Winter Blues Busters

Finding joy isn’t as easy when you’re shut away due to frigid temperatures and miserable colds. Just getting out the door becomes a challenge, with kids’ mismatched mittens, missing hats, and slippery sidewalks. Although there are probably no flowers to “take time and smell,” we should be conscious of this season’s unique wonders: falling snowflakes, flannel sheets, a warm glowing hearth, and children delighting on an unexpected snow day off. Embrace the gifts of winter:

• Enjoy time for rejuvenation. Groove in a Group Fitness class or pump iron at the Center. Follow it up with some time spent under a warm quilt by candlelight with a novel in one hand and a cup of tea in the other.
• Take advantage of your Center membership benefits. Keep that “winter coat” from forming on your middle with year-round opportunities to stay fit and healthy.
• Indulge in a water workout at the Center’s pool, a luxury when temperatures are frigid outside and backyard pools are hibernating.
• Take a brisk walk, even if snow boots are required. Contact with nature and fresh air is invigorating and lifts the spirits.
• Consider trying one of this season’s sports, like ice skating or skiing. Consult with a personal trainer about an exercise plan to prepare you for this venture.
• Go for a picnic in your family room. Set out a blanket and enjoy winter’s bounty with sliced apples, oranges, grapes, low-fat cheese, and multigrain crackers. Go for it—roast a few marshmallows if you have a working fireplace. Browse photos or watch videos of your summer days.
• Schedule a phone visit with a friend. Getting together may be tricky while icy roads and contagious viruses abound.  Make time to connect with those who bring you happiness.
• Scrap overzealous to-do lists with the perfectionist standards that accompany them.
• Meet with a personal trainer to create a fresh exercise program. It’s time to break out of that rut!
• Chat with a Group Fitness instructor about upcoming new classes. Then, put one on your calendar. Discover a potential new favorite, and meet new friends.

Recognize this as a time of restoration disguised as an often bleak season. Cold, gray, wet days aren’t very inspiring in the typical sense, but they do motivate us to turn inward. Do some literal and figurative house-cleaning. Take advantage of this respite and get involved in everything from interior decorating to interior soul searching. Reorganize your living space, clear away clutter, or try a new fitness or cooking class. These simple changes give comfort during a time when being productive is often a challenge. It won’t be long before the days are longer and overfull. Restore, stay healthy, and be ready.

The Center is always alive with inspiration, prompting us to try a new class or build our body better. Once inside, the warmth of the people and the zest of a great workout deliver a powerful remedy against cabin fever.

There’s so much out there. We just need to notice it.

Related Articles:

• Your Winter Wake-up Call
• Tips for Safe Snow Shoveling
• Warm Up with a Workout!
• Be Comfortable
• Winter Weight Triggers: Snow May Not Be the Only Thing Piling Up