How the Changing Seasons Affect Us & What to Do About It

What is Seasonal Depression, Really?

It's mid-November, and ’tis the season when people begin their search for solutions for the winter blues (if you're Aussie, think back to last June, mate ;-).

Often, what gets framed in clinical terms is actually a natural response to seasonal changes — a built-in cue to slow down, come indoors, and rest.

Humans evolved to slow down this time of year—to move inside, to conserve energy, and to reduce caloric expenditure at a time of year when resources (both internal & external) grow scarce. Even something as simple as reduced sunlight affects our circadian rhythm, disrupts our serotonin and melatonin levels, and thereby affects our sleep. Reduced UV light also lowers vitamin D levels, which can affect mood and immunity.

Nature is Giving You Important Clues

We don't realize that our environment serves as an enormous tuning fork, providing us with the perfect note to harmonize with.

Just think about the subtle notes you "hear" inwardly when you look out and see barren trees, fewer birds, and shorter days.

But what happens when we resist those notes, and fail to sing along? We fall prey to dark thoughts and gloomy moods.

What few people realize is that it can be incredibly exciting—rejuvenating, life-giving—to look out and KNOW that nature is slowing down, and to understand that, though she may be asking your physical body to follow suit, your inner disposition need not do the same.

How Our Ancestors Understood This Season

Many ancient traditions saw this time of year as a time for retreat, rest, and sacred work that acknowledges the spiritual teaching this season can bring.

No matter what culture you turn to, you will find festivals and ceremonies that celebrate light, the passing of ancestors, and the lessons that death and rebirth bring.

Traditionally, we would have huddled inside around a hearth, engaging in sacred storytelling and hand-making. This is the season when people had time to sit, gather, and create: spinning wool, weaving cloth, knitting, writing, mending, carving—from pottery to beadwork, basket-weaving to embroidery.

Productivity would be naturally reduced to a slower, creative pace—one meant for quietude, community, and reflection.

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” ~ Emerson

How Modern Life Creates Dissonance

Today’s society no longer flows with the rhythm of life, which can cause internal dissonance and, therefore, a resistance to that dissonance.

Acknowledging the dissonance, and not allowing resistance to take over, can help you reclaim this season and allow it to be the transformational, renewing season it’s meant to be.

Are there practical things we can do for Seasonal Depression? Absolutely. Sunlight lamps, eating seasonally, walking in the fresh air, supplementing with vitamins, and earlier bedtimes can help with the biological stress that results from living in modern times with ancient biology.

Intentionally making time for hobbies, creativity, learning, and community can also help.

The Invitation of Winter

But regardless of what you do externally, your internal work is crucial. Watching for internal resistance against the dark, against the cold, against the obligations of the season, against… life itself — is key.

You don’t have to entertain thoughts about why you don’t like this time of year (if that's the case for you), or where you'd rather be. You don’t have to figure out what trauma is holding you back, or how unfair our modern society is for making us go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. In fact, you can give up all thought about these considerations.

When you find yourself thinking about why you resist the season, or what you wish reality was instead, notice what that resistance does within you:

It rejects. It creates tension. It creates a ‘you’ that is unhappy in the present, and a future ‘you’ that could be happy if and when those conditions are met. It creates a strong sense of self that is victimized by seasons of life.

Once this happens, you’re no longer living your life in the present, but watching your life play out in the theater of your mind — a victim of your mind’s resistance.

We don’t have to set a goal of enjoying this winter season. Nor do we need to paste on an insincere smile. Instead, we can set an intention to first observe our negative reactions to the season, then set out to discover whether it's possible to harmonize with the season rather than resist it.

✨ Mindful Experiment

When you consciously slow down, you instantly place yourself in a state that harmonizes with the seasons.

In the same way that our ancestors would move to the cozy indoors to commune with one another, slowing down instantly places you in a cozy, welcoming internal state... where you're able to commune with the moment itself. You can think of it as a heightened state of receptivity.

Without all that frantic, outer activity, you're able to give more attention to others. You're able to notice (and be moved by) the subtleties of the world around you.

Each time you do this, take note of the differences in the two different ways of being... and the character of the experiences that each delivers.