{"id":424,"date":"2016-02-18T12:24:50","date_gmt":"2016-02-18T17:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/blog\/?p=424"},"modified":"2016-02-23T15:05:09","modified_gmt":"2016-02-23T20:05:09","slug":"5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Tips For Shaking Off The Winter Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/SAD_Polaroid.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-491\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-491 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/SAD_Polaroid.jpg\" alt=\"SAD_Polaroid\" width=\"345\" height=\"383\" \/><\/a>Christmas, New Year\u2019s, and most recently, Valentine\u2019s Day \u2014\u00a0this stretch of winter holidays can seem utterly endless. Many look forward to these circles\u00a0on the calendar as time to spend with family and friends. But for many others, it\u2019s simply not the same. In fact, for a lot us it can be downright depressing to even think about approaching holidays. That feeling of dread can rise from a plethora of sources \u2013 from not having any family or friends around to spend them with, to suffering the effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also known as the \u201cwinter blues\u201d, SAD is a type of depression related to the change of seasons, and is usually most prevalent during the fall and winter months. Factors such as cold weather and the lack of sunlight that typically accompanies wintertime can make it difficult for those affected to even get out of bed in the morning. To help combat these effects, here are five tips for handling your Seasonal Affective Disorder.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>1.\u00a0<\/strong><b><span style=\"color: #808000;\">Keep Active<\/span>:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Being outside and getting natural light rays is a major key to getting through the winter blues. Soaking in sunlight can give you a natural boost of energy and help put a little more pep in your step.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>2.\u00a0<\/strong><b><span style=\"color: #808000;\">Start a New Hobby<\/span>:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Another excellent way to keep your mind off of the holidays \u2014\u00a0or whatever is causing you to be depressed \u2014\u00a0is by focusing on a new hobby. It could be anything: painting, journaling, sewing. Staying occupied \u2014 both physically and\u00a0mentally \u2014 can help distract you from the things making you upset.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/SADQuote-1.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-504\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-504 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/SADQuote-1-595x77.jpg\" alt=\"SADQuote\" width=\"595\" height=\"77\" srcset=\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/SADQuote-1-595x77.jpg 595w, https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/SADQuote-1-768x100.jpg 768w, https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/SADQuote-1-960x125.jpg 960w, https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/SADQuote-1.jpg 2059w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 595px) 100vw, 595px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>3.\u00a0<\/strong><b><span style=\"color: #808000;\">Chat with Family and Friends:<\/span> <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Talking with family and friends can be a load off of your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shoulders, and an effective way to ensure you\u2019re not keeping your depressive feelings inside. Find someone you trust and feel comfortable being open and vulnerable with during this difficult time. Even though everything in you might want to isolate and keep to yourself, I challenge you to make an effort to keep in touch with those you care about. Try accepting more invites to social gathering\/events (and actually going!). <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>4.\u00a0<\/strong><b><span style=\"color: #808000;\">Craft a \u201cHappy\u201d Playlist<\/span>:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> There\u2019s a song for\u00a0virtually every human\u00a0emotion,\u00a0and in this case you\u2019ll definitely\u00a0want\u00a0to listen to music that is upbeat and cheerful. One of my personal faves when I\u2019m feeling down is Ledisi\u2019s \u201cAlright\u201d. It\u2019s an exuberant tune that emotes a very positive overall theme \u2014\u00a0that despite whatever challenges or discouragement you may face, it\u2019s all going to be alright in the end. (Feel free to comment with what your favorite music to listen to is!)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>5.\u00a0<\/strong><span style=\"color: #808000;\"><b>Eat Better:<\/b><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This has surely been said numerous times before, <a href=\"http:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/SAD2_Polaroid.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-493\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-493\" src=\"http:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/SAD2_Polaroid.jpg\" alt=\"SAD2_Polaroid\" width=\"345\" height=\"383\" \/><\/a>but keeping your body healthy from the inside out\u00a0makes an incredible difference in the\u00a0way you feel. Being cooped\u00a0up in the house (and especially during the holidays) can give you a greater urge to fill up on junk food. But as the saying goes, you are what you eat \u2014\u00a0so make sure you have veggies, fruits and proteins readily available. And maybe most importantly: don\u2019t forget to drink a LOT of water! It\u2019s time to start increasing your water intake to half\u00a0of your body weight.\u00a0I know it sounds like a lot, but it makes such a big difference in how you feel and how you function.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, all of this is much easier said than done. But you can do it! It\u2019s time to get through the winter blues and start becoming you again. Do you have a strategy for overcoming SAD that we missed? Let us know in the comments!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>About Samantha Saunders: Mrs. Samantha Saunders is a Resident in Counseling in the state of Virginia who has been in the mental health field for over 8 years.