Winter helpers

Wind is blowing ,ice is shining ,gold is biting and you are hibernating on the coach as bear .

Does that sound familiar ?

Wheel of the year and its constant rotation brings us, the inevitable in Northern Hemisphere, winter .
Most of us are fully aware that levels of sunlight affect our mood and energy .Less sunlight and less daylight can cause feeling of low energy ,lack of motivation ,sleepiness and in extreme cases (seasonal effective dissoreder SAD ).
If you enjoy those symthoms ,please feel free to skip reading this thread and reassume normal position on the sofa .

If you are fed up from low energy and zero motivation you can use few tricks as helpers to help you to get happy and motivated through winter .

First of all always remember that whatever you eat does affect how do you feel and look like .Avoid junk food ,which will make you even more slugish and sleepy .Remember storing fat is natural process for most animals before and after winter .Storing fat means more hibernation .
Go fresh and go green .Eat your five at day and make sure all your food is colorful as rainbow .Food also can be used as colortherapy ,which we do need during grays and whites of winter .This will fuel your body and and invoke better mood to go about .Grab those oranges ,tangerines ,grapefruits and lemons .They will keep you energized ,and boost your immune system to fight colds .
Wear those colorful jumpers and jackets ,which you probably chucked in the back of your draw .Now think about how cool you would look wearing purple jumper of coat in a world shining white of snow .Add to this colorful gloves ,hat and mittens .

Stock up herbal teas which fight colds and are tasting pleasently according your own taste .I personally add more garlic in the food and more chillies .Garlic fight the cold and boost immune system so even if you get sick you recover fast .In case you hate the taste of it raw or cooked you can always purchase capsules odourless garlic .Chillies have warming effect on the body ,they boost your circulatorfy and help your heart ,they also boost the immune system and are aphrodisiac .Do not forget your onions ,while cooking the white variety which makes you cry more while chopping is more beneficial for you during winter .
My favorite first cold remedies herbal teas are :ginger ,pepperming (mint ),cinnamon and apple ,chamomile ,hibiscus and rosehip (again immune system booster ) and of course linden .Mustard seeds and honey mixed in equal parts are very soothing for this so sore throat ,that you get as first sympthom of cold .For fever get yourself some feverfew and make yourself tea.

You can make yourself nice tasting milk infusion by adding half teaspoon cinnamon powder and same ammount ginger in one cup scalded milk .Add one tablespoon honey to the mixture and drink it hot for optimum results .

Use essential oils to boost your mood and health .

Clove bud essential oil is derived from same tree as clove leaf oil ,but both should not be mistaken !Clove leaf oils is far more potent and therefore more irritating for sensitive skin .Both oils should not be used from pregnant women !

Even clove bud oil should be used strongly deluded with carrier oils and tested for allergic reaction (people with sensitive skin can get such ) before aplying it on entire body .

This oil is very potent and enhances inner visions and inner strength .It is inspiring and will help you to not slow your pace ,following your path even in so harsh season as winter .
It also fights mental weakness and relieves feeling of inadequacy when mixed with tangerine essential oil .
In order to gain this benefits simply mix 3 drops clove bud oil with three drops tangerine in vaporizer and breath (for breath is inseparable part of ond ).

In order to stimulate the blood circulation and releave those bone and muscle aches (even toothache can be relived by chewing bud clove ) mix Cinnamon Leaf essential oil (2 drops ) with Clove bud oil (2 drops ) and Mandarine (6 drops ) in a carrier oil and rub the painful or slugish area twice or three times per day .Attention Cinnamon leaf oil is also very potent oil and it should be used carefully on the skin and not used by pregnant women either .

To help immunity during chronic viral infection use this recipe

2 Drops Clove Bud (not to be used by pregnant women! )
4 Drops Cardamom (not to be used by pregnant women !)
4 Drops Bergamot (attention phototoxic .It reacts with sun and can cause dark spots and rashes .Avoid sun exposure for at least two hours after applying !)

