Let the Light Shine

It’s no coin­ci­dence that the sea­son fol­low­ing day­light sav­ings time is filled with cel­e­bra­tions of light. No mat­ter your cul­ture or belief sys­tem, this time of the year is filled with can­dles, stars, glit­tery dec­o­ra­tions, and spark­ly snowflakes to help us illu­mi­nate the dark­ness. With these cel­e­bra­tions come more time with fam­i­ly and often the images and pres­sure of the “per­fect” joy-filled moments. For many peo­ple, hol­i­day music blar­ing from the speak­ers in stores and a line snaking through the mall wait­ing for San­ta fills them with mag­ic and won­der and much joy, but for oth­ers, not even the most tan­ta­liz­ing smell of warm apple cider can spark a smile.

Sea­son­al Affec­tive Dis­or­der affects more than 3 mil­lion Amer­i­cans every year. THREE MILLION! Suf­fice it to say, if you feel like you are alone in the dark­ness, you are not. Many peo­ple brush off that year­ly feel­ing of empti­ness as sim­ply the “win­ter blues” and resign them­selves to the notion that they have to tough it out on their own. This is cer­tain­ly not so, and the good news is, there are steps you can take to ele­vate your mood and keep you moti­vat­ed to move forward.

The most impor­tant thing to do is acknowl­edge, with­out judge­ment, that it’s okay to be sad. The mere act of accept­ing your­self as you are is enough to light even the dimmest can­dle, and that small flame can car­ry you through the dark­ness. Next, reach out to a friend, fam­i­ly mem­ber, or physi­cian and ask them to help you get through this peri­od of dark­ness. Light ther­a­py is a great place to start, and light box­es are inex­pen­sive and easy to find. Get your mind and body to a yoga class or take a brisk walk on a chilly day, and ask your trust­ed friend or fam­i­ly mem­ber to be your account­abil­i­ty bud­dy. Check out the Five Tips for Healthy Stress Relief for some more ideas for healthy stress relief, as well. Again, most impor­tant­ly, acknowl­edge that this time of the year is dif­fi­cult for some peo­ple (ya know, a mere 3 mil­lion…) and you don’t have to suf­fer alone.

Today, shine some light on your­self and those around you — light a can­dle, turn on some spark­ly twin­kle lights, and bask in the warm glow of illu­mi­na­tion. Wher­ev­er this hol­i­day sea­son finds you, know that I am send­ing you light and end­less wish­es for a healthy and hap­py holiday!