Do you ever feel a little ‘off’ once seasonal changes start to approach or set-in? If you’re not one of those who live close to the equator & don’t experience much weather change, chances are you’ve most probably felt it on your own mind & body, somehow. Maybe you didn’t even know that there is even such a thing as Seasonal Affective Disorder?
Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD normally approaches when the months become colder and there’s less light exposure during the day. People who are ‘diagnosed’ with SAD produce more of a chemical called SERT, which lowers levels of serotonin, the happy hormone. So it’s even more important for people who experience these seasonal changes to get outdoors more and get exposed to as much natural light as possible. Something like infrared sauna’s and light-boxes that imitate natural light, if you live in an area that is mostly dark, can be really useful, too.
Whilst this disorder is becoming a lot more known, what I really want to talk about today is how & why Seasonal Changes affects our entire body & mind and why something like Bio Individuality comes into play and should be a known way of life by a lot more people than what it currently is.
Bio-Individuality:
Bio-individuality is the concept that no one diet or lifestyle works for everyone. People have their own unique needs and will have a way of eating and living that works best for them. Your perfect diet could make someone else gain weight or feel lethargic, while someone else’s morning run could leave your body feeling weak and depleted.
In addition, your needs will likely change over time. Exactly what you’re doing now probably won’t work in the same way as you and your life evolve. You’ll have to keep checking in to see what’s working for you as you go through changes like moving, getting a new job, or having children.
Some factors to consider when seeing what works for your bio-individuality are lifestyle, occupation, geographic area, available resources, body type, age, culture, and religion.
Your health is a journey not a destination, and this is where Bio-Individuality comes into play more than ever. It is a lifestyle that adapts to your changing needs and the world around you.
Bio-Individuality & Season Changes:
This is where I believe bio-individuality is more important than ever throughout the year. If you’re anything like me and feel the season changes on your own body and mind very deeply, this could be a new approach that may work very well for you.
For me; bio-individuality and season changes mean that I adapt my lifestyle to the changing nature around me.
It’s officially Winter in Australia tomorrow, and in some ways we’re lucky to mainly have warm months instead cold. However, we do get cold winters in Australia – today it’s 5 degrees as I got up this morning. We also don’t have insulation or radiators like they do in Europe, so it’s very cold inside and out for 3-4 months, roughly.
It makes sense to change your lifestyle to fit with the nature around us, for the pure and simple reason that we ARE nature ourselves. When we adapt and bring ourselves into our natural state of consciousness, we’re aligning ourselves with the vibrations of the earth and the frequency of the universe.
– We FEEL better when we’re eating as close to a whole food diet as we can.
– We feel more alive when we get exposed to sun, rain & wind.
– We breathe deeper when we take a moment to centre ourselves and fine-tune our connection with our deep truth within, which is the same frequency that aligns with where you come from; The Universe.
Whenever we consciously choose to honour the nature around us and look to it for guidance, I truly believe we feel happier and healthier as physical human-beings. Our mindsets, too.
If you still find it hard to believe that seasonal changes and the nature around us has a say in how we feel, how about this:
– The Moon has gravity of its own, which pulls the oceans (and us) towards it.
– The Sun warms our seas, stirs our atmosphere, generates our weather patterns, and gives energy to the growing green plants that provide the food and oxygen for life on Earth.
– All life on Earth is calibrated to the frequency of the planet. Everything from our brain waves and biorhythms to our states of consciousness are directly correlated to the Earth’s frequencies.
How can we adapt?
It’s not as hard as it may sound. Just like the bears go into hibernation over winter, we as human beings needs to do something a little similar. Now, I know that we can’t go away for 4 months and just sleep, but taking inspiration from animals around us, as we are simply an extant member of of the subtribe Hominina (chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans), the more I believe our bodies will thrive, especially in the colder months.
So, think about slowing the overall pace of your life down. Substitute habits and foods with something else that will serve you more in winter. It’s not about eliminating things or making restrictions, it’s about finding what works for you and your body.
Here are some suggestions:
- Swap Cold Foods for Warm Foods: think soups, stews, casseroles. Think steaming, boiling, stir-frying, heating, baking. Transition over to cooked foods instead of raw and cold foods.
- Warm Energy Foods: Eat foods with warming energy like walnuts, sunflower seeds, turmeric, nutmeg, coconut, dates, clove, fresh ginger, coriander, cinnamon, red capsicum, rice milk, parsley, cayenne.
- Warm Drinks: avoid cold drinks and opt for room-temperature water and warm fluids that will keep your body balanced. Think broths, herbal teas and matcha/turmeric lattes.
- Up Your Protein: make sure you have enough protein as protein is an important source of energy & heat. Make sure, if eating meat, that it’s organic and/or free-range and if you’re vegetarian or vegan, make sure you get enough quality plant-based protein.
- Change Your Workouts: this may not go for everyone, but I enjoy slowing down my pace in Winter to give my body some time & rest to adjust to the colder weather and to allow it’s energy to be spent on my mood and heating up my body. I swap some of my HIIT classes for hot yoga flows, pilates or barre classes.
- Rise With The Sun: as the winter-sun rises much later, so should we, if we have the option to do so. Letting your body rise naturally when the sun awakens, is the best possible way that you can let your body & mind start the day. Sleep without the blinds, so that the sun can start to trigger the serotonin levels in your body as soon as it rises and in return, let you feel nice and rested when you wake up.
- Get Outside First Thing In The Morning: we need the morning-light to trigger our serotonin levels so that we can both wake up, but also feel ‘better’ for the day ahead. As there’s far less light and a decrease in the strength of light, too, we should be going for a walk or spend a bit of time first thing in the morning, if possible.
Now, I know that all of the above may not be feasible for everyone, but that’s where bio-individuality comes in again. You have to consider so many underlying factors as before mentioned like lifestyle, occupation, geographic area, available resources, body type, age, culture, religion etc.
But what I CAN say is that I’ve felt an incredible shift when I do honour the nature around me and allow it to help me transition through the seasonal changes – body, mind and spirit wise.
Caroline xx
