Today, there is a freeze warning where we live in SD. I work for the school district, but schools were canceled today due to the cold weather. That’s the bright side. The thing is, winters are hard when you live in the north. I’m sure people who live in places like Alaska or Russia might laugh at our little winter here in SD, but here’s the thing, I come from a country that is pretty close to the Equator, so sunny days and tropical weather are what I grew up with. I have lived in the States for quite a few years now, but, in my opinion, cold is something hard to get used to. Now, the cold itself is one thing, but the emotional effects of the winter months with less sunlight are another.
I have heard about people getting sad during the winter months, but I had never experienced it myself. That is, until I moved to the north. This is our second winter here, and it is hard! There is even a medical term for it, Major Depressive Disorder with Seasonal Pattern. I am not a medical expert, so please do not take this as medical advice, but I can say from experience that the effects of this are real. I like to call myself a “sunflower,” meaning I need sunlight, brightness, and activity to be my happy, bubbly self, which I feel makes this time especially hard for me. These months make me feel like a bear that needs to go into its cave and hibernate.
You might not live in a place where the sun hides for 4-5 months out of the year, but maybe you experience something similar. We’ve all experienced seasons in our lives when we just feel off. Like our energy levels are ‘below zero.’ I want to share with you some things that have helped me get through the winter blues and, in some cases, even embrace them.
As a Christian, the first thing I want to remind you of is to stay close to God: the ultimate source of light. I’m all about self-motivation and getting yourself out of a rut because you have to, but having experienced so many lows in my life, I’ve come to realize that you can’t be so reliant on yourself that you forget Who sustains you in the first place. In those dark times, and in any time really, we need to remember to turn to God for rest and recharging of our emotional batteries. Jesus gives us a beautiful example throughout His ministry. He made a habit of going out by Himself to pray and spend time with God (Matt. 14:23; Mk. 6:46; Lk. 5:16). This naturally brings me to my second point of advice.
Use this time to slow down and reconnect. Anyone who knows me can attest to how much of a “workaholic” I am. I love being occupied and on the move all the time. My husband jokes that I don’t know what a vacation is because I get tired of “doing nothing” after the second day. I don’t know how to be still and just rest. That’s a completely different topic, maybe for another article, but living in a place that forces me to stay inside and slow down has helped me be intentional about how I use time for personal reflection. The Bible tells us that there is a time for everything (Eccl. 3:1-8), and nature follows this rhythm.
It is crazy to me how I am just beginning to understand the seasons, even after living for years in a country that has them. In the Spring, nature seems to come back to life. Summer is a time of action and life everywhere. In the Fall, things slowly start to quiet down, and finally, Winter is that quiet, dormant time where nature seems to go to sleep. Growing up in a country that only gets two seasons a year (sunny and rainy), I suppose this was hard for me to catch up to at first. Now I feel as if understanding this rhythm in nature has helped me embrace these seasons as well. It is ok to slow down and re-evaluate how we are conducting our lives. It gives us time to readjust if things need to change. The time when my mind generates most of its ideas is during church service on Sundays (I promise I am paying attention!), but I’m not kidding, I have started a notepad with all the ideas that come to my mind during this time. I shared this with my husband, and he said it was probably because this is the only time I am forced to sit and be quiet. I have no comments on this lol. But think about it, we live in such a fast-paced world. When was the last time you sat in silence and reflected, or just let your mind wander?
I encourage you to embrace this wintertime as a time to slow down and refocus. I know that this is not possible for everyone, but if you can, try it. I think you will benefit from it. Some of the things I’ve enjoyed doing during this time are spending time with God alone, reading, planning, checking on friends, and cooking with my husband.
The third recommendation I want to share is staying active. I know it sounds contradictory after everything I just said, but hear me out. Studies have shown that exercise significantly boosts mental health (How does exercise improve mental health?). Again, I am not claiming to be a source of medical advice, but I am speaking from experience. I was part of a cross-country team during college, but what very few people know is why I joined in the first place. It was for my mental health. I was experiencing chronic sadness (I would say depression, but I never went to see a counselor, so it was undiagnosed), so I decided to start running. I am not quite sure why that was the thing I decided to do to address my mental health; maybe I was simply out of options…who knows. What I found by getting out and running is that, in a way, it helped ‘run out’ my stress and anxiety and clear my mind. Sometimes our brains get in a rut, and we need an outlet to release all that tension. I am not saying that this solely cured my depression, but it significantly helped me get through college and overcome this very low spot I was in. I still run, not as much as I used to, but I love it every time I get to do it. I know that running in the cold might not be an option for you. Believe me, I love running, and I don’t run in the cold anymore, but I have found that sometimes any kind of movement can help. When it is too cold outside to go for a run, I go to the gym or follow a workout routine on YouTube. There are tons of videos out there, so I’m sure you will find one that works for you. I also enjoy just stretching or doing yoga when I don’t feel like I can do a full-on hardcore workout. The idea is to get your body moving, even going for a walk counts. Just get moving!
The last tip I want to share is to remember that this is just a season. As brutal as winters can get and as much as we don’t like the cold (I’m the first one to admit it), spring and summer are just around the corner. Actually, did you know God made a promise about this? (check out Genesis 8:22). Keep in mind that this is just a few months out of the year, and then you’ll get to enjoy the warmth (sometimes too much warmth) of the following seasons. Another benefit of going through a hard winter is that we appreciate warm weather and better days much more. So, next time you feel the winter blues, remember that this too shall pass.
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Sources:
“How Does Exercise Improve Mental Health?” HelpGuide.Org, http://www.helpguide.org/wellness/fitness/the-mental-health-benefits-of-exercise. Accessed 24 Jan. 2026.
Picture: Image by Alina Chereches from Pixabay
Rooted Wanderer 
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