10 Tips to Chase the Winter Blues Away

Rain, rain go away, come again some other day.

I’ve been chanting this nursery rhyme for days. The dreary, grey drizzle is driving me mad. Cloaked in blankets, slippers and sweaters and consuming gallons of hot tea, I can’t seem to get warm or motivated to go outside, even to run errands. I think bears have the right idea—we should just hibernate.

Finally, yesterday, the sun broke through the clouds. Hallelujah! Raising my face toward the sky I relished the warmth on my skin.

A little sunshine and I immediately had a boost of energy. Suddenly, I found time to grocery shop, take my dog Snickers for a walk, fold and put away the mountain of clean clothes on the bed and check-off a dozen things on my to-do list.

I’m not alone in having the shortened days and lack of sunshine sap my motivation. It’s well documented that the winter months typically bring on increased sleepiness and lethargy and as a result, weight gain. It’s in our DNA. When our eyes detect darkness, our brain releases melatonin, a hormone that induces sleep. With the sun setting at 4:00 pm no wonder I’m tired by 6:30 pm!

Feeling like I have a case of the “winter blahs,” I researched ways to boost my mood. Here are the tips I’ve collected from the experts on how to chase the blues away.

1. Get out there – Force yourself to go out even though you want to stay in. And if you really want a mood booster, spend some money on a great experience, e.g., a great dinner place, a concert, theatre tickets etc. Research shows that spending money on experiences boost your mood more than buying a new pair of shoes. (Side note to the experts: I don’t think you understand the emotional impact of shoes. My new Toms bring me loads of joy every time I put them on. So there. But I’ll do the experience stuff too.)
2. Do a good deed. Focusing on those less fortunate creates empathy and forces us to appreciate what we have.
3.  Pull out old photos. Grab a cup of tea and start flipping through your kids’ baby albums or that awesome vacation you took to Italy. Who wouldn’t feel better after memories of pasta and wine flood their brain!
4. Try bright-light therapy. Sit in front of a special lamp (a bright fluorescent light that mimics the intensity of the sun) for about 30 minutes every day.
5. Start an appreciation journal. At night, jot down the good stuff that happened during the day. Recording even the most mundane activities that went well will help you focus on the positive.
6. Exercise. Regular exercise relieves stress and anxiety. Plus, working out makes you feel better about yourself which will boost your mood.
7. Try meditation or a restorative yoga class. New research shows that spiritual practices, such as regular mindfulness exercises, can actually change brain structure in a way that promotes a sense of wellbeing.
8. Cut back on alcohol. While sitting by the fire with a glass of wine or scotch seems like a good idea, alcohol is actually a depressant, which can exacerbate a depressed mood.
9. Treat yourself to a massage. During a massage the levels of the stress hormone cortisol fall and the levels of the feel good hormone serotonin rise. Bad stuff goes down, good stuff goes up. Sign me up.
10. Consider Omega-3 and Vitamin D supplements which both have been shown to have a positive effect on depression. Talk to your doctor about the correct dosage, especially with Vitamin D as too much is toxic.

“Nothing’s More Important than Family”

This is one of my husband’s favorite movie lines. While I’m not sure Don Carleone actually said this in The Godfather, Michael likes to pretend he did because he always delivers it while impersonating Marlon Brando. With a deep, guttural, whisper of a voice Michael says, “Nothing’s more important than family.” For added emphasis he shakes his right hand and kisses the tops of his fingers. And then he throws in a couple of Godfather slaps to someone’s cheek and finishes the scene by repeating the sound “eh?” a few dozen times.

The newest member of my family.
Holden, born May 2 to my sister
Cathy and her husband Troy.

We get it honey. Family’s important.

Good social relationships are important, not only for your mental health, but your physical health as well.

A recent study by Brigham Young University (BYU) has demonstrated that strong social relationships will help you live longer. (Unless of course you’re an enemy of the Carleone family. Then your life expectancy is only until Saturday, before mass.)

The BYU study found that “people with stronger social relationships had a 50% increased likelihood of survival than those with weaker social relationships.”

The researchers went on to state that, “…the influence of social relationships on the risk of death are comparable with well-established risk factors for mortality such as smoking and alcohol consumption and exceed the influence of other risk factors such as physical inactivity and obesity.”

Weak social relationships are as risky to your health as smoking and alcohol consumption. Yikes!

