Help Yourself Through the Dark Days of Winter

I keep running into people who lament the long winter days and say they suffer from depression or the blues or lack of energy.

This once was a bother to me, also. I read about the wonders of light therapy, but the devices were very expensive when they first came out over 10 years ago. I also could not imagine myself sitting still in front of a light for as long as was needed! Another thing that I read was that the body senses the length of day even as we are sleeping, and if the bottoms of the feet can be exposed to light early in the morning, there is a sense that the day is longer.

Mind you, I am pulling all of this off the top of my head from things read several years ago, so let's not get an urban legend going on the preliminaries.

Here is the real stuff, experienced by me personally.


I have not had 'winter blues' in over ten years because I took what I could from what I read and applied it as best I could to my life with what finances I had.

My bedroom has plants in front of the windows, not curtains. At 6 AM, beginning when the days start to be noticably shorter, lights come on by timer to flood the plants in my bedroom with light. 6 AM is prior to when I normally rise in the morning, so my sleeping body senses the 'morning light'. I sleep better in a cold room, so having my feet outside the covers is not an option. I also do not sit in front of the lights. All I do is have my bedroom flooded with light before I wake in the morning.

This 'before waking' light starts my day off right. It can be snowing, raining, or foggy, and I do not notice because my world is bright and sunny, with green plants and light.

When the days start to get light on their own by 6 AM, the timer is unpugged until the next year.

It is not too late to try it. Get a jump-start on the longer days of summer that are just around the corner. A timer is $6 to 8. I use fluorescent bulbs in clamp lights aimed at my plants. Fluorescents take less electricity.

One last thing is, if the day is gloomy, switch on the lights! It works. Take charge of your mood. If you feel oppressed by the dark and the gloom, banish it with light. Again, fluorescents make this practice of daytime lighting far less expensive.

Add to all of this the inner Light of Connection.

Peace be with you.


Photos taken during the dark days of winter at the Cleveland Botnanical Garden.
All photos ©2007Kristen S. Boyesen