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Light

Deficiency of light is the primary cause of SAD and Winter Blues. The decrease in daylight during the winter months causes our brains to secrete melatonin, a hormone that makes us feel tired and sluggish by day. Use light to reset your mental landscape, increase energy and restore joy.

• Maximize natural daylight by removing heavy window treatment, consider light sheer curtains for privacy by day and shades for night time privacy. Position desk chairs to face the healing views of windows that offer mood boosting sunlight. 

• When the sun begins to set late in the afternoon, the widow views in our homes become black holes in our rooms. To remedy this problem, consider low voltage landscape lights outside your windows shining up to backlight the windows. Similarly, grazing landscape light up a tree can give you the same effect. These solutions will also add dramatic exterior lighting for the winter months.

• Situate a light box and allow yourself to sit 1-2 feet in front of it first thing in the morning for 20-60 minutes. Locate it  where you have your morning coffee, in your bathroom, dressing area or on your breakfast table for the whole family to receive their morning boost. Begin this early fall to prevent symptoms, and remember, improvement can take one to two weeks.

• Take inventory of light bulbs, increase the wattage to the maximum required, go with warm white incandescent bulbs that provide a warm cozy interior glow. Notice if lamps are needed for dark corners of rooms. We tend to think of lighting the center of a room, but a light fixture grazing a wall, or a window or a mirror, reflects light back into a room. Similarly, a mood enhancing uplight will flood the ceiling creating an atmosphere of spaciousness that is very important with so much indoor time. Research shows that a morning boost of light goes a long way, so make sure your bathroom and breakfast area is well lit. Remember, it’s important to maximize daylight, but our circadian rhythm wants the light lower in the evening to prepare our brains for sleep. Having dimmer switches allows us to control and lower the light in the evening.

• Nothing creates a cozy atmosphere like candles. A few beeswax or other all natural candle’s will burn clean without emanating toxins into your precious air quality. It’s worth investing in good quality candles.

Ambiance lighting is more than illumination, think of it as eliminating darkness rather than seeing light.

In the winter months I love the smell and the warm glow from a candle perched on the kitchen window sill over my kitchen sink as I prepare dinner in the early evening. To honor our circadian rhythm, as the day turns back to night, I dim the dining room lights and light a candle on the dinner table to enjoy a calming dinner experience.

Circadian rhythm is a natural, internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats on each rotation of the Earth roughly every 24 hours.

• Fairy lights are another example of ambiance lighting that trigger dopamine, the feel good chemical in our brains — they are no longer just for dorm rooms or the holiday season. String a neat line on your front porch or back deck to enjoy through your windows. We don’t have to explain to our children why a few sets of these hung in their bedroom will help lift their mood through the winter. 

2

Color

Chromotherapy, also known as color therapy, is the practice of using certain colors to stimulate various emotions and to improve health. Architects and designers recognize the psychological benefits. Which colors we choose to surround ourselves in, can be one of the most powerful antidotes for the winter blues.

• Cozy warm golden glows can provide the effect of a sunset. These red-orange-yellow ranges warm the gray winter landscape, in contrast soothing our souls and lifting our spirits.

• Light earthy sage green can put you at ease, in a state of tranquility similar to a walk in the woods. Greens have long been recognized as renewal and rebirth, provoking feelings of the hope of spring.

• The impact that color has on our wellbeing throughout the winter months can shift decisions to repaint or paper walls to live with year round.  Assess your current room colors. Are there other ways to bring these mood altering colors into our homes? Consider a seasonal makeover, trading out toss pillows and throw blankets, splashing warm orange and soft greens into the mix. An oversized sunset piece of artwork, strategically placed, can offer the same healing effects. 

• Blue in general call to mind feelings of calmness and serenity. It is often described as peaceful, tranquil, secure, orderly and is know to lower one’s pulse rate. Autumn sky blues help people feel calm and mimic the spaciousness of the open skies. Pulling from nature again, robins egg blues distresses, allowing our bodies to relax and lift our moods. Avoid cool grays and blues that duplicate the dreary view outside our windows all winter long.

