No More Seasonal Affective Disorder: Preparing Our Minds for Winter

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Winter is in the air. In the past, I would dread this time. As it got colder, darker and as the vegetation would dry up and die, I would feel a darker part of me emerge. It was a heavy, depressed side that would tell me, “Here we go, the time of sadness begins.” It’s almost like it would wait for its turn.

Photo by Aaron Burden from Unsplash

Photo by Aaron Burden from Unsplash

Really, I know now that it is simply a pattern that my brain has acquired (although thankfully I also know how to shift that pattern).

I am trying to do things differently this year, using some of the tools I have learned and use (my new favorites are neuro-linguistic programming ones) to help.

It has taken me three years, though, to really integrate these tools into my daily life. The key, I have learned, is to start using these tools at the morning wake-up time, which sets the tone for the rest of the day. Through some habit change (about 3 weeks to integrate), I now do a few things that make a huge difference in my daily life.

Here are three things, or routines, that help me stay aligned on an ongoing basis:

By doing these three things, you too can similarly learn to work with the tricks of the “mean voice” of the negative Ego that tries to make us feel bad about ourselves. (And this video may help give you some tips on how to work with these heavy thoughts and emotions.)

Training the mind through meditation helps you notice when a thought is just a fear-based delusion of the Ego. And by regularly quieting the mind in this way, you then can tap into your Divine guidance, which is there to guide you to doing the things that are good for you in your life!

Here’s a bonus: your intuition also will nudge you with ideas of when to take action, which is an absolute necessity (sitting around all day and visualizing what we want is not enough).   

Then we can learn to notice where things are flowing, and where things appear to be stuck.

Sometimes all we can do is notice what is happening, and maybe then be aware that there are larger forces at play moving things along in a certain direction. When our minds are clear, we are better able to identify what might be happening, even if we do not understand why. We can learn to let go of any attachment to a particular outcome (and notice in the first place that we have an attachment to an outcome).

Simply put, with these everyday habits, you can develop an ability to flow between the duality that exists in being human, between:

1) taking action in creating what you want in your life, and

2) trusting that the universe (or our higher selves) has plans for our lives of which you we not be consciously aware.

When we can let go of any desire to control what is happening, and tap into our spiritual guidance, we always will have support needed to get us through tough times, and to open to learning the life lesson there for us.

There is a reason that programs like Alcoholics Anonymous work, as these 12-Step approaches similarly involve surrendering to a higher, more loving power than ourselves.

Try quieting your mind and connecting with Divine guidance of some kind for one day and see how it goes. Chances are, you’ll feel so good that you will want to do it again the next day. And then maybe the next too. A few more days of this, and pretty soon you have a new habit. 

The trick is then to keep it up.

We don’t just stop taking showers after getting our bodies clean after one day. Nope, we must keep them clean by washing ourselves regularly. The same is true with the mind. Keep up the routine to keep that negative Ego from crawling into our head like the green slime that tries to invade our consciousness at any chance it gets.

I believe in you. The time is here to step into our power, into our truth, into our healing. Our planet, and all the humans around us linked energetically to us, are counting on us.

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Rachel White

Merging the spiritual with the real world, Rachel Horton White helps people release negative patterns in their lives, with practical tools like mindfulness, energy and intuition exercises, to connect with their true, inner selves through this massive, planetary shift in consciousness. Through her work in Soulful Work Intuitive Consulting, Rachel facilitates groups of soul-seekers and spiritual entrepreneurs, has a meditation podcast called The Courageous Path and writes for various online publications. With a diploma in Integrative Healing Arts from the Southwest Institute for Healing Arts, Rachel is a certified clinical hypnotherapist, mindfulness teacher, life coach, reader of the Akashic Records, and aspiring homesteader. Rachel also has a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Wellesley College and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Georgia, yet claims her true education came from studying abroad in Dakar, Senegal. She recently wrote a book called Tools for the Awakening Soul: A Guide to Activate Your Intuition and Uncover Your Life's Purpose. Rachel now lives in mid-coast Maine where she and her husband homeschool their two bright, energetic children. You can find Rachel, along with meditations and writing tools, at www.soulfulworkconsulting.com.