Is it me or is it becoming more of a struggle getting up in the mornings as the season goes on?

The alarm goes off and thus begins the daily battle between the sleepy warmth of the duvet, and the offensively loud snooze button alert, as it tries to convince me that despite the darkness outside the window it is ‘apparently’ 6.45am and time to get up.

The wonder of autumn is the return of some of my favourite things- putting the log burner back on again, making batches of butternut squash soup, hot chocolate, scarves, leaves….I could go on.

But with it also comes the giant house spiders that decide annually to create an arachnid highway across my front room carpet, the increase in colds and bugs that seem to be unleashed upon us all with the change of temperature, and then of course, there’s the dark. The dark that each week steals more of the daylight as we head through the month, shortening our days, limiting our activities and making us feel like hibernating to the cosiness of our homes.

For those of you who struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D), I know that this time of year can feel particularly challenging as serotonin levels drop with the decreasing daylight hours. For some great advice and info about this please visit https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad/overview/

But even for those of us who don’t struggle with a diagnosis of S.A.D, the move into the darker months can have a profound impact upon our energy and wellbeing levels. You could find (like me) that you’re just feeling a bit slower and more sleepy, that getting up seems harder and requires more effort than it did in August, and perhaps you’re wanting to head for bed earlier in the evenings. Maybe you can sense a small drop in your mood as you begin to socialise less, and summer days already seem a dimming memory.

Melatonin VS Serotonin

Well, there’s a good reason for feeling this way. As the daylight hours dwindle, our inner Circadian Rhythm changes in response, producing higher levels of the sleepy hormone Melatonin as way of telling us that it’s dark - therefore time to be asleep. In addition, as we spend less time absorbing Vitamin D and producing Serotonin from the sunlight, we can find our energy and mood levels can begin to lessen and we feel less energised to go out, socialise or just do activities that require significant effort.

So what can we practically do to help our inner seasonal clock as we head into this season?

So, this October I’ve been taking part in the Surfers Against Sewage dip-a-day challenge, swimming along my local coastline each day and attempting to raise awareness of water pollution WHILST also at the same time arming myself with some of the hormone boosting tools I need to head into the dark seasons.

For me, there’s something about the icy cold water that somehow makes me feel alive. As I launch myself into the salty ocean, my breath almost catches in my chest, I take those first few strokes in an attempt to rebalance may body temperature, then gradually, my breath and pace starts to slow and my senses come to life- the sound of the waves, the feel of the water on my skin, the smell of the seaweed. The ocean has also always been such a special space where I seem to feel the closest to God, I find myself chatting to Him as I battle the elements and get moved around by the currents and I just tangibly sense His presence and know He is near me when I’m all alone out there. It’s my happy place (even in the rain).

But it’s also the post, internal glow of wild swimming that I feel afterwards and that I carry with me into my day. It reminds me of the Ready Brek ads from the 80’s with the glowing bodies wandering around. I feel almost light-headed with happiness and find myself bathing in the post swim Endorphin/Serotonin glow well into my day.

Now, there are probably many of you reading this (rightly so) who may think I’m a bit bonkers and you couldn’t think of anything worse than plunging yourself into cold water at 8am or 8pm (as high tide would have it) as part of your day, and that’s absolutely understandable.

But it could be helpful to think through a few ways that you could make a concerted effort to hack into your happy hormones this season as means of helping your body navigate the seasonal changes.

Practical ways to boost your Endorphins

So, let’s think a little more about what Endorphins and are how they help us. Endorphins are a group of hormones (or neurotransmitters) that that act as our body’s natural painkillers- not only to help reduce pain but also helping calm us during moments of stress- lowering our temperature and calming our heart rate. They are released by the hypothalamus and pituitary glands in our brains when we experience pain or stress and are a wonderful way our body responds to take care of itself. So, are there things we can do to help boost our endorphin levels?

Well, there are many ways you can boost your endorphins and lots of them are simple activities and changes you can make to your day. Spending time with friends laughing and relaxing, exercising three times a week for 45mins, creating art, eating spicy food, scheduling in good times of rest and relaxation doing the things you enjoy. It’s also believed that Prayer can impact endorphins indirectly, by calming the nervous system and fostering feelings of peace, so why not spend some time retreating with God this season also, maybe exploring ignition prayers or spending time each day using an Examen exercise to see how God may be speaking to you in the rhythms of each day.

Practical ways to boost your Serotonin

At the same time why not try to give your Serotonin levels a helping hand as they weaken in the autumn. Serotonin is another hormone that is released into our body and is often referred to as the feel-good chemical as it is crucial for our mood regulation and feelings of happiness and wellbeing. As we’ve already mentioned, our Serotonin levels can take a bit of a hit as the days become darker. As our body absorbs the Vitamin D in sunlight to produce Serotonin, it can mean that when there’s less hours of daylight, there’s less chance for our bodies to absorb it.

So, to help try to spend as much time outside as you can. Even walking in the rain can make a difference. Perhaps try to take a walk in your lunch break (ideally without sunglasses so you can absorb as much light as possible), go for a cycle, jog or even a nature walk. If your schedule makes this tricky then it’s worth exploring the idea of getting a UV daylight lamp to have on at home in the evenings (don’t have this on too late though as that can make it harder to get to sleep). You can even try to eat food that are high in Tryptophan ( a pre-curser to the production of Serotonin) such as fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds and even dark chocolate.

We hope you find this helpful and that you’ll feel more prepared as we head into the darker days of November.

If you’re heading to NYMW, do please come and say hello to us on Youthscape stand- we’d love to meet you.

Take care- Laura and the Headstrong Team