Expert reveals tips to embrace the 'dark days' to improve winter well-being

Those agelong acheronian nights, that biting grey sleet, the sheer deficiency of sunshine... for galore the impending wintertime months capable their psyche with gloom. But scientist Dr Kari Leibowitz, a self-confessed winterphobe, insists we tin instrumentality a much affirmative attack to this challenging season.

Dr Leibowitz grew up successful a formation municipality adjacent New York. But, successful 2013, she moved to Tromso successful Norway, 200 miles northbound of the Arctic Circle, to probe the interaction agelong winters person connected intelligence health. There, during the two-month Polar Night, the prima doesn’t emergence astatine all.

Yet during the twelvemonth Leibowitz spent surviving successful Tromso, she discovered that its inhabitants took an inspiringly affirmative attack to the season.

And she is convinced we tin each larn to follow a “positive wintertime mindset”, transforming our intelligence and carnal wellness successful the process.

“We tin signifier however we acquisition the season,” Leibowitz explains, adding that this affirmative mindset tin assistance america upwind each of life’s storms. “The aforesaid practices that assistance america clasp and bask wintertime tin assistance america done hard seasons of life.”

Dr Leibowitz admits erstwhile her exertion for the Tromso probe fellowship was approved, her archetypal thought was, “Oh my God, what person I done?” She recalls: “A batch of radical asked me, ‘So you’re going determination to survey wherefore they’re not depressed, and past get depressed yourself?’. Was this going to ruin my life?”

But the acquisition changed her beingness for the better: “It was 1 of the champion things I’ve done.

“It gave maine tools to find opportunities successful wintertime and astatine different times of situation and struggle.”

After a twelvemonth successful Tromso, she spent six years studying the powerfulness of mindset astatine Stanford University. “Our mindsets are halfway assumptions we marque astir the mode things enactment successful the world, and they power america successful ways that are often unseen and unnoticed. So is wintertime limiting, boring and depressing? Or a special, fantastic clip of year, afloat of opportunities?

“When we person this mindset that wintertime is dreadful, we are much apt to announcement the cold, the rainfall and the grey. That reduces our information and energy, and that influences however we consciousness – much down, much lethargic, much depressed.

“We are little apt to conscionable up with friends oregon spell for a locomotion oregon bash things that marque america consciousness good. Our expectations pb to physiological changes successful the body. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

However, she explains, if we cultivate a affirmative mindset to displacement our attention, it tin positively interaction our emotions, information and behaviour.

“You’re mounting disconnected a cascade of behavioural, affectional and intelligence processes that signifier the people of your beingness connected a regular basis.”

So however tin we reframe the mode we look astatine winter? When the clocks spell back, she says, commencement by making plans to look guardant to. “On the archetypal lukewarm time of summer, you mightiness person a barbecue oregon spell to the beach. For winter, you tin program a meal enactment and devour by candlelight, person radical implicit for a movie night, oregon spell to the sauna.”

Another proposition is to present yearly wintertime rituals – sojourn Christmas markets, person a seasonal movie night, big a blistery cocoa party, oregon clasp Jolabokaflod, the Icelandic contented of exchanging books connected Christmas Eve.

Winter is besides a clip to clasp rest: “A batch of radical consciousness their vigor dip successful wintertime and spot that arsenic a occupation oregon a motion of depression. But it’s truly natural, and we could conscionable that arsenic an opportunity. This is the play to dilatory down, either by sleeping more, taking baths and
making nourishing, warming foods. Watch a movie oregon work that stack of books connected your shelf.

“It’s a truly bully clip for slower hobbies – crafting, cooking, baking. I’m an amateur ceramicist and I don’t privation to beryllium successful the pottery workplace erstwhile it’s sunny outside.

“I speech to a batch of musicians, poets and painters who bash a batch of their originative enactment successful the winter.”

She suggests uncovering originative ways to accommodate your favourite summertime hobbies for the acold upwind – wrapper up lukewarm for beachcombing, hiking oregon adjacent a picnic. Keen gardeners tin usage the clip for readying oregon starting seedlings indoors.

And getting extracurricular arsenic overmuch arsenic possible, immoderate the weather, is crucial. So clasp friluftsliv, the Norwegian wont of enjoying “open aerial life” each twelvemonth circular and engaging with nature. “Bundle up, formal appropriately, enactment connected your raincoat and rainfall boots. Even if you’re lone retired for 20 minutes, coming location to a warm, cosy nighttime – oregon going to a cosy pub – feels truthful antithetic due to the fact that you’ve been outdoors.”

She adds that we Britons person an instinctive flair for “hygge”, the Scandinavian signifier of slowing down, relaxing with friends and embracing a cosy atmosphere. “Scandinavia gets each the recognition for wintertime cosiness but the UK does it truly well. It’s beauteous to locomotion down a precocious thoroughfare and spot the windows and candles and bully pubs.”

Studies person adjacent shown that crab patients header amended with attraction if they follow the mindset that the illness is manageable.

“There are tons of things successful beingness we can’t control,” says Dr Leibowitz. “But fixed the world of a situation, however tin we accommodate it successful a mode that is useful, alternatively than warring against it?”

Her cognition to wintertime has changed truthful drastically she adjacent got bored of the sunshine erstwhile she lived successful California. She present lives happily successful Amsterdam, wherever she enjoys appreciating the pleasures of each chiseled season. “My cognition to wintertime has wholly shifted,” she says. “It has changed my full life.”

How to Winter by Kari Leibowitz (Pan Macmillan, £18.99) is retired now. Visit www.expressbookshop.com oregon telephone Express Bookshop connected 020 3176 3832. Free UK P&P connected online orders implicit £25.