Mindfulness is window to knowledge about nervous system
While nearly five percent of the U.S. population experiences true Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), the “winter blues” have a way of affecting all of us from a physiological standpoint. For therapy patients, addressing the physical root of the feelings brought on by the dark, cold days of winter, can be, what one expert calls, a game changer.
“As the fall starts to arrive and the days are getting shorter and the nights longer, we start to slow down a little bit,” said Rebecca Forkner, Ph.D., a Boston-based clinical psychologist. “We see it throughout the animal kingdom. It is a natural process.”
In her practice, Forkner helps clients recognize how their physical selves affect their mental health. She uses mindfulness techniques to highlight the nervous system changes that occur as reactions to different triggers, situations, or even seasonal changes.
It’s an important part of the psychological tool kit that she felt was missing as she experienced her own training.
“There was a lot of discussion about thoughts, behaviors, and emotions but I didn’t really have any training on helping people recognize what is going on in the nervous system,” she said.
“When I started learning mindfulness, that was my window into learning about the nervous system. It helps people naturally be more accepting of these fluctuations when they realize it is the natural way the body operates.”
It is a technique, she said, that can be used universally.
“Not every way of doing therapy is applicable to every person but this is,” said Forker.
She provides trainings for therapists on integrating these techniques into their practices through the Institute for Mindfulness and Meditation. “It is enormously helpful to learn to pause, notice the body, notice where there is discomfort, pain, tension. Breathe with that for a minute, see where you can soften, and then you can decide how to proceed.”
For many, unless living on a farm or doing seasonal work, the world doesn’t slow down in the winter. Keeping up at work, school, or with daily responsibilities can get more difficult. Curling up with a good book in front of a fireplace seems like a better idea.
It’s important, Forkner said, for clients not to disengage. She advises patients to go outside, as multiple studies have shown outdoor time offers health benefits including a reduction of stress hormones.
Other suggestions include fitness classes, indoor crafts or activities that might be overlooked in the summer.
She also encourages clients to use light therapy.
“I use one myself and keep it on in my kitchen all winter for the first two-thirds of the day,” she said. “It makes the room feel more like it does in summer. That shift can have a profound effect on how you feel.”
In recent decades, anxiety levels have increased beyond the winter months.
Some blame social media use, reduced interpersonal contact, or the navigation of negative news and feelings of helplessness in today’s political climate.
Forkner said this is where mindfulness can play a larger role, not just in keeping healthy but in finding the required personal balance to make a positive impact in the world.
Taking care of oneself in beneficial ways positively affects people around you, Forkner said. “The idea is that if we do this, then the goodness sort of grows around us and we can have an impact on the broader scene.”
She said, “If you are kind to yourself, you are more likely to be kind to others…and that does have a spillover effect.”