How to Embrace Winter, Honor a Slower Paced Life and Build Resilience~
With the heavy demands of our fast paced lives it can feel very challenging to carve out time to nurture ourselves and build resilience in and amongst all the To Do’s. Instead of slowing down for the Winter months as nature intended, we often find ourselves burning the candle at both ends, depleting our reserves, feeling stressed, exhausted, sick and unhappy. Building healthy resilience which is to say, our ability to adapt well in the face of adversity (stressful stimulus) is fundamental to improved health and wellness.
Healthy Resilience Traits
Kind
Calm
Improved Cognition
Better Attention to Detail and General Awareness
Improved Memory both Short and Long-Term
We can learn to regulate our emotional reactivity by incorporating a whole food diet and lifestyle choices rooted in gratitude. In so doing, our brains naturally start releasing more dopamine and serotonin (feel good hormones) creating a self sustaining loop of positive reinforcement. The benefits go far beyond just feeling happy.
Benefits of Having a Gratitude Practice
Improves Sleep
Improves Physical Health
Improves Social Connection
Improves Immune Function
Improves Mental Clarity and Cognition
Reduces Stress
Increases Empathy and Therefore Kindness
Reduces Feelings of Anxiety and Depression
Exploring ways to balance modern day stresses with activities, herbs, foods and mindfulness activities that nourish resilience is of fundamental importance to living a healthy, happy, abundant life. Winter is a perfect time to embrace a slower paced life with practices like these that promote resilience and prolonged mental and physical well being.
Check out the recent Rent. article we were featured in:
6 Ways to Embrace Slow Living This Winter
Rent is a subsidiary of Redfin.com
Even if you’re not a traditional tea lover, you can still infuse mindfulness into your winter routine
by adding simple ingredients to a warm cup of water. Amber Barone, Holistic RN and Functional
Medicine Practitioner of Bar1wellness, shares her favorite herb blends. “Simple combinations
like rose petals and mint, chamomile and orange peel, or a single cinnamon stick in hot water
can have profound effects. These herbal pairs and offerings cue the nervous system into
comfort, balance, and peace, honoring the ‘less is more’ adage. This perspective strengthens
my appreciation for life’s subtleties, paving the way for greater joy, appreciation, and love.”
The article mentions some of my Favorite Herbs to Support Body, Mind and Heart this Winter and here’s why:
Rose petals- used traditionally to uplift and relax both heart and mind, great for soothing stress, grief, feelings of overwhelm. Antioxidant power houses, high in vitamin C and polyphenols which together help prevent oxidative stress (cell damage), immune boosting, anti-inflammatory, relieves stomach aches and digestive woes all while calming the nerves.
Mint-improves and soothes digestion, reduces inflammation, stimulates bile flow to help with fat digestion, antioxidant rich, promotes oral health, eases headaches/migraines, lowers blood pressure, calms the mind and reduces stress, anxiety and feelings of overwhelm.
Chamomile-relieves anxiety and stress, soothes the mind, improves sleep, digestion and elimination.
Orange Peel -high in vitamin C and antioxidants, supports a healthy immune system with added anti-cancer properties from flavonoids, helps maintain healthy weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels plus it’s neuroprotective which prevent development of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and the like.
Cinnamon- high in antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, improves insulin sensitivity and reduces sweet cravings to help keep blood sugar levels within a healthy range, improves digestion and soothes the entire GI tract, great for heart health optimizing LDL, Triglyceride and HDL numbers
Additional Ways I like to Support Well Being during Winter
Unplug from Technology- Take a sabbatical from screen time by incorporating one or more of the following ways to down regulate the nervous system and simultaneously encourage neurogenesis for long term cognitive health. It’s been shown that connection is one of the key pillars of health and while face to face interactions are preferred there are ways for even the most introverted to feel comfortable in this process. Here are a few of my favorites.
*Write a letter to an old friend or family member and send it off in the mail
*Start a weekly meetup group to connect face to face for example, board game night, bookclub, or wax philosophical over potluck style dinners
*Take up learning how to play an instrument, perhaps dusting off that old guitar that’s been sitting in the back closet for 3 years! This time really committing to an hour or more a night practicing chord changes and singing along. Who knows, maybe this leads to playing in that band like you’ve always fantasized about.
Get out in nature- Sunlight hours may be few and far between and it could easily take an extra half hour to bundle up with all the adequate layers, but it’s always worth it! We feel better getting outside and regularly moving our bodies, breathing fresh and feeling the sun and/or cold on our cheeks is invigorating. Having a dog is great motivation, they inherently know the value of taking a walk but even if you don’t have a pet, making a daily walk or two part of your ritual is a great way to boost our mood and improve our physical health.
*Hike
*Snowshoe
*Cross-country Skiing
*Sledding
Cultivate Curiosity in the Kitchen- Winter is a great time to embrace slow cooking, full of rich robust flavors, herbs and spices. It is such a rewarding experience to make a hearty dish that comforts you to your core. This is a great time to play with herb and spice combinations to elevate and enliven your senses. For cooking inspiration head out to your favorite book store, grab a coffee or tea and start perusing the cooking magazine section. Take an afternoon and make it a date for yourself! If cooking is new to you, I recommend starting with recipes that have less than 10 ingredients and don’t require purchasing a special gadget to create. This doesn’t have to break the bank, you’ll be amazed with the versatility of staple ingredients like; legumes, root vegetables, grains and bone broth/stock.
*Try making your own bone broth
*Try making your own sourdough bread
*Batch cook beans, grains, root vegetables to have nutrient dense ready to eat options available in the fridge at all times
*Plant a few of your favorite herbs, keep them near a sunny window and cut fresh to add as toppers to your favorite dishes. Bonus, they add greenery and aromatics to your home.
Takeaways
Winter is a perfect time to intentionally slow down and build more resilience into our lives. By incorporating simple practices that help you feel grateful encourages a multitude of both mental and physical health benefits.
When we look at the Blue Zones where people live independently, well into their 100’s, without pharmaceuticals or chronic disease we notice some key consistencies: they prioritize sleep, regular exercise, time spent outside, face to face connection, eating a diet rich in nutrient dense whole foods and herbs. These are simple, yet profound pillars of health and wellbeing. We can use these as guideposts to live not only an extraordinarily long life but more importantly, a healthy, happy, connected and empowered one that is full of gratitude.
Building a gratitude practice improves many aspects of both mental and physical health which in turn builds our resilience and therefore capacity to more effectively deal with the ever increasing stressors, demands and uncertainties of our modern day lives. So, whether you start incorporating more herbal teas, get off the screens and outside more or make connecting with family and friends a priority the truth is they can all have profound and lasting positive impacts on your health. For more tailored support don’t hesitate to reach out to Amber for a free discovery call. Happy Holidays!
