I’ve lost count of the number of people who have said to me recently, “Isn’t it dark outside?” Admittedly, most of these conversations have happened in mid-to-late afternoons. But I don’t remember so many comments before. And the truth is that, certainly in rural areas, it does seem extra dark this year.
Why, I wonder? Whatever the reason, some people seem to have very low mood because of it. Of course, loads of us have coughs and colds which certainly don’t help. But everyone seems to feel that since the clocks changed, we’ve been thrust into proper winter and that it feels like the middle of the night from about teatime! So, I thought I’d look at common sense ways to deal with the darkness.
From the reading I’ve done, I can tell you that the top recommendation from experts is that we should increase our outdoor activities. They claim you can minimise the misery of the gloom if you get out more in the daylight hours – particularly if you go in the mornings. Now you might remember that I’ve written before about research showing that exercise is extra beneficial for us if we do it early in the day, so I think that during these dark months we ought to get out, go before lunch, enjoy some fresh air and walk as briskly as we can.
You might also remember that I’ve written about studies stating that we activate melatonin more if we get out into the daylight in the mornings. As you probably know, melatonin is the hormone responsible for getting us to wind dow.
