For many of us, once winter rolls around and the days get shorter, it can be difficult to drag yourself out from under the covers. Seasonal affective disorder comes on like a dark cloud to drag you down with feelings of hopelessness and despair. You wake up to darkness, and by the time you leave work, what little daylight there was in the afternoon is gone. People around you start to close up, hunching their shoulders and moving about with the sole intention of getting to where they’re going. What is it about this seasonal shift that shifts our mood so drastically?
Despite the cold, studies have shown that the temperature shift is not the main suspect for feelings of seasonal depression. It is instead the lack of daylight, more than the shift in any other atmospheric phenomena, which leads to feelings of depletion. Psychologist Mark E. Beecher of Brigham Young University conducted a study involving 16,452 adults that analyzed therapeutic distress across 19 weather and pollution variables over a six-year period. He found that seasonal increases in the amount of time spent in the sun were linked to decreased emotional stress—whereas temperature and pollution variables had no effect.
These results are surprising: One would think that weather, temperature, and pollution would have a profound effect on mood. Rainy days are often associated with sadness, however in the conducted study, this was not the case. The only variable which had any noticeable effect was the amount of sun time during the day.
Seasonal affective disorder can be debilitating. But Beecher’s findings are good news for anyone feeling emotionally and energetically depleted during the winter months. Rather than staying curled up in bed, which does seem enticing, your mood could conversely benefit from doing just the opposite. Getting exposure to sunlight, even if just through a window, has immense benefits on one’s emotional well-being. Taking a walk outside or meeting up with friends during daylight hours is just about the best thing for your mental state during the winter.
Happiness, Health, and Light
The correlation of light and mood is dependent on the body’s natural response mechanisms to produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter which helps to elevate the mood; and melatonin, a hormone which promotes sleep. When the body recognizes sunlight through the optic nerve, the gland in the brain which regulates melatonin slows its function, and serotonin levels increase. When light is diminished, the body increases the secretion of melatonin, and the secretion of serotonin is conversely slowed.
Being out in the sun is proven to make you healthier not just emotionally , but physically as well. It promotes healthier attitudes toward diet and exercise, and gives us the our dose of Vitamin D which can be hard to get from foods alone. Vitamin D promotes healthy cell and bone growth, reduces inflammation, and helps to stimulate immune function. Being exposed to the sun can lower blood pressure, create stronger bones and teeth, reduce the risk of breast and colon cancer, and can help to cure skin conditions including psoriasis and eczema. But don’t forget to protect your skin with sunscreen when you’re soaking up those raise
Being in the sun also increases our moods. Richard Ryan, a psychology professor at the University of Rochester state that “research has shown that people with a greater sense of vitality don’t just have more energy for things they want to do, they are also more resilient to physical illnesses. One of the pathways to health may be to spend more time in natural settings.”
Just getting outside can do wonders for our health. Living in the developed modern world, it can be easy to forget our natural cycles and our most innate needs. We have synthetic lights, so we do not necessarily need to follow nature’s clock. Yet being in the presence of nature is so essential. It is inextricable from our being, and once we acknowledge this, there is bliss.
The Sufi poet Hafiz once wrote a poem titled “It Felt Love.” There’s a lot we can learn from it about our relationship with the sun. Light is the key to our innate flourishing souls. When we open ourselves up to receive the light, our beauty shines forth.
