20 ways to beat the winter blues
When the temperature outdoors starts to decline, sometimes our hopes are tempted to go down with them. Perhaps it's the feeling of being forced inside for several months in a row, the extra effort our bodies have to put into staying warm, or the less frequent and seemingly weaker sunlight this time of year. The beginning is buffered with the holidays, then new year, and even valentines day. However, after persevering so long and feeling so close to spring we can almost taste it, the brutal winds and cold snaps of late winter are enough to discourage the strongest of hearts. Below is a list of 10 different ways to cheer yourself up during the last few weeks of winter! Enjoy!
20 ways to heat up that heart in the dead of winter
Ground by going outside - especially if you’re angry at winter, the best thing is to go outside and let the natural chill in the air cool your body temperature. Before you know it, your temper will cool too.
Have a dance party - Turn on your favorite tunes, invite your friends, and dance your heart out!!
Gear up and go for it - Bundle up and go for a hike, have a snowball fight, or find a playground!
Enjoy a hot bubble bath - Get your favorite salts, bath boms, exfoliators, a good book, and your beverage of choice. Melt away into your bliss!
Hot drinks - Pick your favorite hot beverage and mindfully sip, basking in the extra heat it brings to your insides.
Board Games - scrabble, monopoly, shoots and ladders, battle ship, cards, pick your poison and have a blast!!
The library - Make a day out of going to your local library, checking out a book, and either finding a cozy corner right there, a favorite cafe, or a cozy spoot at home to read away the rest of the day.
Pick a craft - Drawing, knitting, painting, jewlry making, quilting…Whatever your fancy,Go to a craft store, pick a how to book and materials, and practice away!
Cozy socks - Challenge yourself to spend at least 5 straight hours in your coziest socks, sweatshirt, flannel pajamas, or any other winter wear while you can still use them!
Pictionary - Guessing games with no board necessary, start drawing and see if others can guess what you draw. Other ideas; charades and hangman.
Watchathon - Make a list of your favorite winter or other themed movies and see if you can watch them all in a specific time period.
Hide and seek - Classic!! Have you tried the no lights version?
Body thanks - Thank each part of your body for a specific way it helps you out while sending a thankful breath dedicated in its specific direction. Notice inner shifts afterwards, emotional and or subtle physical ones.
Fort time! - Build a fort out of household items and take turns adding on to a fun or scary story inside the fort.
Play telephone - One person makes up a secret and passes it down the line of people. The last one says what they heard out loud, and everyone laughs at how different it is from the original message.
Popcorn chat - Write several random questions on different pieces of paper and take turns answering each one. It's amazing how time flies and how much you learn about each other!
Find it! - Take turns hiding a specific item and have others look for the item, giving them hot/cold clues.
Who’s got the bone? - sit in a circle with one item in the middle, take turns closing eyes and guessing who took the item.
Knock it down! - Build a wall of paper/solo cups and knock it down with any safe enough projectile (ball/slingshot)
To wrap up, winter blues are no joke! However, just after writing these ideas, I feel more cheerful and energized. Hopefully, your eyes have also opened to available opportunities for joy in the here and now, whether it's through allowing your mind and body to actively relax, connecting with others, gearing up to recreate outdoors, or a mixture of all of them!