Beat The Winter Blues with EFT Tapping
Life naturally slows down in winter. The days grow shorter, light becomes scarce, and we respond by planting ourselves in front of the television or hiding under the covers to stay warm. How do you know when a seasonal slump is a more serious problem?
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a category of depression that emerges in particular seasons of the year. Most people notice SAD symptoms starting in the fall and increasing during the winter months, but a few people experience a spring/summer version. Let’s take a look at some common questions you might have about this disorder.
What are the most common symptoms of SAD?
SAD symptoms might include a depressed mood, feelings of hopelessness, a lack of energy, difficulty concentrating, changes in sleep and appetite or a loss of pleasure in activities you once loved. Persons with the winter version of SAD might also notice the following unique symptoms:
- Heaviness in arms and legs
- Frequent oversleeping
- Cravings for carbohydrates/weight gain
- Relationship problems
Is SAD a “lighter” version of major depression?
No, even though this is a common misconception. SAD is a “specifier” which is just a fancy word for a more specific kind or subtype of depression. Persons with SAD experience the symptoms at a particular time of year. With the changing of seasons, their depression goes into remission. If you notice this switch happening several times over two years, then you may be experiencing SAD.
What causes SAD?
Researchers have yet to uncover the specific cause for SAD. We do know however, that several factors are at play. The reduction in sunlight in winter can throw your biological clock out of whack and reduce levels of serotonin (a brain chemical that regulates your mood) and melatonin (a chemical which regulates sleep and mood). People who live farther from the equator or have a family history of depression also experience the symptoms more frequently.
What Can I Do to Help Myself Today?
There are lifestyle changes that can improve symptoms and lift your mood. You might try going outside more often, getting as much sunlight as possible, exercising, avoiding drugs and alcohol, getting plenty of sleep, practicing relaxation exercises and incorporate EFT Tapping into your daily routine.
Some of the common winter blues symptoms are lethargy, excessive need for sleep, weight gain, craving carbohydrates and foods with a high fat content. All were evolutionary benefits when we relied on natural light. A great strategy was to fatten up, conserve energy and stay out of the cold and wet. This would have kept many of our ancestors alive and healthy and enabled success in the gene pool. Like many of our biological imperatives, however, this hasn’t caught up with the way we live our lives now. We have artificial light and heat and a very different lifestyle to those ancestors.
One reason that you might struggle to beat winter blues is that it’s been hardwired epigenetically into your DNA, an ancestral pattern. This is something that can be worked on and changed with EFT Tapping and other practices, such as Matrix Re-imprinting.
There will almost certainly be specific reasons from events that have happened in your life. These could be causing you to experience symptoms that are labelled as SAD. For example, someone you love, a grandparent perhaps, died when you were young. This happened at a time of year when it was getting cold and wet. Your subconscious mind might associate that time of year with the extreme sadness that you felt at that time. You might be triggered into that behavior pattern even though consciously you don’t link the reasons.
Or it could be something seemingly insignificant to you as an adult, but which had a big impact on you when you were young. Maybe as simple as being told, “you can’t go outside, it’s too wet,” or even the dreaded, “you’ll catch your death of cold.” All you wanted to do was go out and splash around. Over and over, you heard these messages until they became an embedded unconscious command that this time of year just isn’t safe.
Now, when the events that have happened in your life trigger an epigenetic switch for something that is already in your DNA (ancestral pattern), it is likely that it will affect you profoundly. Finding the specific events and releasing your emotional attachment to them with EFT can change that for you. Planning a healthier lifestyle is always a good idea and asking for help is a sign of strength and movement toward a better version of yourself. Consider how you can start managing SAD today and live a healthier life in every season.
Contact me today if you’d like to explore creating a permanent shift in how you feel this winter and in every season.
Karen St. Clair is a highly skilled EFT Tapping Practitioner, PSYCH-K® Facilitator, Matrix Re-Imprinting Practitioner, Usui Reiki Master of Masters and Founder of Reiki Tap Renewal with a true gift for facilitating her clients’ life-changing outcomes.
Book a private appointment at Touch Point Studio in Cumberland Foreside, ME or via Zoom video conferencing. 207-878-8315. KarenStClairEFT.com.
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