Kwa wengi wetu, wakati wa majira ya baridi kali na siku zinapopungua, ni vigumu kujiondoa chini ya vitambaa. Ugonjwa wa msimu wa hisia huja kama wingu jeusi kukusukuma chini na hisia za kukosa matumaini na kukata tamaa. Unapoamka ni giza, na unapoondoka kazini, mwanga mdogo uliokuwapo mchana umekwisha. Watu walio karibu nawe huanza kufungwa, wakikunja mabega yao na kuzunguka kwa nia pekee ya kufika mahali wanapoenda. Ni nini kinachohusika na mabadiliko haya ya majira ambayo hubadili hisia zetu kwa kiasi kikubwa? Hata hivyo, utafiti unaonyesha kwamba hali ya hewa ya hewa si kisababishi kikuu cha kushuka moyo kwa majira ya baridi kali. Badala yake, ni ukosefu wa mwanga wa mchana, zaidi ya mabadiliko katika matukio mengine ya angahewa, ambayo husababisha hisia za uchovu. Mwanasaikolojia Mark E. Beecher wa Chuo Kikuu cha Brigham Young alichunguza watu wazima 16,452 na kugundua kuwa wana matatizo ya matibabu kutokana na hali ya hewa na uchafuzi wa hewa. Aligundua kwamba ongezeko la msimu katika kiasi cha muda uliotumika kwenye jua ulihusiana na kupungua kwa mkazo wa kihisia - wakati joto na viambishi vya uchafuzi havikuwa na athari. Matokeo hayo yanashangaza: Mtu angedhani kwamba hali ya hewa, halijoto, na uchafuzi wa mazingira zingekuwa na uvutano mkubwa juu ya hisia. Siku za mvua mara nyingi huhusianishwa na huzuni, hata hivyo katika utafiti uliofanywa, hii haikuwa hivyo. Tofauti pekee ambayo ilikuwa na athari yoyote inayoonekana ilikuwa kiasi cha muda wa jua wakati wa siku. Ugonjwa wa hisia wa majira ya joto waweza kudhoofisha. Ugunduzi wa Butcher ni habari njema kwa yeyote anayehisi amechoka kihisia-moyo na kiuchumi wakati wa miezi ya majira ya baridi kali. Badala ya kukaa kitandani, ambayo inaonekana kuvutia, hali yako ya akili inaweza kufaidika kufanya kinyume chake. Kuona jua, hata ikiwa ni kupitia dirisha tu, kuna faida kubwa kwa afya ya kihisia-moyo. Kutembea nje au kukutana na marafiki wakati wa mchana ni jambo bora kwa hali yako ya akili wakati wa majira ya baridi. "Kutokana na mwangaza na hali ya moyo, mwili hutengeneza ""serotonin"" (neuro-transmitter) ambayo huongeza hali ya moyo na ""melatonin"" (hormone inayohimiza usingizi)." Wakati mwili unatambua mwangaza wa jua kupitia neva ya macho, kibofu katika ubongo ambacho kinadhibiti melatonin hupunguza utendaji wake, na viwango vya serotonini huongezeka. Wakati mwanga unapopungua, mwili huongeza utoaji wa melatonini, na utoaji wa serotonini hupungua. Kuishi nje katika jua ni kuthibitika kufanya wewe afya si tu kihisia, lakini kimwili pia. Inasaidia kukuza tabia nzuri ya kula na kufanya mazoezi, na inatuwezesha kupata vitamini D ambayo ni ngumu kupata kutoka kwa chakula pekee. Vitamini D huendeleza ukuzi mzuri wa chembe na mifupa, hupunguza uvimbe, na husaidia kuchochea mfumo wa kinga. Kuangazwa na jua kunaweza kupunguza shinikizo la damu, kujenga mifupa na meno yenye nguvu, kupunguza hatari ya kansa ya matiti na colon, na kusaidia kutibu magonjwa ya ngozi kama vile psoriasis na eczema. Lakini usisahau kulinda ngozi yako na sunscreen wakati wewe ni soaking up wale kuongeza Kuwa katika jua pia huongeza mood zetu. Richard Ryan, profesa wa saikolojia katika Chuo Kikuu cha Rochester, anasema utafiti umeonyesha kuwa watu wenye hisia kubwa ya nguvu sio tu kuwa na nishati zaidi kwa mambo wanayotaka kufanya, lakini pia ni zaidi ya kukabiliana na magonjwa ya kimwili. Njia moja ya kupata afya inaweza kuwa kutumia muda zaidi katika mazingira ya asili. Kuishi katika ulimwengu wa kisasa ulioendelea, inaweza kuwa rahisi kusahau mizunguko yetu ya asili na mahitaji yetu ya asili zaidi. Tuna taa za bandia, kwa hiyo hatuhitaji kufuata saa ya asili. Hata hivyo kuwa katika uwepo wa asili ni muhimu sana. Ni kitu ambacho hatuwezi kukiondoa katika nafsi yetu, na tunapokubali jambo hilo, tunapata furaha. "Mshairi wa Sufi Hafiz aliandika shairi lenye kichwa ""It felt love"" ambalo linaonyesha jinsi tunavyoweza kufurahia maisha yetu na jua." Nuru ni ufunguo wa roho zetu za asili zinazositawi. Tunapojitolea kupokea nuru, uzuri wetu huangaza.