• The Swedish take a different approach to creating interiors to get through long dark winters, rather than the dark, rich colors and textures used in the northern US. Classic Swedish interiors use soft creams, pale blues and white airy color palettes accented with warm wood to create bright, cheerful spaces. Be careful when using whites, they can be bright but also feel too cold and glaring mirroring the winter landscape. This light color scheme, natural wood furniture with a cozy fireplace and bookshelf adds Hygge.

Danish word hygge (pronounced something like \HEW-guh\), is a noun and adjective, to refer to cozy and comfortable surroundings that invoke an inner sense of contentment or well-being. 

3

Biophilic Design

Biophilic design is a concept used within the building industry to increase occupant connectivity to the natural environment through the use of direct nature, indirect nature, and space and place conditions.

“Physiological responses triggered by connections with nature include relaxation of muscles, as well as lowering of diastolic blood pressure and stress hormone.”

Terrapin Bright Green

• Lush vibrant house plants can transform your home into a bright summer-esque retreat with colorful blossoms and greenery in contrast to the white exterior. We don't need the proof of hundreds of studies to tell us that plants boost moods and reduce stress, we experience it ourselves. The very nature of caring for a plant can be very therapeutic. With competition for sunny windows space, consider low light, and low maintenance plants such as Peace Lilies which produce a lovely white flower and Anthuriums offering bright red, pink and white flowers both are perfect to brighten any dark corner. 

• Indoor gardening is another way to surround yourself with plants and improve your health with a supply of micro greens or herbs that are easy to grow on any sunny window sill. This year I’m experimenting with peppermint, thyme and chives. These plants extends the smell of summer with all the aromatherapy benefits and snippets of fresh herbs on-hand. Lined up in clean white metal pots in front of a sunny window by my desk, I can enjoy their healing benefits of all winter long. By February, I will set up my grow lights and shelves to jump start another year of basil, kale and broccoli seedlings. Tending to this new life brings hope of spring in every handful of potting soil and the excitement of every emerging sprout.

Surrounding ourselves with elements of nature can be an antidote for the winter blues.

• Art depicting nature, such as a bright warm sunrise against blue sky, is a therapy widely used in institutions to calm and reduce anxiety. Art is personal. Contemplate natural landscapes such as a vast spring meadow filled with flowers or a calming summer seascape, what provokes joy in you? 

• Biophilic design has its roots in mimicking patterns in nature, such as the curves on a comfortable couch, a leaf pattern in wallpaper, or a vine pattern that runs through a carpet. These shapes and lines are cozy and earthy, lending themselves to feelings of peacefulness and grounding.

• Investing in new bedding can dramatically upgrade you sleep experience. Think about layers and texture, smooth cotton sheets with a linen duvet cover, filled with down, topped with a textured cotton blanket and some accent pillows.  Assemble a snug bed with breathable natural materials that will keep you warm and comfortable. A plush area rug to step onto in the cold winter months completes the luxurious bedroom feeling. This is an opportunity to introduce warm yet bright colors to relax and destress at the end of the day.

• Materials derived from nature have been shown to have a positive impact on our health. Add the warm feel of wooden bowls, the texture of woven materials like baskets, sisal and jute. You can be confident that a wool rug your child plays on or a cotton throw pillow you lay your head on, will not off gas like synthetics, leaving behind harmful toxins.

A simple flower arrangement can lift our spirits, as we catch a glimpse and the scent walking by.

4

Spaciousness 

Making space for what is most important to your wellbeing. Clutter makes us feel closed in and stressed, while spaciousness gives us the room to combat the winter blues. 

• Clear a space dedicated to exercising. With less access to gyms and outdoor activity, it’s more important than ever to dedicate a space to exercise. Set up a yoga sanctuary for meditation next to an area for movement with weights and exercise bands. This area will help maintain a healthy body weight and energy level. Exercise boosts serotonin and releases endorphins to the winter blues. Create a space that inspires you with motivational images and quotes in bright colors. 

• Create a space, especially if you are shut in with others, to have some personal time to meditate, read, write, and do what makes you happy. It may be quiet time for creativity such as hobbies, practicing  instruments or DIY projects. Make self care a priority. It’s very common to lose interest in activities during the long winter months. Beat cabin fever with inspiring activities that excite you!