Curing the Winter Blues

Friday I posted about my case of the Winter Blues.  And since then, I have recovered! Which is good news.  But it was hard, considering right when I fell into my slump, the weather got extra depressing. Read: windy and dark and gross and rainy.

But there are a couple of ways I dragged myself out of bed my funk:

A good night's sleep: As I said in that post, I put myself to bed and slept and slept.  Sometimes, I just hit a wall and I need to sleep it off to recover.  I also heard once (don't quote me on this, I'm no doctor) that sleeping helps you process the hormones produced by stress.  So if this is true, I digested a ton of stress chemicals that night, and woke up feeling refreshed.  I didn't even have to rush around in the morning.

A good sweat: That day after I got home from class, I went to the gym and did sprints.  It felt amazing to burn off some steam and really tire myself out.  By the time I got home, my body was ready to collapse.  I took a hot shower and crawled into bed, where my muscles could relax.

Get lost in a book: Since I got my library card and placed all of my to-reads on hold, some of them have finally become available and I've been feverishly trying to read them all before the NYPL snatches them back up again.  I just finished Hourglass by Myra McEntire, which took a little while for me to get int, but once I got into it I couldn't stop. I've moved on to Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close, a book (recommended by Pinterest) for girls in their twenties.  I've been reading every night before bed to help me relax my mind and unwind.

Watch some Netflix: Along the same lines as getting lost in a book, watching a few shows or a movie on Netflix is good to help put your mind somewhere else.  My mom even suggested watching a sad movie, so I would even have a legitimate excuse to be so sad.  If you're already crying, what's a few more tears?

Pour yourself a glass of wine: Or in my case, drain it from a bag inside a box.  I'm on a budget. But sometimes a nice glass of pinot noir (my mom taught me well) is exactly what you need to unwind and relax.