Those essential oils should be blended in carrier oil (grapeseed oil ,jojoba oil ,sweet almond oil or extravirgin olive oil ).Massage gently the blend into the skin .

To ease chest coughts and open airways ,try inhalation of 2 drops Clove Bud oil and 4 drops of Myrtle essential oils .
In order for the oils to start evaporating you either need special vaporizer ,or you can add them into bowl with boiling water and cover your head with towel and then inhale .

Hit the gym !If you can not go to gym start exercising at home .For begginers exercises for entire body are best .always do stretches before proper exercising or warm up ! Advanced men can train the abdominal muscles to prevent the fat building up and woman can either exercise quads and gluteals (minor ,major ,medius ) or again abdominals according their shape (apple shape ,pear or hourglass ).Physical exercises get you in a good mood ,and you have more energy and inspiration to do things .In case that you have some sort of physical problem which prohibits you to exercise heavily, walk is always a good option .

Now that you have put your body and mind in right state you can go and work with The North Wind (in case that you are attuned to it ),try to attune to the Ice Gianst or even try to get understanding of how water and air combine thier forces to create snow ,ice and frost .Yes, winter is challenging and harsh but it has its own artwork ,power and lessons to offer to us .The most valuable lesson for me from Winter is to never give up the hope that spring will not come .It is time of inner reflection when we open up more for our internal world and inner visions and get ready for the future .It challenges the will to take the righ meassures for mental and hysical survival .

Happy winter !

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Forget to mention i have taken the oil blend recepes from my book The Essential Oils Handbook by Jennie Harding and the recepe for herbal milk infusion from this source http://www.herbportal.com/herbal-medicine-articles/herbs-for-cold.htm.Rest assured i am not going to poison you lol
The rest is my own work and writing .:)

Wonderful post! Thank you Arty! I'm just adding my humble contribution, which is:

Eat instant hot oat cereal with milk and sugar. Oats, milk, and sugar, provide a three way tryptophan hit (tryptophan acts upon the brain chemical seratonin which gives us a sense of well being.) It's noticable that turkey is so popular this time of year as well, as that is also a food rich in tryptophan. Certain seeds and nuts also provide it, as do bananas.

Oats of course are also a complex carbohydrate, which means they give long lasting energy and heat. Just what we need on a cold morning, or, as I like to do, eat before bed to keep warm in the night!

Eat your way out of SAD! :D

Behold i found a typo in the first sentence it should be cold not gold .Sorry !

Onions aren't absolutely crucial, are they? Because I strongly dislike onions...I gag every time I try to eat them x.x

Violet they are not crucial ,simply healthy for you if you can eat them .You can go either cooking with garlic instead ,or take oderless garlic capsules .Garlic and onions are from same genus Allium .They have similar magical and medicinal properties .
If you cook the onions very finelly chopped for long they release brown substane ,which makes them sweeter ,than when they are raw .

I honestly prefer garlic...it's strange--I despise onions but I like garlic. That's really weird, but that's how I am.

I love this!(:
I'm glad to find that I already do some of these things and it's just me doing it to be me(:
Like the herbal tea=Love them. My favorite is the peppermint. I have a peppermint and spearment tea which I just adore. I also have a green tea and white tea with citrus just for the antioxidants. Chamomile is a very good relaxer. I always drink a lot of green teas to help give me an energy boost. Lots of green salad/veggies as well. And since I'm a vegetarian, no chilli for me! lol I stick to warm tomatoe soup. (: I also wrote down your oil recepies.
Thank you Art(:

Ahhh, this post is so awesome! I have SAD (on top of another assortment of ailments) and it makes me feel absolutely wretched in the winter :( I had a friend who would get UV therapy, but I only come in two shades - super white, and lobster red. But looking forward to employing these tips and tricks to survive this winter - thank you!