Rachel's Reflections

Every year around this time, there is a shift. The clocks fall back, the evenings arrive too early, and suddenly we’re waking up in the dark and finishing our day in the same darkness. Add a long run of rain like the week ahead… and it hits people hard. For many, this mid-November stretch is the true beginning of seasonal depression.

If you’ve ever felt it- that heaviness, that lack of motivation, that “why do I suddenly feel so low?” feeling…. you’re not alone. This isn’t weakness, attitude, or lack of willpower. It’s biology. It’s environment. It’s the reality of living in a place where light disappears before supper and the weather turns grey for days at a time.

I’ve struggled with this myself. More than once. And I think it’s important to talk about it openly, because so many of us silently push through it thinking it’s just them. It’s not.

Why It Hits So Hard

Light is one of our body’s biggest regulators. Sun exposure sets our circadian rhythm, helps produce serotonin, and cues our brain for energy, mood, and alertness. When we lose daylight suddenly, our body feels disoriented.

Less light means:

- Drop in serotonin

- Disrupted sleep cycle

- More melatonin

- Lower energy

- Increased sadness or irritability

- Decreased motivation

- Cravings- Lower desire to be social

Combine that with cold weather, rain, shorter days, and being stuck indoors… and it’s a recipe for a slump.

Every year, I can almost predict the week it will hit me. Right around Remembrance Day, I start dragging. My motivation dips. I crave comfort food. Even on days where nothing is wrong, I might feel lower than usual.

This used to frustrate me, but now I know better. This is chemistry and environment, not character. And there are ways to combat it! One of those ways…. comes from forcing yourself to show up.

With that, I need to give a huge shout-out to everyone who kept showing up this past week. All of you rolling into 6am classes under the pitch-black sky, fighting every instinct to stay in your warm bed… and all of you showing up in the evenings when it’s dark before 5pm and home feels like a magnet. More than once this week, I heard “it was so hard to go back out tonight”.

Ladies, we see you. We appreciate you. And we applaud you!!

Showing up right now does more for your mental health than you realize:

- boosting endorphins

- getting your blood flowing

- interrupting the mental fog

- grounding your nervous system

- being around other humans

- feeling supported instead of isolated

- having something to look forward to

You’re not just working out…. you’re taking care of your emotional health in a season that challenges all of us.

What Helps Me Most

1. Vitamin D- every single day

If you’re unsure what dose or form is right for you, visit our friends at Hippie Chiks- the girls there will guide you on what’s right for your body.

2. Routine

Seasonal depression thrives in the absence of structure.

3. Exercise- the real medicine.

Even just ten minutes can break the fog. Every class, heart pumping walk, or workout, is a reset.

4. Sun Lamp

Twenty to thirty minutes a day makes such a difference. Morning is the best time. Set it up next to your bed, on your counter as you get ready in the morning, or on your desk for when you get to work.

5. Connection

Being around people pulls us out of our heads and reminds us that we’re not moving through this life alone. Even a quick conversation, shared laugh, or the simple act of being in a room with others can shift your entire mood and break the isolation that seasonal depressions feeds on.

Your November Toolkit

- Consider taking Vitamin D.

- Move your body.- Challenge yourself, but be gentle with yourself.

- Try using a sun lamp, especially on those dark days.

- Visit Hippie Chiks to see what supplements might be best for YOU.

- Stay connected with friends, family, co-workers, and of course, the studio!

- Get outside when the sun appears.

- Don’t wait for motivation…. act first, the motivation will come later.

Remember, you’re not struggling alone.

The light gets low. The days get heavy. But we move through it together. And I hope you remember that your effort matters, your presence matters, and your health, mental and physical, matters.

You’re doing better than you think. Keep going my friends.

💗

Until next Sunday,

~Rachel xo