Feeling Seasonal Anxiety? Try These 5 Tips
š Your guide to staying calm, clear, and energized this fall.
My mind is a wild place. Sometimes I even surprise myself with what I can think ā both the good and the bad. In the past, it has felt like a rollercoaster ride I couldnāt get off.
The truth is, mental health has always weighed heavily on my heart. Partly because my genetics are primed for a range of mental health conditions, but also because mental health is such a central conversation in our world today.
I get it, Iāve lived it, and Iāve lived with others who struggle. Thatās why Iāve spent so much time trying to understand it differently, because the common approach simply doesnāt seem to be enough.
Iād even argue our conversations surrounding mental health might be making it worse. Although thatās hard to track, as society has shifted from not talking about it at all to talking about it constantly, making it difficult to understand what has changed or if weāre simply more willing to share.
Regardless, I believe itās valuable to shift our beliefs about mental health ā moving away from viewing it as a singular, isolated problem and instead seeing it as a matter of wholeness.
Mental health is not isolated to the mind, even though most treatments focus there. Your mind does not act alone, just as your body doesnāt, but itās all interconnected in the wholeness of the mind, body, and soul.
Problems stem from the incongruence between them.
Want to understand why anxiety rises in the fall and what it really means? Read my latest blog post, The Seasonal Anxiety Reframe That Actually Works.
An under-resourced body will always be more heightened, more reactive, and more prone to anxiety.
This is exactly what weāre focusing on inside The Fall Refresh starting Sunday! Become a paid member ($10/month) to get the complete challenge, new fall batch cooking plans, recipes, and accountability to make the changes your body needs to thrive. How you resource now changes how you winter.
Five Shifts To Make For Fall (and lessen seasonal anxiety)
The cure for anxiety is never in eliminating anxiety. Itās in transforming it. Anxiety is not a state to suppress. Itās a signal, relaying information about how well your body is resourced to handle lifeās challenges.
If youāre feeling anxious, it probably means youāre under-resourced, and that means feeling better is only a few steps away.
The goal is always to work with your energy to bring your body, mind, and soul into alignment. Here are five practices to focus on this fall (and the focus of the Fall Refresh).
1. Light Hygiene
As the days shorten, sunlight becomes even more crucial. Sunlight regulates our circadian rhythms, signaling when and how hormones and neurotransmitters should be released. Without enough natural light ā and with increased evening blue light exposure ā physiological dysregulation accelerates, increasing anxiety, sleep disturbances, depression, and hormonal imbalance.
Why it helps: Light stabilizes your biological patterns, reduces cortisol spikes, and supports serotonin production, which can naturally lower anxious energy. Even ten minutes of morning sunlight can make a measurable difference. Combine this with limiting blue light at night for a double benefit.