave your house. 

  • Make something you enjoy part of the morning routine.

An important piece of morning routines is to add things to it that you love to do. Do you like working out, taking walks, skin care, journaling, reading, drinking coffee? Add these to your routine! With adding things you like you may also add things that are not so enjoyable but need to get done. For example, brushing your teeth, making your bed, packing your lunch, etc. 

  • Write your routine down and remind yourself each day.

Forming a routine or habit takes time—about 21 days actually—so don’t be hard on yourself if creating a morning routine is difficult, be patient with yourself. It can help to write your actual routine down step by step, and place it in a spot that you see every morning when you wake up. This will help you be reminded of your goals and stay on task to get going with your day.

Your morning routine can be as long or as short as you want. The goal is to set up your day the way that is best for you. Your routine should be unique to yourself. If you need ideas or enjoy watching other people going through their morning routines go to Youtube and search morning routines.