Three Winter Wellness Practices We’re Loving This Year
1. Eating fresh winter fruits and veggies
Winter can feel like a dead zone when it comes to eating fresh fruits and vegetables, but there are actually dozens of fresh produce in season during these cold months. We all love eating guacamole poolside on a hot summer day, but avocados, onions and limes are actually part of a winter harvest!
You don’t need to wait until spring for your leafy green veggies to be back in season. Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, kale and swiss chard are all cold weather crops.
Head to your local farmers market or grocery store to pick up these seasonal favorites.
Fruit
Vegetables
2. Staying active but cozy
Let’s be real, it is way harder to drag yourself to the gym on these dark, cold winter mornings. Cut yourself some slack on these days and do a home workout.
Skipping the gym commute doesn't only save you from the cold, it also saves you a ton of time. Time you can spend snoozing your alarm clock or making yourself a healthy breakfast (with those fresh fruits and veggies we just talked about).
Another benefit of a home workout this winter is that you can literally wear whatever you want. You can work out in the nude if you feel like it. But more likely you’ll be working out in a snuggie until you dethaw and break a sweat.
Check out this morning Pilates workout for when you’re feeling home-bound. And for the days when you really can’t find the motivation, try this somatic morning meditation. It takes you through a mindful stretching meditation where you can move your body and wake up your muscles without the intensity of a full-on workout.
3. Maintaining good sleep hygiene
If you’re reading this, you’re probably juggling work, fitness, family, friends and personal health all at once. You’re busy and spend a lot of energy staying on top of things. Usually the first thing we sacrifice when we need an extra hour of sleep is our daily workout. We get it. It’s hard (often impossible) to do it all.
But sleep and exercise are the two most important ingredients of good mental health. They deserve equal prioritization, but we often sacrifice one for the other. We can’t be present for our friends, family, and work when we’re sleepy and cranky. Maintaining a nightly routine can help with insomnia and revenge bedtime procrastination– it’s all part of improving your sleep hygiene.
If winding down for the evening is difficult for you, it may help to do an evening workout followed by a mindful cool-down. Moving your body can help you work through residual stress and anxiety from the day, and nothing helps change your mental state better than changing your physical state. Try this wind-down Pilates workout. Or, for those particularly exhausting days, try this nighttime somatic meditation, where you can breathe and stretch your way into a bedtime mindset.