Winter has come, and while you might not have the impending doom of night walkers you’re still having some trouble. It’s completely normal to get the winter blues, whether you have been diagnosed with seasonal affective disorder or not, it’s easy to understand why it’s acronym is SAD. Here are some tips to fight it that don’t require medication:

• Burn the right candles: It’s winter, you’re probably burning vanilla, cinnamon, and other warm scents. What if I told you to burn something citrus or a bright floral like honey suckle or lilies? It might sound like I’m trying to tell you to trick yourself into thinking it’s spring, but that’s only because I am. Here’s the thing, study’s have proven that it works and helps combat seasonal affective disorder.

• Drink more water: In the winter we start drinking a lot more comfort drinks, those hot teas, chocolates, apple ciders, and coffees. We need to warm up from the weather outside and they help make us feel cozy. They’re amazing and I will always recommend them, but we often stop drinking as much water as we do in the warmer months and that water is insanely important. It keeps you from feeling sluggish and it helps your over all body function (not to mention your skin).
• Buy a sun light: It’s been grey and overcast, like it always is this time of year. It’s not possible to bring the sun into your home without some God like force, right? Wrong. Technology has come far enough that they make sun lights or sun lamps. They let off the same kind of rays the sun would, including all your vitamins. Time to bask in the glow for a little bit and move one of these into your office.
• Sweat it out: I always like winter because I don’t have to think too much about my body image, after all, I’m in a oversized sweater not a bikini. It also means I let up on physical activity, which is one of the worst things to do if you’ve got the blues. Exercising is great because it gets your endorphins pumping, but the physical act of sweating is good too, because it expels toxins from your body through your skin. Plus, that cold air might not seem so bad when your leaving the gym.
• Stick to a schedule: The days are short, the nights are long. Who knows what time it is when it seems to get dark at four in the afternoon. It’s easy to lose track of time during the winter months, especially when you’re feeling sluggish and unmotivated, but keeping a schedule is really important. It keeps your body in sync and it keeps your mind alert and aware.