• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workout
      • Best BCAAs
      • Best Testosterone Boosters
      • Best Bodybuilding Supplements
      • Best Creatine
      • Best Supplements for Weight Loss
      • Best Multivitamins
      • Best Collagen Supplement
      • Best Probiotic
      • Best Non-Stim Pre-Workout
      • Best Greens Powder
      • Best Magnesium Supplements
    • Protein
      • Best Protein Powder
      • Best Whey Protein
      • Best Protein Powders for Muscle Gain
      • Best Tasting Protein Powder
      • Best Vegan Protein
      • Best Mass Gainer
      • Best Protein Shakes
      • Best Organic Protein Powder
      • Best Pea Protein Powder
      • Best Protein Bars
    • Strength Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Equipment
      • Best Squat Racks
      • Best Barbells
      • Best Weightlifting Belts
      • Best Weight Benches
      • Best Functional Trainers
      • Best Dumbbells
      • Best Adjustable Dumbbells
      • Best Kettlebells
      • Best Resistance Bands
      • Best Trap Bars
    • Cardio Equipment
      • Best Cardio Machines
      • Best Rowing Machines
      • Best Treadmills
      • Best Weighted Vests
      • Concept2 RowErg Review
      • Hydrow Wave Review
      • Best Jump Ropes
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Fitness

Be Your Personal Sunshine: 8 Strategies to Reduce SAD

The change of season is beautiful, but it can be challenging on our mood and energy. Here are 8 tips I use to combat seasonal affective disorder, as autumn rolls in and sunshine disappears.

Willow Ryan

Written by Willow Ryan Last updated on Nov 22, 2021

Folks, it is that time of year again. The leaves are turning, falling, and being washed away by either wind or rain. I live in Portland, Oregon, where our winters are grey, cold, and damp. This climate produces a very hearty community of people who either embrace the seasonal change and thrive in this environment or conduct every strategy known to man to stay warm and reduce the effects of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). I, with my dark olive complexion, am an individual who does everything possible to stay sane this time of year. Here are a few of my strategies:

Tip 1: Repaint Your Walls

Paint with brighter colors. Good choices are yellows, oranges, reds and copper tones. These bright colors can cheer up the dimmest of moods and bring warmth into your life when the sky is grey, the ground is brown, and earth tones are all around.

Tip 2: Get New Light Bulbs

Change your bulbs to be full spectrum and/or get a light therapy lamp with at least 3,000 Lux. There are several manufacturers online for you to choose from. Read and follow the directions accordingly.

Tip 3: Start Your Goals Now

Begin writing your goals now and don’t wait to start working on them until January. Keep your energy and sense of vitality up with movement and exercise. Embark on a new activity to spark your interest off the couch and into a sweaty athlete.

SAD, seasonal affective disorder, yoga for SAD, SAD strategies, avoiding SADTip 4: Go Somewhere Sunny

Take a pilgrimage to a brighter location. You don’t have to travel far to get sun. Make it a regular trip, if possible, to elevate your mood. Seek out nearby areas that are rain shadows or sunbelts. Some states have several. In Oregon, people venture to the high desert or Rogue Valley to seek snow and sun.

Tip 5: Enjoy Warm Water

Take warm baths and wrap yourself up with warm cotton or wool right out of the bathtub. Wrap your wet hair up tight and try to blow it dry immediately. The head is where you lose a high percentage of heat and compounding this with evaporation from wet hair will leave you with a cold head in a short period of time.

Tip 6: Give Yourself Flowers

Buy yourself bright flowers on a weekly basis and put them in your most frequented room. I currently have sunflowers and they make me smile every time I look at them.

Tip 7: Adjust Your Nutrition

Here are some foods to eat and some others to avoid:

  • Consume a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (with the mother) in the morning. This will help alkalize your system as well as create a warm sensation to your belly.
  • Drink lukewarm water and reduce or omit cold water with ice as it pulls blood from the extremities to your stomach in order to warm up body temperature.
  • Add warm spices to meals. These may include: cinnamon, cayenne, garlic, ginger, black pepper, and horseradish.
  • Increase vegetable temperatures by stir frying them in a wok or with light steam.

Tip 8: Do Yoga

Heat up your core with yoga and a fun arm balance sequence. Turn up the temperature in your yoga room for your practice and prepare to slide into this juiced up asana practice.

  1. Sun Salutations (do as many as possible in your given time frame to warm up to a sweat)
  2. Turbo Dog
  3. SAD, seasonal affective disorder, yoga for SAD, SAD strategies, avoiding SADHandstand Straddle
  4. Crow Pose
  5. Astavakrasana (pictured)
  6. Scissors
  7. Forearm Balance
  8. Forearm Balance Straddle Legs
  9. Handstand Straddle (on wall shifting weight from one hand to the other)

Link the arm balances together. This brings lower body heat up through the chest and runs it through the arms and earth.

The greatest strategy I have used over the years to combat SAD is to keep myself busy. Moving from spring to fall is a season of transitioning from all our labors and efforts to the time to reap the benefits. Allow this time to switch gears and continue being interested in diverse activities. This helps the body and mind rest and recover from what had been cultivated over the last six months. Take delight and choose to enjoy the change rather than resist it and your overall mood will lift your spirits and the spirits of those around you.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

Willow Ryan

About Willow Ryan

Willow Ryan specializes in helping people rewrite past stories from a present perspective to move forward for personal renaissance. Willow has done so herself both personally and professionally several times over.

Willow is a dedicated Yoga practitioner and has received the highest honor, working with Ana Forrest as a Forrest Yoga Guardian to uphold the legacy of “Mending the Hoop of the People,” by assisting Ana as a trained Mentor for Forrest Yoga Teachers.

Willow has also acquired tools for personal development while participating in Anthony Robbins Programs - Mastery University, Business Mastery, and Date With Destiny – and is a trained Neuro Strategist and NLP Practitioner through Steve Linder's SRI Training.

In the Portland, Oregon area you can study with Willow at her studio, Inner Elements Yoga.

View All Articles

Related Posts

Fergus Crawley 5K Run Tips Photo
Fergus Crawley Shares 5 Tips For Running a Better 5K
Actor Chris Hemsworth in gym performing dumbbell row
Chris Hemsworth Diagrams a Killer Upper Body Workout Fit For an Action Star
Hugh Jackman Deadpool 3 Workouts Spring:Winter 2023
Hugh Jackman Returns to Wolverine Condition in Workouts for “Deadpool 3”
Method Man Incline Dumbbell Presses December 2022
Check Out Rapper Method Man Cruising Through 120-Pound Incline Dumbbell Presses for 10 Reps

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

New Year’s Fitness Sales (2025)

XWERKS Motion BCAA Review (2025): A Registered Dietitian’s Honest Thoughts

Assault Fitness AssaultBike Pro X Review (2025): Assault’s Best Bike Yet?

13 Best Exercise Bikes for Home Gyms (2025)

Transparent Labs BCAA Glutamine Review (2025): The Key to Post-Workout Recovery?

Latest Reviews

Element 26 Hybrid Leather Weightlifting Belt

Element 26 Hybrid Leather Weightlifting Belt Review (2025)

Omre NMN + Resveratrol, Lifeforce Peak NMN, and partiQlar NMN on a red background

Best NMN Supplement: Fountain of Youth in a Bottle? (2025)

The Titan Series Adjustable Bench on a red background

Titan Series Adjustable Bench Review (2025)

A photo of the NordicTrack Select-a-Weight Dumbbells on a red background

NordicTrack Adjustable Dumbbell Review (2025): Are These Value Dumbbells Worth It?

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2025 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About