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christmas, New Year\u2019s, and most recently, Valentine\u2019s Day \u2014\u00a0this stretch of winter holidays can seem utterly endless. Many look forward to these circles\u00a0on the calendar as time to spend with&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1],"tags":[132,128,129,135,131,130,133,126,125,134,136,127],"powerkit_post_featured":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-424","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blogger-corner","8":"category-hair-tips","9":"tag-christmas","10":"tag-family","11":"tag-friends","12":"tag-hobbies","13":"tag-holidays","14":"tag-mental-health","15":"tag-new-years","16":"tag-sad","17":"tag-seasonal-affective-disorder","18":"tag-valentines-day","19":"tag-well-being","20":"tag-winter-blues"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 Tips For Shaking Off The Winter Blues - Chat Box<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Tips For Shaking Off The Winter Blues - Chat Box\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Christmas, New Year\u2019s, and most recently, Valentine\u2019s Day \u2014\u00a0this stretch of winter holidays can seem utterly endless. Many look forward to these circles\u00a0on the calendar as time to spend with&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Chat Box\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-18T17:24:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-02-23T20:05:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Chat_Box_MailChimp_IMG_608x400_SAD_new.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"930\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1066\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Samantha Saunders\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Samantha Saunders\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/\",\"name\":\"5 Tips For Shaking Off The Winter Blues - Chat Box\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Chat_Box_MailChimp_IMG_608x400_SAD_new.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-18T17:24:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-23T20:05:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/#\/schema\/person\/f74b4e79d21ecf043b5071e5a984d0ca\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Chat_Box_MailChimp_IMG_608x400_SAD_new.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Chat_Box_MailChimp_IMG_608x400_SAD_new.jpg\",\"width\":930,\"height\":1066},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"5 Tips For Shaking Off The Winter Blues\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/\",\"name\":\"Chat Box\",\"description\":\"Uncle Funkys Daughter\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/#\/schema\/person\/f74b4e79d21ecf043b5071e5a984d0ca\",\"name\":\"Samantha Saunders\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2bc3620e57cb55a5f2315d2b691228c8e98ef449ce3fc7c3dc5200cf90419e11?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2bc3620e57cb55a5f2315d2b691228c8e98ef449ce3fc7c3dc5200cf90419e11?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Samantha Saunders\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/author\/samanthasaunders\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Tips For Shaking Off The Winter Blues - Chat Box","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5 Tips For Shaking Off The Winter Blues - Chat Box","og_description":"Christmas, New Year\u2019s, and most recently, Valentine\u2019s Day \u2014\u00a0this stretch of winter holidays can seem utterly endless. Many look forward to these circles\u00a0on the calendar as time to spend with&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/","og_site_name":"Chat Box","article_published_time":"2016-02-18T17:24:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-02-23T20:05:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":930,"height":1066,"url":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Chat_Box_MailChimp_IMG_608x400_SAD_new.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Samantha Saunders","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Samantha Saunders","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/","url":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/","name":"5 Tips For Shaking Off The Winter Blues - Chat Box","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Chat_Box_MailChimp_IMG_608x400_SAD_new.jpg","datePublished":"2016-02-18T17:24:50+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-23T20:05:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/#\/schema\/person\/f74b4e79d21ecf043b5071e5a984d0ca"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Chat_Box_MailChimp_IMG_608x400_SAD_new.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Chat_Box_MailChimp_IMG_608x400_SAD_new.jpg","width":930,"height":1066},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/2016\/02\/18\/5-tips-for-shaking-off-the-winter-blues\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"5 Tips For Shaking Off The Winter Blues"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/#website","url":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/","name":"Chat Box","description":"Uncle Funkys Daughter","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/#\/schema\/person\/f74b4e79d21ecf043b5071e5a984d0ca","name":"Samantha Saunders","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2bc3620e57cb55a5f2315d2b691228c8e98ef449ce3fc7c3dc5200cf90419e11?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2bc3620e57cb55a5f2315d2b691228c8e98ef449ce3fc7c3dc5200cf90419e11?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Samantha Saunders"},"url":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/author\/samanthasaunders\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424"}],"version-history":[{"count":51,"href":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":525,"href":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424\/revisions\/525"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424"},{"taxonomy":"powerkit_post_featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unclefunkysdaughter.com\/chatbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/powerkit_post_featured?post=424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}