I’m blessed to be surrounded by a wonderful extended family. But for those of you that have less than stellar relations with your family (it happens), strong friendships count toward a healthier life as well.

And you don’t need that many friends for it to affect your life in a positive way. A British study found that the magic number of friends to be happy was 10.

Dr Richard Tunney, of Nottingham University, quizzed more than 1,700 people about their satisfaction with their lives and the state of their friendships. Those with five friends or fewer had just a 40 percent chance of being happy. In other words, they were more likely to be unhappy than happy. When participants reached ten friends, they were more likely to be happy than unhappy.

Don’t worry. If you’re like me and the number of friends on your Facebook page is appallingly low, the study found that old friends are no more likely to make us happy than new friends. So it’s never too late to up these numbers!

I don’t need any research to tell me spending time with people I care about is healthy. I simply think about what I like to do most and it’s sharing a good meal and good wine with good friends.

With that we’re off this weekend to Cape Cod, MA. To get healthy by spending time with some old friends. I’m pretty sure there will be wine involved, so I’ll be sure and drink red. To really boost my health.

The Happiest Place on Earth

I’m blogging to you live from Disney World this week. Michael’s family has converged on central Florida in celebration of his parent’s 50^th wedding anniversary.

Between screaming my head off on the Space Mountain roller coaster in the Magic Kingdom, bouncing along on the Kilimanjaro Safari Tour at Animal Kingdom, and watching stunt drivers careen around a fictitious Parisian market square at Disney Studios, I’ve been contemplating Disney’s claim that this is “The Happiest Place on Earth.”

There are certainly signs of happiness all around: Disney employees greeting you with a smile and a wave; new brides strolling through the park wearing white sparkly Mickey Mouse ears attached to a veil; kids excitedly hugging Snow White, Donald Duck and Goofy; an audience of thousands staring up at the night sky in delight as fireworks light up Cinderella’s castle.

But there are also scenes of some very unhappy folks: over-stimulated and overtired toddlers melting down in every corner of the Magic Kingdom and frustrated parents shaking their heads, wagging their fingers and threatening to exit the park.

I think Disney might need to alter their slogan to: “The Happiest Place on Earth, Unless You’re a Toddler or the Parent of One, then it’s Happy for a Couple of Minutes, Maybe an Hour if You’re Lucky.”

And that’s the thing with happiness. You can feel it for a few moments in any given day, but making it last, well, that’s the real trick.

Achieving lasting happiness is not only good for us mentally, but it’s also good for our physical health. A recent study published in the journal Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being reviewed more than 160 studies on happiness and found that, “all else being equal, happy people tend to live longer and experience better health than their unhappy peers.”

For example, one study the authors reviewed followed 5,000 people for more than 40 years and found that the most pessimistic ones tended to die younger. Another study followed 180 Catholic nuns from early adulthood to old age and found that those who wrote positive autobiographies in their early 20s tended to outlive those who wrote more negative accounts of their young lives.

“Be an optimist.”

“Think positive.”

I hate it when perpetually perky people tell me to do this. But, according to the research, they’re on to something.

I could, if I chose to, dwell on the negative aspects of my week: feeling weak and nauseous after riding the Mission Space simulator at Epcot; the horribly over-priced and unappetizing food at the Coral Reef restaurant; or, here’s a good one, the total expense of taking three kids and two adults to Disney. (That’ll really depress you.)

But, to achieve lasting happiness, the research is telling me to, “think positive.”

So, I choose to remember the following instead: Amanda (my 13-year-old daughter) and I screaming like, well, like a couple of girls as we hurled down the tracks of the Expedition Everest roller coaster; Grant (my 10-year-old son) snuggling in to my shoulder and telling me he didn’t have the words to express his appreciation for taking him to Disney World; Janelle (my 8-year-old daughter) excitedly pointing out all the beautiful figures and scenery on the “It’s a Small World” boat ride; and most of all, joining up with Michael’s parents, siblings and their families for fun-filled days at Animal Kingdom and Epcot.

I feel healthier already!

The crew at Epcot. Our young married couple are in the
center. Happy 50th Grandma and Grandpa!

Michael and Grant on the "Spin and Barf."
I mean, the Mad Tea Cup ride.

Amanda, Janelle and I before the craziness begins.

All of us doing "jazz hands" as we plunge
50 feet down the slope of Splash Mountain.